Flight Centre Tours has launched in Australia with two guided itineraries for 2026 – Japan and Vietnam – so naturally, we wanted to know more. In an exclusive chat with Karryon, Flight Centre Global Managing Director Andrew Stark shares the premise, positioning and vision for FC-branded tour packages.
Flight Centre Tours is an evolution, Stark says, expanding on the Flight Centre-branded product range that includes the Captain’s Pack bookings add-on, gift cards and recently launched Flight Centre Insurance, and complementing partner product offerings.
“For the Flight Centre brand, we’ve seen 25 per cent growth in cruise and touring over the last two years, which are both very strong categories for us,” he said.
“We saw an opportunity and the next step was to own our own product range, something bespoke and unique to Flight Centre, working with our internal partners, [Asian destination marketing company] Discova and Ignite Travel, to manufacture these two itineraries for Japan and Vietnam.
“It’s not too dissimilar to what we’ve been doing with Discova in Bali or Fiji when you book a Flight Centre product through Ignite or an Ignite product through Flight Centre. We’re using our internal infrastructure to curate, design and probably host these tours,” he said.
Owning and growing the touring category
So, regarding key touring partners, where does Flight Centre Tours fit in the mix? Stark said the branded product should be complementary to the in-market offerings.
“For Flight Centre, it was to complement an already growing category and, obviously, our existing supply chain, and we certainly had conversations with our key touring partners in this regard,” Stark said.
“We’ve had really open dialogue with Global Touring, Intrepid, G Adventures and TTC Tour Brands, as in, what could the future look like?
“For us, it’s a growing category, and to be fair, Flight Centre Tours is in its infancy stages – it’s really, really small with six departures in 2026,” he said.
Consumer demand for curated tour packages
FC Tours will debut with two guided tour packages in 2026 for Japan and Vietnam – exclusive to the brand – featuring bonus inclusions handpicked by internal experts.
Sound familiar? Stark confirms Flight Centre Tours is positioned as a category driver with a lead-in price structure, set dates, value-adds and a price point to take on TripADeal and similar products.
It’s also designed for younger travellers aged 25–55 years, leveraging the appeal of two trending destinations.
“We’ve seen a change in booking behaviour patterns away from the UK and Europe to Asia products. Japan and Vietnam have had a good runway in the last 18 months, and future projections suggest they’ll continue to do well – there’s value for money, shorter trip durations and some decent price points,” he said.
“We certainly see the uptake on other worthy rivals outside of the Flight Centre Travel Group pillar, and there are certainly insights, but there’s also entrepreneurial gut feel that needs to go into testing.”
Positive feedback for unique, specialised product
Stark said the initial response to the launch has been very positive with good enquiry and booking numbers.
“I think it bodes well for future products, longer term, which could see more products come to market in the coming months,” he said.
“You can see that evolution, but we need to guardrail that we do these initiatives within our existing partner network.
“This is not something we are building ourselves, but we’re certainly working with our key global touring and cruising partners.
“The long-term plan for all of us is going to be unique, specialised product – that’s what customers are after.
“So, we’re testing and learning. We’re talking about six departures and testing two markets that we know will sell very well and then we’ll watch the space to see what comes next.”
For more info, head to flightcentre.com.au
