Travel Partners eyes 1,000

TRAVEL Partners is plotting massive growth for the network under its Flight Centre Travel Group ownership, with the brand setting a long-term goal to reach 1,000 agents in its network.

The network currently has a total of 276 agents, comprising a 149 mobile agents and 127 members outlets, General Manager Kate Cameron told Travel Daily at the group’s annual conference, held in Bangkok over the weekend.

Travel Partners is on track to reach 300 agents by the end of the financial year, with Cameron noting that the COVID-19 outbreak would have an impact on the speed the group achieved these long-term goals.

“We will get through it and then the plans will resume,” Cameron told Travel Daily.

“I think at the moment we’ve just got to bed down and look after the guys that we’ve got... and then from there, yes obviously we will go back into growth mode,” she said.

Prior to COVID-19, Travel Partners was on track to achieve its Total Transaction Value (TTV) goal of $160 million this financial year, up from $120 million last year.

In Jan, the group was halfway to its TTV and profit goals for the financial year and in Feb had its largest month ever for profit and TTV.

“Had COVID-19 not happened, I think we would have really smashed our targets,” Cameron told Travel Daily.

Travel Partners was acquired by Flight Centre Travel Group in Aug 2017 (TD 07 Aug 2017), at which point it had 74 people in the network and a TTV of about $60 million (TD 18 Mar 2019).

The group grew its TTV to $111 million and 200 mobile members by Feb 2019.