Flight Centre Travel Group is laying the groundwork to grow its corporate footprint as it unveils a new brand identity and proprietary tech platform for FCM, its corporate arm.
Last year, FCM parent company Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG) drastically cut its leisure agencies around the world and in Canada, where it laid off 600 employees. According to its website, only eight physical shops remain in the country. FCTG posted a loss of AUD$510 million (CA$485 million) for its 2020 Fiscal Year but at the time, said it remains optimistic about its corporate brands FCM Travel Solutions and Corporate Traveller. Both brands, it said, landed a record amount of new business and a pipeline of potential opportunities.
FCM’s end-to-end rebrand has been launched in 97 countries across all websites, customer communications and social media platforms. The new look is designed to showcase the brands’ "distinctively flexible and unconventional” approach to providing agile travel management services to its customers globally and locally.
FCM says its in-house technology platform is an omni-channel offering that is being developed following research globally among customers to understand the different concerns of their bookers, travellers and managers. Its goal is to “directly target customers’ pain points with current and legacy corporate travel technology.”
According to FCM, their research revealed customers need an all-encompassing platform that is consistent across all markets, but also fully flexible with a simple user interface.
“The development of FCM Platform’s core experience is already well advanced, including a new proprietary online booking solution planned for key markets and integration of AI enhanced chatbot tool Sam as the digital ‘avatar’, providing live chat and real-time assistance across all of the platform’s channels,” said FCM’s Global Chief Technology Officer Adrian Lopez.
Lopez said the vision for the platform is based on addressing six key pillars:
- a globally consistent booking experience
- always available travel assistance
- traveller safety and wellbeing support
- sustainability
- AI-powered reporting and savings
- flexible integration capabilities
