THE global Flight Centre brand leadership team, including Global Managing Director Andrew Stark, gathered at a trade event in Sydney last night to provide insight into the company’s current booking trends and future travel predictions.
The team revealed that Flight Centre’s online client base has grown three times faster than its in-store customer base, rising to account for 25% of all bookings compared to to 15% pre-COVID.
Most online bookings (80%) were for domestic travel, compared to just over half (54%) of in-store bookings for international travel. The value of online purchases was markedly less than purchases made in-store, with customers spending an average $950 online versus $4,030 in person.
In Flight Centre stores, women spent 31% more than men, while men spent a little more (6%) when making an online booking. The average lead time in-store was 71 days, while online it ranged from 23 to 62 days.
The average length of booked trips were also significantly shorter, at four days compared to 20 days. More Aussies picked the United Kingdom as their destination of choice, bumping the United States down the second position, followed by New Zealand, Bali and Thailand.
More families opted to holiday in Fiji instead of the usually popular choices of Bali and New Zealand, with families also spending more than they did pre-COVID, splashing out an extra $400 on a domestic holiday, $1,000 more on a Fiji holiday, and an additional $3,000 per overseas holiday elsewhere.
The data also showed that customers are exchanging 75% more money in Flight Centre’s Travel Money stores and kiosks, racking up an average of $4,900 – a huge jump on the $2,800 that customers exchanged pre-COVID.
Pictured at the Otto Ristorante in Woolloomooloo are, from left: Global Head of Marketing Clinton Hearne; Global CFO Katrina Ryan; Global Head of Operations, Marieke Tucker; MD Andrew Stark; GM Australia Brent Novak; and Global Head of Product & Pricing, Jason Hartley.
