The Australian-based firm said it was seeing “stronger demand for human service and advice in a more complex environment” as travel recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic.
“This added complexity plays to Flight Centre’s strengths in both the leisure and corporate sectors and is fuelling a renaissance of the travel advisor as travellers seek expert advice,” said the company as it announced its annual results.
“To better service this demand, the company has continued to target experienced travel agents who were displaced during the pandemic, while also reinitiating its novice recruitment programmes at scale.”
Flight Centre made a “modest” underlying profit between January and June 2022, which was driven by a “rapid recovery” in both leisure and business travel demand in recent months.
Chief executive Graham Turner said: “Travel demand has recovered rapidly since most governments globally removed or relaxed border restrictions and we have started the new fiscal year with strong momentum.
“In the leisure sector, we are generally gaining share in our core markets, increasing productivity and capturing more sales through highly scalable channels and models.
“It is, of course, early days in the recovery and there is still considerable upside potential.”
This recovery allowed Flight Centre to cut its “underlying” loss to Aus$183 million (£108m) for the year to 30 June 2022, compared with a loss of Aus$338 million (£200m) in the previous year. The company’s revenue rose by 154 per cent from Aus$396 million (£233m) last year to Aus$1 billion (£590m) in 2022.
Turner added that while the cost of living was increasing in its markets, there were offsetting factors, such as low unemployment levels and travel’s “proven resilience”.
“Customers have both the means and the desire to make the most of their limited vacation time after being denied that opportunity for some two years,” he said.
