The Success of Flight Centre - Essay Example

?To what do you attribute the success of FLIGHT CENTRE? A reputable company which caters for travel needs of individuals throughout the world, who undeniable soared from being a newbie in the travel industry to being one of the best travel agencies which has the most number of retail stores, are a few words to describe Flight Centre. Their first outlet opened in 1981 and the ingenuity of it is owed to Graham Turner, whose life was devoted to give ‘cost conscious travellers…value-for-money travel’ (Superbrands 2010). Flight Centre is a travel agency. The definition of a travel agency is simply an entity that serves as a mediator between the suppliers and the consumers. An agency seeks out rates from these suppliers which can be hotels, resorts, airline companies, car rentals and the like, then consolidates it into one package packed with some sight-seeing trips to tourist attractions then sells it to the possible consumers. The Federation of Tour Operators (2006) views the role of travel agents as giving advises and sells bookings. This has always been the way of Flight Centre, incorporating its aim to provide “value-for-money travel” and offer ‘unbeatable passion and experience, going the extra mile to ensure clients get the best trip at the best price’ (Superbrands 2010). As Flight Centre’s tag-line goes, “unbeatable”, if another travel provider would give a quotation of rates, Flight Centre will also give their own rate which would be hard to beat because of their price, quality, passion and extensive experience in the travel field. Just like any other business, Flight Centre started their venture eight years after Top-Deck, UK based bus company started its operation in 1973; they initially gained success because of providing cheap rates. In nine years time, Turner opened retail stores in United Kingdom, New Zealand and United States of America. Because of what was then a world-wide crisis, the Gulf War, the stores experienced temporary closure but was then reopened after a couple of years. The company also expanded its services to South Africa and Canada, which paved the way for it to conquer a world-wide market. The strength of business establishment outweighs the weaknesses and creates the reason why establishment weathers the changes in the needs and wants of the dynamic world of travel and tourism. As for Flight Centre, there are various aspects why they are experiencing the success envied by others. The company philosophy of volume of margin, the way they create their product with utmost passion and dedication, their well maintained reputation of having an inclination of low-cost travel with value-for-money, their credentials which have been given recognitions and citations by other entities, the continuous pledge for corporate social governance of giving something back to the people, their ingenuity in their marketing campaigns, the way management supports its employees and the work atmosphere are among the countless reasons why they managed to stay on top. There are a lot of sources for a travel agency’s income, from commissions, profit margins, incentives, and auxiliary services like documentations and visa processing. The first two are among the primary source of income. Flight Centre proved itself to be different than the rest; the traveller’s volumes were their driving force to stay on top of all the travel providers in the business. The importance of the number of people they give their services over the profit that they will be making indeed set foot a birth-mark for low-cost travel. They settle for more customers at a lower cost than few customers for a high cost. The success of Flight Centre can be credited to the way the company does its products. They maintained a sense of focus; doing what they do best without being too innovative. There are those who would like to set anew, and there are a few who would take advantage for what they know best, the exact philosophy evolving around this high-ranked company. Turner (2006) stated that, ‘…we (Flight Centre) tend to be followers rather than leaders in innovation…’ The travel consultants of Flight Centre are known for their experience and expertise and because of the geographical factor that the retail outlets are located in different parts of the globe; it is safer if they would be following the trends arising than to introduce something new. And this way of thinking works well with the company, since they have a large number of loyal customers. The brand has countless of awards and citations given by various entities. And over the years have enjoyed being dubbed as ‘the Best of Joburg readers’ survey for ten years in a row…also claims the top spot in the Top Ten Deloitte Best Company to Work for survey since 2003…’ (Superbrands 2010). Their websites provides the readers an idea of the corporate image projected by Flight Centre, that they not only care about gaining profit henceforth gives equal rewards and recognitions to their staff and gives their fair share of commitment to the society, which is commonly known as corporate social responsibility. Through the years, the company has created countless of civic projects that gave support for the community. A current CSR project of Flight Centre which is known as “Help for Heroes” continuously raises monetary support for the benefit of the armed forces members, who suffered injuries while servicing their homeland. Based from their UK website (2011) ‘(during)… first two years H4H raised over ?34 million, which has enabled a state of the art gym and swimming pool complex at Headley Court. H4H is now setting up Personnel Recovery Centres across the country to help wounded Servicemen and women rebuild their lives.’ The company claims that the H4H does not need to be intrigued with a political agenda; the company simply wants to give back something the community. It is not only the company who initiates such CSR, even the employees themselves shows their concern with the community. Travel Trade Gazette UK (2009) announced that, this act was actually commended by the government of UK and received a Gold Quality Mark Award. Because more than 10% of the company’s employees voluntarily signed-up to donate ?10,000 to the foundation of their choice. Unlike other companies who are hard-to-deal with regards to giving out donations, Flight Centre has a kind-heart to the needy people of the society. Another factor which attributes to the success of Flight Centre is the way they take advertising and promotions seriously. They not only rely on the usual television and print ads but also exercise extensive advertisements thru the fastest available and most effective one, the internet. In 2010, the company had purchased gapyear.com, a UK website in addition to its other web brands such as roundtheworldexperts.co.uk. Showing their interest for marketing, they also depend on the word-of-mouth, having a large niche market, repeat business is high. Their customers are loyal ones who share their fun experience with the company to their peer group, which has been beneficial for the company’s growing market. Their matchless label “unbeatable” is well thought off. It’s hard to beat someone that is “unbeatable”. Their promo’s which includes the “we will beat any airline or web quote or you fly for free” is undeniably brilliant. Hadley (2007) quoted ‘It (unbeatable slogan) is one of the largest marketing campaigns ever carried out by the retailer, which will see television commercials, billboard advertising, online advertising and in-shop banners push the slogan "We'll go out of our way for you".’ Colin Bowman, Marketing General Manager explained, “"It is effectively saying that we believe we have the best available prices, but if you happen to find a cheaper price, we'll beat it." Caring for the customers and treating each member of the team as family, is another thriving element for the success of this “unbeatable” brand. Kirby and Jones (2004) claims that “the company bases much of its success on an ‘anthropological’ business model…staff divided into ‘families’, ‘villages’ and ‘tribes’…” They are working on the aspects of a family who goes along well together as a small unit, and treats a section as a village that hand in hand helps each other to grow, the main reasons why the company has a reputation of having a fun working environment and a ‘family atmosphere’ (Kirby and Jones 2004). Their excellent managerial structure, using a flat management instead of the common organizational pyramid, promotes a sense of belonging. The employees are trained to be accountable and dependable. There are no secretaries; even Turner himself has no personal secretary, no fancy offices, and no receptionist whatsoever. This kind of structure allows the open line of communication among the members of the company. The employees feel that they are part of the business and not treated as only mere slaves. All the employees can have a share in business profit, they have a form of remuneration structure; “focused not only on their performance but the performance of the business were they are a part of…” (Kirby & Jones 2004). Aside from their salary, the employees have a share of the company’s profit and equally distributed to the entire company. All this makes Flight Centre an indestructible company, that can sustain the ups and downs of the economy and retain their rein as the most trusted brand of travel provider in the world. Work Cited Flight Centre the Unbeatable 2011, Superbrands, South Africa, viewed 26 July 2011, An explanation of the roles and functions of tour operators and travel agents 2006, Federation of Tour Operators, United Kingdom, viewed 26 July 2011, Hadley, M 2007, ‘Flight Centre price pledge’, Travel Weekly Australia Reed Business Information, p. 1. Kirby, A & Jones, A 2004, ‘Family Fortunes at Flight Centre’, Human Resource Management International Digest, vol.12, no.6, pp.33-34. Turner, G & Teare, R 2006, ‘Reflections on Leadership’, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol.18, no.6, pp.519-523. Gill, R 2010, ‘Flight Centre set for best-ever year’, Travel Trade Gazette UK & Ireland, pp. 33-34. Caroll, D 2008, ‘Flight Centre’, Travel Weekly Australia Reed Business Information, p.13. Flight Centre staff are most charitable 2009, Travel Trade Gazette UK & Ireland, p.14. Why Work at Flight Centre 2011, Flight Centre, United Kingdom, viewed 26 July, 2011, About Us 2011, Flight Centre, Australia, viewed 26 July, 2011, Read More