FCm Travel Going for Growth Through New Regional Strategy

Asia Pacific based global travel management consultancy, FCm Travel Solutions, is aggressively pursuing further expansion in the region after achieving record growth in 2007/2008.

The company is implementing a new business strategy for Asia Pacific, which includes building on its wholly-owned regional sales operation in Singapore by creating full customer servicing, account management and sales resources to manage its growing client base.

FCm’s general manager Asia Pacific, Ms Suyin Lee, said the company was focused on strengthening its own operations in Singapore, because it was seen as a key market for future regional expansion.

“Singapore is an important market for regional business, and it is essential that we have a solid equity-based presence here,” Ms Lee said. “FCm has had a very strong year and we are looking to maintain our momentum, even in the softer economic environment and corporate market that currently exists.”

The expansion of FCm’s wholly-owned operations in Singapore forms part of the company’s global growth strategy for the next 12 months, which Ms Lee said would be a time of opportunity for FCm in Asia Pacific.

“2009 will be the year for companies to consolidate their travel costs, and the most effective way to do this is to work with a travel management consultancy. TMCs have the strategic focus, the industry knowledge, and the supplier relationships to achieve the best long-term savings for corporates,” she said.

“Across Asia Pacific, we have seen a definite increase in companies’ awareness of the value TMCs can provide, which is over and above the perceived value of booking travel through smaller, traditional agencies. Often these agencies will not analyse a company’s travel patterns, or provide volume-driven savings, or undertake reporting so the company can track and control its spend.

“In Singapore and throughout Asia Pacific, we are finding that FCm’s culture of having dedicated and small servicing teams is effectively meeting the needs of the market. Our clients benefit from one-to-one strategic consultancy, while still accessing the cost/rate benefits we can deliver,” she said.

“The mid market has responded well to our culture and we have experienced good growth in this area, but the future is also about building our business in the multinational sector.

“With our network expansion and acquisitions over the past two years, we’ve strengthened our multinational reach and service capabilities, and our plan is to keep this momentum going while staying focused on our core business.”

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