Australia's FCm to enter India leisure travel

Until now the Rs 2,000 crore India business has been focused on the corporate travel segment

Australia-headquartered FCm Travel Solutions, operating in India for three decades, is looking to grab a bigger share of the tourism pie here by tapping the leisure travel segment.

Till now, the Rs 2,000 crore India business has been focusing on the corporate travel segment. Of its total turnover in India, Rs 100 crore comes from the leisure segment.

In the next few months, the company’s agenda is to create brand awareness among travellers.

“Nobody knows us though we do significant business and have had a long presence in India. The travel scene in India has evolved over the past few years only, so we will make the most of this opportunity,” said Rakshit Desai, managing director, FCm India.

To tap into the leisure segment, FCm will triple its retail presence across India from 12 to 36 stores over the next three years. To begin with, the company will tap into its corporate travel segment to serve their leisure needs as well. It will also add 200-300 people to its workforce of over 1,100 employees. “We want to reduce the number of reasons for our customers to go to someone else for their travel needs,” Desai added.

Corporate travel itself has taken a hit due to economic slowdown and poor business sentiment. Even though the sentiment has improved of late, companies are yet to see an increase in travel activities. Leisure travel, on the other hand, has still seen growth and is expected to grow even further in both domestic and outbound segment. Desai said: “In corporate travel, we are always under pressure to provide the most value for money; in leisure, on the other hand, we are seeing that the bargaining pressure is receding.”

While acquiring companies is a faster way to grow, the travel firm has not found any viable options for such inorganic growth yet. Currently, FCm India contributes only two or three per cent to the global business, which is spread across 87 countries. However, with the leisure foray, the share is expected to go up a few notches in the coming years.

The firm was started by two veterinarians - Graham Turner and Geoff Lomas - in 1973 with an investment in an ageing double-decker bus which provided trips around Europe, North Africa and Asia.