EGL founder Yuen Man-ying, Japan tourism pioneer, passes away

EGL Holdings (6882) announced that its founder and chairman, Yuen Man-ying, passed away on August 31 at the age of 73, ending his pioneering career in Japan-focused tourism.

The board stated it will strive to continue operating the group's business in accordance with the strategy established by the late chairman.

EGL's share price currently stands at HK$0.56 on Monday, unchanged from the previous trading session. The company's market capitalization is around HK$276 million.

The company will seek a suitable candidate to fill the vacancy as soon as possible and will also appoint a new chairman for the nomination committee pursuant to Listing Rule 3.27A promptly.

Meanwhile, the board will restructure its framework and will issue further announcements in due course. The board expressed its deepest gratitude to the late chairman for his efforts and valuable contributions in leading the group and extended its sincerest condolences to his family.

Yuen had served as chairman and executive director since July 24, 2014, and was a director of the major shareholder, Yiu Tang Management.

According to the 2024 Annual Report, Yuen was responsible for making significant decisions for the company, overseeing the development of tourism and hotel operations, promoting the Japanese market, arranging itineraries to Japan, supervising and training tour guides, and planning charter flights. It also highlighted his over 40 years of extensive knowledge and experience in the industry.

Yuen had led tour groups to Japan as a guide in 1971. Leveraging his rich knowledge and experience in the tourism sector, he founded EGL in 1987. In interviews with local media, Yuen revealed that in the early days of the group, even booking airline seats was difficult. The company urgently needed funds as a deposit to join the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to book seats from major airlines. To achieve this goal, Yuen took a gamble and sold a property he owned.

During the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake in Japan and the Tokyo subway sarin attack, which frightened Hong Kong travelers, Yuen stated that they continued to book airline tickets. "If there was no business, we rushed to answer phones to get business," he said. He also took a client's suggestion to develop new travel destinations outside Japan and even personally joined a four-day tour to the Philippines with his wife to "learn the ropes."

In November 2014, it was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange with an offer price of HK$1.39 per share. The net proceeds were estimated to be HK$114.5 million.

EGL is well-known to Hongkongers primarily for organizing tours to Japan. It has also sponsored several TVB travel programs, including "Tohoku Travel," and appointed Japanese-Hong Kong actress Hiromi Wada as an endorser. 

Yuen was appointed as a tourism ambassador by 40 Japanese prefectures and cities. In 2018, he was awarded the "Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays" by the Japanese government in recognition of his contributions to Japan.