Later this year, Flight Centre will launch a global booking tool that will house over 900 000 properties, giving ITCs access to deals across the world. Its ITCs will soon benefit from negotiated deals that Flight Centre has in place with third-party suppliers as well as automated competitor analysis, placing them in a greater position to consistently offer clients the most competitive rates. According to Chantal Gouws, GM of Independent Brands at Flight Centre, it’s access to these global deals that makes Flight Centre stand out. “Our product teams work tirelessly to ensure that our ITCs have access to phenomenal global deals, which they can leverage at all times, ensuring that quality travel products are quoted at a competitive price.”
Flight Centre’s ecosystem of tools and systems is accessed via an agent portal called Home, which ensures that its ITCs are empowered with a host of key functions, enabling them to have a holistic overview of the business with real-time data, enhanced reporting, and access to preferred suppliers, unlocking great returns as part of its preferred partner strategy. This allows Flight Centre to pay overrides from Rand One, ensuring that earning potential is always maximised.
Home also houses Helio – a booking system with several plugins. Gouws say one of Flight Centre’s favourite plugins is Umapped, which is a collaborative trip management tool that brings travel documentation to life. “This has been a game-changer from an aesthetics perspective and enables ITCs and their clients to effectively manage their travel.”
Within Home, ITCs have access to various B2B travel portals ensuring that they leverage negotiated rates, and diverse travel products to cater for various travel requests across leisure and corporate travel. Additionally, training and development are a key focus for the Flight Centre Independents brand and a travel library can be located within the Home portal, affording ITCs access to information and documentation to support them and help them grow their business, thus setting them up for success.