One Travel Management Co Happy to Grow Smaller

Media Release 31 May 2006

As the Big Get Bigger, One Travel Management Company Happy to Grow Smaller

While global business travel management companies are rapidly consolidating into a distinctive ‘big five’, one global travel management brand remains committed to ‘growing small’.

Carson Wagonlit Travel, HRG (formerly Hogg Robinson Group), BTI, BCD and American Express Business Travel have all been in a period of rapid expansion and acquisition, with many formerly well known TMC brands now part of these huge groups.

But one TMC, FCm Travel Solutions, is committed to remaining as locally orientated as possible.

In spite of a global reach that often surpasses that of the globally-recognised TMC ‘big guns’, FCm Travel solutions general manager Christian Casbolt said the TMC’s growth pattern and plan is distinctly different to the ‘big 5’.

“We are local first and global second, and our whole business model is built around local accountability.”

Mr Casbolt said FCm Travel Solutions acquisition strategy was primarily designed to better service existing clients with on the ground support in key destinations, including the US, China and India.

“This is a very different approach compared, for example, to Carlson Wagonlit Travel’s recent purchase of Navigant International, which might be seen as more of a brand buyout and came with the assumption of considerable debt.

“We recognised that the trend towards globalisation and centralisation of corporate travel management wasn’t necessarily translating to more benefits for business travellers. So we have deliberately pursued service-oriented acquisitions, who are industry leaders in service in their own right.”

Mr Casbolt said the company’s growth model was principally based on ensuring customer satisfaction and maintaining stability.

“The key for us is that FCm Travel Solutions is the first Australasian based global TMC, and we want to embody the values that make our part of the world so dynamic. With comprehensive representation in over 50 countries, our ability to offer true local expertise coupled with an intensely personal service will keep us apart from the pack.

“This also explains why our business model is as effective for small to medium enterprises (SMEs) as it is for global corporates, and it is the SME market that arguably offers the best growth prospects in the coming years.”

ENDS