FEW industry verticals have been more adversely impacted by the pandemic than travel-focused currency exchange companies.
The story for Travelex is no different, with the company’s sales plummeting to meagre volumes during the global travel shutdown and collapsing into administration in August last year.
However, under a restructured ownership model things are looking much brighter for Travelex, with the company’s Managing Director for Australia and New Zealand Darren Brown telling travelBulletin that the business is poised to take advantage of a wave of travel confidence, and it has its eyes firmly set on the Australian market.
“We plan to expand in a very prudent and constructive manner but we are talking with our partners like Helloworld in Australia about how we can strengthen that partnership for expansion,” he said.
“We are also talking to Australia Post…they have over 3,000 locations so the question is how do we power more Australia Post services,” Brown added.
While the company’s standalone stores have taken a hit globally, Brown said that in Australia it would be examining ways to grow its physical footprint as well in areas like airports and shopping centres to take advantage of the predicted upswing in traveller demand.
“Where we see a gap in the market, we want to be there to fill it — both online and offline,” Brown confirmed.
Another focus for the company will be to innovate in the digital sphere, with the first manifestation of that effort to result in new click and collect services for Australian travellers rolling out in 2022, allowing customers to order currency online and pick up from one its many ATM locations in Australia.
Another exciting area of focus for Travelex will be investing in crypto currency services, with Australia selected as a key experimental market to launch new products.
“It’s a very relevant conversation that’s actually happening right now, in Australia we have received board approval to explore crypto currency…so we’re now actually actively speaking with partners about how it can be part of Travelex,” Brown said.
“There’s a lot to learn and we want to try and make it as easy as possible for consumers to understand and how the trade can work and I believe this is just the start of what will become business as usual for Travelex and become part of the digital wallet,” he added.
