As travel planning becomes increasingly influenced by AI tools — which as Open Jaw shared can lead travellers astray — Flight Centre is doubling down on real human relationships.
Marking its 30th anniversary in Canada, the Australian-born travel retailer has launched a new global brand campaign, “Trusted by Travellers,” that trades stock footage and scripted testimonials from real customers with real stories.
“Unlike most companies and most brands who hire actors and are now using AI et cetera, we wanted to go in the complete opposite direction and showcase pure joy leveraging our actual customers,” Susana Gomes, Director of Marketing at Flight Centre Canada, tells Open Jaw.
Among them are Yvonne and Richard Naciuk, a Saskatchewan couple who proudly call themselves “senior-agers.” For years now, they’ve relied on Ryan Milne, a Flight Centre Travel Expert in Burlington, to turn vague dreams into unforgettable journeys.
As part of the campaign, the couple set off on an Avalon river cruise down the Rhine, capturing moments that were entirely their own. “We didn’t send a crew with them,” says Gomes. “We just gave them a really good camera and a few filming suggestions — but honestly, we were kind of blind as to what we’d get back.”
That was the point. The campaign’s authenticity stems from trust — including the couple’s in their Travel Expert and Flight Centre’s 80,000 global Trustpilot reviews and 4.5-star rating.
“We put out an open call internally about four months ago, asking our experts to nominate customers who’d be ideal — people who are joyful, charismatic, and comfortable being themselves on camera. And we didn’t want actors. We didn’t even want people who could be actors or models,” says Gomes.
When the Naciuks’ audition video came in, Gomes says, “It was obvious within 10 seconds that they were the right choice to send out on this opportunity."
In Canada, the campaign will appear across digital, social, retail and OOH channels, with placements in Toronto and Vancouver starting this week. In addition to the Naciuks, “Trusted by Travellers” also features customers from Australia, New Zealand, the UK and South Africa.
Watch a video montage of these travellers on Flight Centre’s YouTube channel here.
Earlier this year, Flight Centre opened a new flagship store in downtown Toronto (covered by Open Jaw). Over the past year, it has also introduced a new theme song, custom font, redesigned stores, digital screens and a refreshed global tagline: “Your Centre for Travel.”
“Driving brand awareness and consideration are our key KPIs for the campaign, but it is also meant to position us as the go-to travel centre for everything,” says Gomes. “We want Canadians and customers around the globe to know Flight Centre is that one-stop shop.”
