Flight Centre Travel Group staged its annual Flichella 2025 event on 5 July, welcoming 4,000 Flighties from around Australia along with key suppliers to the Brisbane Showgrounds to get down to an ‘All Aussie Muster’ theme for the end-of-financial-year conference and celebration.
In addition, FCTG invited 250 staff for a Founders’ Dinner at Flight Centre HQ in Brisbane on 4 July, recognising team members with 25 years’ service.
Topdeck Travel/Flight Centre Founders Bill James and Geoff Harris spoke at the Founders’ Dinner event.
James talked about the uniqueness and special culture at FCTG, saying that people didn’t work for Flight Centre, they were Flight Centre.
He said staff had a physical and emotional equity in the business as well as a large number being shareholders.
What happened at Flichella 2025?
For the fourth annual Flichella 2025 music festival event, some FCTG stores across Australia closed for the day or operated on reduced hours as the social post went up, announcing Flight Centre was away celebrating its people.
Preceding the main event from 3–10pm were pre-celebration Brand Meetings, bringing national teams together for impactful conferences with some team members meeting for the first time.
Brisbane Showgrounds, home of the Ekka, was the host location for Flichella 2025 with main arena entertainment featuring a display of horsemanship with a bison, horses, ponies and donkeys, including a horse in a car.
This year’s theme got everyone in the mood with some amazing cowboy and cowgirl costumes on show and many businesses dressed in brand colours, such as purple for Travel Associates and blue for Cruiseabout.
The carnival rides were on, the drinks were flowing, and the Brisbane Showgrounds were lit up with activations from major sponsors, such as lucky seat prizes from Europ Assistance and Singapore Airlines, a silent disco and more.
Some lucky Flighties also walked away with other amazing prizes, such as Flight Centre Kawana Senior Consultant (and Destination Canada Radical Ambassador) Kaitlyn Jensen, who won $1 million Velocity Points for her creative entry in a Workplace competition.
Flighties were able to ride the Ferris wheel, dodgem cars and a bucking bull machine, which proved popular with the crowd.
Carnival-style food included chicken wings, burgers and fries, and attendees were also encouraged to bring reusable water bottles to use at water stations.
The night’s main stage entertainment was Brisbane band Lime Cordiale, modern country/bluegrass six-piece Open Season Band and Australian Rock Collective (ARC) – a supergroup featuring Aussie legends from Powderfinger, Spiderbait, Jet and You Am I.
Global Corporate Traveller Managing Director (and the Captain) Tom Walley was on MC duties, while Europ Assistance Partnerships Managers Renee Barry and Joel McGivern (and a Tina Turner impersonator) led the 4,000-strong crowd to dance the “Nutbush” in a world-record attempt.
The overall sentiment was that this year’s Flichella was full of positive vibes, with the ‘Muster’ theme bringing all the businesses from around the country together as one.
Every year, Flichella is an amazing logistical feat with FCM Meetings & Events organising the brand meetings and main event, coordinating the transport of FCTG staff to Brisbane and hosting them in more than 20 different hotels.
It follows on from last year’s Boogie Wonderland-themed Flichella, which hosted 2,959 team members at Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre (BCEC), and saw 99 per cent of Flighties in attendance dressed up in sequins, boas and ‘70s attire.
Next up is Global Gathering 2025, held in Los Angeles from 11–13 July 2025. Stay tuned for our coverage of FCTG’s annual conference event!
