FLIGHT Centre Travel Group (FCTG) has revealed a flurry of major updates this week, including details of a “transformed operating model” for its Leisure division.
Global Head of Leisure James Kavanagh has detailed the company’s “new world” strategy, which is characterised by increased productivity and fewer bricks and mortar shops.
The “scalable, efficient operating model” has resulted in a 90% increase in productivity per consultant, while Flight Centre’s 543 stores have each generated $13 million – a huge uptick compared to the $7 million generated annually by 1,500 shops before COVID.
Kavanagh said FCTG Leisure had bounced back from the pandemic as a “more productive, more efficient and more diverse business, with famous brands, enhanced capability and winning models”.
The firm is targeting a 2% net profit before tax margin within its leisure businesses, he also highlighted. The Flight Centre brand, Travel Associates, Scott Dunn, Ignite Travel Group, the company’s wholly owned Liberty Travel stores in the USA and the Travel Academy operations all aiming to exceed 2%.
Kavanagh also revealed results from a survey of Flight Centre leisure brand customers, which found that almost 90% of Australian travellers intend to travel internationally within the next 12 months.
The survey also showed that 83% of international travellers intend to spend the same or more on their next overseas trip, with 15% to spend “significantly more”.
Other notable trends include having multiple holidays planned, a preference for stays longer than one week, and a growing interest in the UK, which has replaced the USA as the top travel destination.
A focus on add-on sales across all brands and an improved online user experience via a single globalised website & app were among other announcements from FCTG this week.
