FCM launches Marketplace travel content gateway

RAFFLES PLACE, Singapore - July 24, 2019 - PRLog -- FCM Travel Solutions has created Marketplace, a virtual gateway to the travel management company's extensive proprietary and specially-negotiated air fares, hotel rates, car rental and rail booking options. The move underpins FCM's approach to giving customers access to the widest choice of business travel content via multi-channel online and offline sources from across its global network.

A key driver within Marketplace is FCM's team of over 500 global travel procurement specialists, one of the largest content teams in the travel industry. Each team member is responsible for a specific sector of supplier relations, from air and hotel to rail and ground transport and has at least 10 years' experience in supplier negotiations. The team leverages FCM parent company Flight Centre Travel Group's global stature, which includes US$11 billion air revenue and 5 million rail transactions, to ensure customers gain the best savings and tailored content for their travel programme.

"Understanding and knowing what our customers want, being able to provide them with those demands within the marketplace ecosystem, is critical to our success," says Bertrand Saillet, Managing Director, Asia. "Asia is a fragmented market and we understand the intricacies of this market's B2B2C sales cycle. With increasing challenges in the distribution landscape due to the disruption of new entrants in the market and online travel agencies, corporates find themselves battling with cost and complexities of their travel programmes on a daily basis," added Saillet.

As a result of the team's negotiation power, FCM clients have access to specialist fares from 420 airline partners, 112 global rail providers, and car hire deals in 97 countries. The expertise of FCM's procurement team, combined with that of dedicated travel consultants managing individual booking requirements, results in an average saving of 12 per cent on air tickets within FCM clients' global travel programmes. In terms of hotels, Marketplace offers 20 million room rates including 5M negotiated rates at 650,000 properties globally and 2.3M exclusive promotional room night rates at 60 hotel brands worldwide. This unrivalled range of travel content options is available to FCM customers via any of the travel management company's online and offline booking channels.

"Marketplace is consolidating all content in one place. It gives our customers complete access to FCM's exclusive and vast range of global content. Through Marketplace, travel buyers can be assured of getting the best value, the widest choice of air content, hotel rates, price parity across channels and so on, in order to achieve cost-savings and ROI on their travel programme. Through Marketplace, travel buyers can provide a diversity of choices for their travellers and be safe in the knowledge that they can capture data from all bookings made in order to satisfy duty of care," concluded Parris.

https://www.fcmtravel.com/en-sg