FLIGHT Centre is going full swing with its expansion plans in Singapore, revealing that it hopes to grow from the current three to 10 or 12 physical stores within the city-state in the next five years.
“Typically, we would open at least a store a year, sometimes two a year,” said Suyin Lee, managing director of Flight Centre Travel Group, adding that they are looking at a space at The South Beach, as well as scouting for locations at Holland Village and Jurong East.
Despite being in a digital age, brick and mortar establishments are still a big part of the agency’s awareness and service strategies. “Physical stores take up a fair bit of investment, but it is important for our customers to know that we exist and to have that assurance that they can see someone if they need to,” said Lee.
“OTAs bring new challenges in terms of price competitiveness, but at the end of the day, our customers can still book online for point to point fares on our website, and if they have more complex itineraries or if they want to talk to a real person to ask for advice, we offer that and nothing beats face-to-face interaction.”
Lee explained that a greater push into the leisure market here is also expected as a result of opening more retail outlets.
“When Flight Centre first came to Singapore, it was 100 per cent corporate travel. That was how we entered the market. It was only in 2011 when we opened our first physical store, and now, leisure takes up about 25 per cent of our total travel revenue,” she said.
