WHO’S IN THE BUSINESS?

In a sector dominated by airlines only two franchised businesses make much of a dent in the market share.

Accor, the Australian subsidiary of the French multinational hotel group AccorHotels, has 1 per cent of the tourism market but is the major player in the hotel sector, holding 14.3 per cent of the market.

Accor has the Sofitel, Novotel, Mercure and ibis brands, as well as the Mantra, Peppers, BreakFree and Art Series brands in its hotel portfolio.

Providing hotel quarantine and a rise in domestic travel since the second quarter of 2020–21 have both helped the company through the pandemic.

Flight Centre Travel also has a 1 per cent market share. The Australian publicly-listed company is the largest player in the travel agency and tour arrangement services industry.

It operates a diversified range of travel agency brands including Flight Centre, Student Universe, Travel Associates and Corporate Traveller. Flight Centre owns online travel agency BYOJet and Aunt Betty.

As a result of Covid, the company has closed more than 100 underperforming stores in Australia and reduced employee numbers.