Luxury Travel Collection was officially launched last night in Sydney, celebrating its foundation members. Karryon was in attendance to hear more about FCTG’s plans in the luxury space.
Last night, The Luxury Travel Collection (LTC) gathered and welcomed its foundation members, trade partners, and select media at a launch event at Sydney’s Sofitel Darling Harbour.
The Luxury Travel Collection is part of Flight Centre Travel Group’s Luxury Leisure Travel Division, which houses global luxury travel brands, including Travel Associates and Scott Dunn, independent businesses, and the industry showcase event Luxperience.
The invite-only LTC member portfolio of independent luxury leisure travel specialists includes Home Travel Company’s Robyn and Murray Sinfield; Emma Whiting Travel & Cruise; Carole and Phil Smethurst of Bicton Travel and ClaremontTravel & Cruise; Destination HQ’s Stuart Ingram; Travel Experts’ Stephen Green; and Hilary and Holly Weir of Dream Maker Travel.
Danielle Galloway, FCTG’s Global Managing Director of Luxury and Independent Brands, addressed the crowd and explained the inspiration behind FCTG’s Luxury Leisure Travel Division.
“Our inspiration stemmed from the Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy (LVMH) House, which, while they’ve got gorgeous handbags, also have an incredible philosophy. They have 75 maison brands within them. We did a lot of research as a team and spent a lot of time working through basically all of their insights.
“What was really interesting about their success has been that they brought together distinctive brands, and they’re all different, they’ve all got their uniqueness – and they’ve all been an absolute powerhouse in the luxury space,” said Galloway.
“That led us to that inspiration for travel, really, and to become the luxury house of travel. You’ll continue to hear us referring to that as we look on our pathway, not just locally but also globally. We will quickly expand the luxury house into New Zealand, the US and also Canada.
“Skroo (Turner) was very passionate about opening the world for those who want to see, and he, well, he really struggles to still say the word ‘luxury’ – I’m not going to lie – but he’s saying it, so we’re very proud of him!”
“He would love to be here tonight because he’s such a huge supporter…. he’s incredibly proud of what we’re doing in the independent space and the fact that we are actually opening the doors early on and bringing in other luxury leaders into the family and creating something that is not just led from the Flight Centre Travel Group or what we’re doing, but it’s actually led with the leaders that are in this room tonight.”
“Those leaders will continue this membership group will grow… you can only imagine what Nikki Glading has in stall. That growth pathway won’t just be from additional members – it will also be from additional acquisitions that we have in the pathway as well as a whole stack of other partnerships,” said Galloway.
Growth plans
Galloway spoke about the FCTG team’s extensive research to ensure their luxury offering was different in the marketplace.
She shared with the group some of the elements that are going to be core to FCTG’s investment and their plans to grow their luxury travel house.
- “The travellers’ end-to-end experience: “While they’re on trips, from the booking process all the way through to the end.”
- The bespoke product gallery: “It’s not just about having product connections; it’s having the flight product connections and actually really building some bespoke product for our high net worth customers.”
- Exceptional events: These are really important and key to our clients and members. You will all be aware that we are launching… a luxury consumer event on the Gold Coast, which follows our Sydney event. We’ll have all these wonderful members in the room, and it’s a great opportunity to win that high-net-worth customer, whether you’re a partner or a member of the luxury travel house.”
- Loyalty: “Many of you will know that we’re doing a lot of work at the moment across leisure and business loyalty, and we’ve got some really exciting things to share with you as we expand our business into a loyalty market…. that will be at the epicentre of what we’re doing in the luxury travel house.”
- Productivity and technology: “We want to ensure we’ve made some good investments and acquisitions in the luxury space. Flight Centre is now well and truly on board with luxury.”
- Luxury Partnerships: “There’s some really exciting things that you can do with partnerships and marketing – you see some highly successful brands doing some incredible things in partnerships. We really want to lead the way in that luxury space and bring some exciting things to the forefront that will bring some wonderful high net-worth customers into our community.”
Nikki Glading, the Luxury Travel Collection General Manager, also spoke to the group, thanking all guests and partners, as well as the evening’s event sponsors, Regent Seven Seas Cruises and Oceania Cruises.
For more information, visit luxurytravelcollection.co
