FLIGHT Centre held its 9th Travel
Expo at the Coca-Cola Dome in
Northgate on February 9 and 10,
achieving record sales and visitor
numbers.
Andrew Stark¸ md of Flight Centre
Travel Group (FCTG), said over 30 000
visitors had passed through the
Expo doors over the two days,
9 000 more than in 2018.
“It’s one thing to have visitor
numbers but the visitors also need to
spend money,” said Andrew. FCTG had
processed over R50 million in sales
over the weekend, 40% up from 2018
expo figures, he told TNW.
The top five destinations at the expo
were Mauritius, Thailand, Australia, the
US and Indonesia. Andrew said the
demand for international packages,
which accounted for 70% of sales, had
exceeded his expectations once again.
The top-selling airlines were longhaul, full-service carriers, including
British Airways, Singapore Airlines,
SAA, Emirates and Virgin Atlantic.
Andrew said each of these airlines
had achieved more than 60% growth
compared with 2018 Expo sales.
Of the Expo sales, 60% were made
up of cruise and package holidays.
Andrew said clients were booking
unique package experiences that they
couldn’t find elsewhere. Cruising alone
was up by 35%.
The Expo boasted over 500 exclusive
deals for the weekend. Clients now
knew the drill, said Andrew. They did
their research before the Expo so that
they were ready to book and pay on
the day. As a result, queues stretched
the length of the Dome on both days,
with clients waiting up to an hour and
three-quarters to speak to the 130
Flight Centre consultants processing
bookings.
“The key is the deals we negotiate
for the Expo. Clients know that we
are offering unique product
experiences that are not replications
of anything else available online,”
said Andrew.
Over 190 Flight Centre preferred
suppliers exhibited. The
awards for best stand
design went to Development
Promotions in first place, SA
Tourism in second place and
KLM and Air France tying with
MSC Cruises in third place.
“For the last nine years the
Expo has stimulated South
Africans’ desire to travel. The
results continue to exceed
our expectations year after
year. We know for a fact
that the Expo also results
in spin-off bookings for our
competitors. This year’s sales
make it clear that South
Africans are not only still
travelling but are upping the
type of experiences that they
are booking. This bodes very
well for the year,” concluded
Andrew.
