FCM targets 50% recovery

FLIGHT Centre Travel Group’s FCM Travel corporate division says it is expecting a significant recovery in its global corporate travel business by the end of 2021.

FCM said with vaccination programs well under way in key markets and gaining momentum, profitability remains on track to return late in the year.

At the end of Apr activity was tracking at 29% of pre-COVID levels but organic growth was looking strong, driven by high customer retention rates and recent account wins including Procter & Gamble and Atos.

“Based on early signs that vaccines are effective at preventing symptomatic infection, and with healthy vaccine rollout rates in key markets such as Australia, NZ, the US and UK, we expect health risks to reduce,” said FCM Global MD Marcus Eklund.

“In the absence of disruptions such as new strains, this should lead to an easing of governmentimposed restrictions on domestic and international travel, and a partial rebound of the global business travel market by year end.

“Based on our experiences, travel immediately rises by 20-30% when restrictions are relaxed,” Eklund noted.

He predicted that mining, construction, pharma, energy, resources, FMCG manufacturing supply chains and governments would continue to drive early growth in travel activity this year, having been responsible for much of the limited travel undertaken during the first year of COVID-19.

Eklund also forecast that consolidation and structural change in the TMC market would also impact confidence in business travel.

“It is essential for the corporate travel industry to be highly adaptable to rapid change...it must also offer a greater number of services in health, safety and customer communication, and expedite delivery, to remain relevant in this environment.

“These are the areas we have focused on and invested heavily in for the benefit of our customers during the pandemic and during the recovery phase.”