New FCTG cruise brand

FLIGHT Centre will this week launch a new “Cruise Boutique” through its Travel Associates (TA) network, with the move seeing the return of a dedicated cruise brand to the group following last year’s controversial demise of Cruiseabout (TD 22 Feb 2018).

Speaking exclusively to Travel Daily, Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG) General Manager of Premium Leisure Brands Danielle Galloway spoke of the group’s desire to make cruise a focus for both Travel Associates and FCTG.

“We’ve spent a good amount of time on our brand journey over the next one to five years... and really mapped out our core and transformational strategies that will differentiate us in the market,” Galloway said.

“Part of the strategy was to move forward with a smaller but stronger network of brands across Flight Centre.

However “the Cruiseabout brand was a strong one within the market, and we definitely saw an immediate impact in terms of a decline in cruise sales and I think that’s evident that cruise customers want to walk into that specialised cruise business,” Galloway said.

“The forecast going into the new year is that sales will be back up to 2017 levels...we believe it’s a perfect opportunity for us to really focus in on this growth strategy under Travel Associates.”

“Our suppliers loved Cruiseabout and they’re incredibly excited about the launch of the Cruise Boutique... they’re excited about the delivery of a dedicated product.”

The Cruise Boutique will be formally unveiled to industry partners tomorrow, before a wider client-facing rollout on Thu.