Tag Archives: FCM Travel Solutions

FCM Travel Solutions and KPMG’s recent whitepaper titled ‘The Digi-Smart Indian Business Traveller’ forecasts that amongst Asian business travellers, face-to-face interactions have become the least-popular option, except for hotel check-ins. They value the transparency of choice and information that autonomous digital channels, such as AI, can provide. Similarly, Indian business travellers are shifting to digital, with only 17 per cent of them preferring face-to-face interactions for process like flight check-ins. When choosing flights, convenient schedules and direct flights were consistently amongst the top-three priorities across all business travellers. Travel managers are aware of this and choose travel providers based on their ability to provide convenience and ease travellers’ journeys. Some these functions can be taken over by AI, which can process large about of data faster, and hence increase the efficiency and reduce cost.

FCM Travel Solutions and KPMG’s recent whitepaper titled ‘Redefining Corporate Travel Management’ forecasts that the Indian business travel market is highly fragmented, with 70 per cent of corporates spending less than Rs 10 million. IT companies have the highest share amongst those spending more than Rs 10 million followed by engineering and pharmaceutical companies. IT, BPO/ITeS and pharmaceutical industries have higher travel spends as a percentage of their revenue. The cost incurred while travelling for business is the second highest operational cost for most organisations. Business travel is central to both maintaining business as well as expanding it and due to rising cost of travel, it is becoming imperative for corporates to drive higher levels of efficiency in their managed travel programme.

FCM Travel Solutions and KPMG’s recent whitepaper titled ‘Redefining Corporate Travel Management’ forecasts that the total market for business travel in India is projected to grow at an annual rate of 11.5 per cent and a spend of up to USD 46 billion in 2019. In the past year, rise in annual growth of business travel spend for India has been the highest among the top 15 business travel markets globally. Consequently, India surpassed South Korea to reach seventh position in the top 15 business travel markets (by spend) globally and is projected to be in the top five by 2022. It is forecasted to be one of the fastest growing markets over the next five years, growing at the rate of 12.5 per cent over the forecasted period.

Travel Money, the flagship foreign exchange brand of FCM Travel Solutions, Indian subsidiary of Flight Centre Travel Group Australia, strengthened its presence in South India with an inauguration of its first owned retail store at one of the key locations in Vijayawada. The outlet was inaugurated by Gagan Malhotra, Vice President, Foreign Exchange, FCM Travel Solutions India. This expansion augments total number of outlets to the 34 stores across India, out of which 14 are in South India. Spread over 1,000 sq ft at M G Road, the store offers a range of foreign exchange services such as forex, travel cards and outward remittances for education or close relative maintenance. Malhotra said, “According to the BCG report titled ‘Demystifying The Indian Online Traveller 2017’, the Indian travel market is projected to grow at 11 to 11.5 per cent to the tune of $48 billion by 2020. Indian travel given the significant outbound tourism growth in South India market, we aim to deliver quality and convenience in all aspects of foreign exchange including remittance for students, Leisure & Business travel, Prepaid Travel Cards, and much more to our travellers.” Travel Money’s current footprint extends to a total of 34 stores across India in all major cities including Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Bangalore and Cochin via a combination of owned branches and franchise outlets.

Enlisting the factors driving digi-smart business travel in India, FCM Travel Solutions and KPMG’s recent whitepaper titled ‘The Digi-Smart Indian Business Traveller’ forecasts that the growing share of millennials in the Indian workforce work for longer hours than their global peers. Furthermore, travel service providers (i.e. airlines, hotels, taxi operators etc.) are enhancing their available capacity for online users, which is becoming an important travel booking channel. The introduction of the GST is also driving businesses to use the online route to meet the regulatory and compliance requirements. The emergence of user friendly technology solutions such as Artificial Intelligence and SBT is also making Indian travel managers use the digital platform as the mainstay in managing their travel and claims.

FCM Travel Solutions and KPMG’s recent whitepaper titled ‘The Digi-Smart Indian Business Traveller’ forecasts that Indian travellers have higher inclination towards in-flight Wi-Fi as compared to travellers from other countries, according to a survey by Inmarsat. With current nil penetration and high demand amongst Indian travellers, in-flight Wi-Fi can be a potential game changer in enhancing business traveller experience considering that fliers are potentially willing to shift travel experiences for onboard Wi-Fi. For business travellers, the need for seamless connectivity makes them natural users of these services. While the use of in-flight Wi-Fi should be encouraged, it is necessary to consider various factors including aircraft upgrade requirements, connectivity speed and quality, cybersecurity concerns, etc.

Travel Air Representations, the B2B wholesale travel division of FCM Travel Solutions, has announced the launch of adventure travel brand, Intrepid Travel in India. It will distribute and promote Intrepid Travel products and services in India. Headquartered in Australia, Intrepid Travel has over 800 different itineraries across Europe, Asia, Africa, North & South America, the Middle East, Australia, and both the Arctic and Antarctica. Joseph K Jose, Vice President & Head – Wholesale, FCM Travel Solutions (India), said, “We are delighted to announce the launch of Intrepid Travel, yet another leading global travel brand, in India. The diverse offerings of Intrepid Travel have been well-received globally and will strengthen our endeavour to address unique requirements of India’s leisure traveller market. Through this collaboration, we aim to offer Intrepid Travel’s bouquet of travel products in the country while focusing on Tier -II and Tier-III markets.” On the partnership, Brett Mitchell, Regional Director – Asia Pacific, Intrepid Group, said “We look forward to working with Travel Air Representations to launch Intrepid Travel to the Indian market”.  Currently Travel Air Representations works with over 2100 agents (Business Partners) across 110 cities and towns in India, with a team of over 110 passionate and professional team members.”

Travel Tours, the flagship leisure travel brand of FCM Travel Solutions, has inaugurated their second retail and first franchise store at Salt Lake City, Kolkata. The store was inaugurated by Shravan Gupta, Executive Director – Leisure Businesses, FCM Travel Solutions and Sitaram Sharma, President, Bharat Chamber of Commerce & The Consular General of Belarus. With the launch of this store, FCM Travel Solutions now has 28 operational Travel Tours stores across India. The new Travel Tours store in Kolkata aims at redefining travel experience from the region by focusing on both tailor-made vacations and group holidays catering to different kinds of travellers in the city. Spread over 1200 sq. ft., the outlet at Salt Lake City will cater to needs of up-market urban consumers – families, business travellers, honeymoon couples and groups of travellers. The new retail outlet will offer a range of products and services – domestic and international flights, customised and group holidays, hotels, car transfers, visa, cruise vacations, honeymoon packages, adventure holidays and more. Commenting on the launch, Gupta said, “Our second store in Kolkata is a reiteration of our strategic intent at Travel Tours, FCM to expand our footprint across key markets in East India. Through this launch, we aim to provide unbeatable travel experiences to our patrons in an untapped market.”    

FCM Travel Solutions has consolidated and rebranded its travel retail and holiday brand – Flight Shop under a single leisure brand ‘Travel Tours’. Known for its range of customised travel offerings, post the consolidation, Travel Tours promises ‘unbeatable’ services both in pricing and quality to its customers across India. Four decades old, Travel Tours will now offer travel services ranging from leisure, corporate travel, MICE, visas, inbound to wholesale and foreign exchange pan India. Shravan Gupta, Executive Director – Leisure Businesses, FCM Travel Solutions, said, “Travel Tours has a strong brand equity and heritage in large parts of the country. Through the rebranding, our intention is to put our entire strength and expertise of both our brands – Flight Shop and Travel Tours under one. This move supports our journey of going from a flight seller to being an FIT specialist.” He further added, “We are taking a step further from being a regional powerhouse to being a national player of repute as we move forward. The foundation for our rebrand is firmly in place; we are primed and ready to become Travel Tours”. The rebranding of all the 25 Flight Shop and Travel Tours stores spread across 17 cities was completed on January 31, 2018.

FCM Travel Solutions and KPMG released a whitepaper titled ‘The Digi-Smart Indian Business Traveller’ with a focus on how technology is rapidly revolutionising travel by maximising efficiencies, improving experience and increasing options for the average traveller worldwide and increasingly in the Indian market. Rakshit Desai, Managing Director, FCM Travel Solutions, said, “Digital technology today is rapidly growing. Self-booking tools, travel analytics, Artificial Intelligence and sharing economy services are not only here to stay but hold myriad and exciting possibilities for the future. The report aims to assist organisations that wish to serve today’s digi-smart travellers, understand their needs and make strategic decisions, based on these insights.” Jaideep Ghosh, Partner and Head, Transport, Leisure and Sports, KPMG in India commented, “Globally, technology has penetrated deep into business travel practices — it finds a host of applications in travel, including online booking tools, sharing economy services, travel analytics, virtual assistance, payments and compliance. With this whitepaper, we have set out to explore the concept of smart travellers, technology trends in business travel, their enabling ecosystem, as well as some potentially disrupting developments that could transform business travel landscape.”