Massive growth for ETG

THE Express Travel Group has seen huge expansion over the last 12 months, with ceo Tom Manwaring this morning detailing an overall 42% growth in Total Transaction Value in FY2017.

Speaking at the Independent Travel Group Forum in Kuala Lumpur, Manwaring said the growth was “quite frankly unbelievable” and reflected significant expansion in membership numbers across the italktravel, Independent and Select Travel Groups.

The number of airline tickets sold through the group jumped 25% during the year, while TTV on land, cruise and ancillary sales surged a whopping 81%.

Overall membership of the Express Travel Group has increased by 94 new businesses in the last twelve months, with significant additions in every state including a presence in ACT and Tasmania for the first time.

ETG head office now has 94 staff supporting 362 Independent Travel Group members and a total network of 742 agencies, Manwaring confirmed.

The company’s executive gm Ari Magoutis outlined a range of key enhancements to the ETG offering, with a focus on “sustainable growth and profitability for our members”.

Initiatives include an updated Book Safe Agent insurance policy through Gow-Gates insurance, guaranteed quarterly payment dates for land overrides, and the addition of tax inclusive pricing within the Express Fares platform.

More from Kuala Lumpur on p4.