Flight Centre Travel Group’s 2023 global results turned heads, even in an industry that had, overall, done very well in 2023. Its profit of AUD301,6 million (R3,7 billion) for the 12 months to June 30, 2023, was staggering – an almost AUD485 million (R5,9 billion) turnaround from the previous year’s loss of FY22's AUD183,1million (R2,26 billion).
No wonder the sweet smell of success hung in the air when Flight Centre hosted a presentation and cocktail for suppliers and industry friends at the Radisson Red hotel in Rosebank, Johannesburg, on Thursday, February 15. The function came at the end of a week-long visit to South Africa by the GMs and business leader of each pillar of the business.
Andrew Stark, well-known to the South African industry as the previous MD of Flight Centre Travel Group South Africa, (he relocated to Brisbane in 2021 to take up the position of Global MD of the Flight Centre leisure brand), led the group on their tour, incorporating Kruger Park and Cape Town.
Stark gave a presentation on FCTG’s strategic initiatives, painting a picture of a travel group with big, unafraid and innovative plans for its future. He said post-pandemic, Flight Centre had become 50% more productive than prior to COVID.
Flight Centre is famous for selling flights – the company sells around 2,5 million flight tickets a year. But now, says Stark, it has a new motto – ‘Flights plus more’ as it strives to be a ‘4-plus component brand’, with its agents aiming to include four or more components in each sale.
The company’s ambition is to have 65% of its sales from its brick-and- mortar travel shops, 20% from online sales and 15% from its specialist brands.
Says Stark: “We know our customers. They mostly want international long-haul trips. Their average age is 55, and bookings are done mostly by middle-class females, with a 49% return rate.”
