Flight Centre Travel Group to open 23 Flight Shop stores

Australia-headquartered travel firm, Flight Centre Travel Group will open 23 stores across the country by June 2017 as part of its expansion plans in the country, says a PTI report.

"We will be opening 23 new Flight Shop stores across the country by June 2017. We will be investing around Rs 20 crore for these stores," FCm Travel Solutions and Flight Shop Managing Director India Rakshit Desai told PTI.

FCm Travel Solutions and Flight Shop are part of Flight Centre Travel Group.

The new stores would be in top ten cities in the country. They would be in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Vadodara and Kolkata in addition to Delhi, Mumbai and Pune, he added.

Asked how the company plans to raise funds for the expansion, Desai said: "It will be through a combination of internal accruals and equity."

Highlighting the need for such stores, Desai added: "The leisure travel sector in India is growing at a rate of over 15 per cent every year. The globe-trotting Indian, through his travel experiences and greater access to multiple sources of information, is on the look-out for nuanced travel offerings."

Flight Shop retail business currently has 13 stores.

"From helping one design a personalised travel itinerary, to handling any hassles consumers might face during their travel, Flight Shop's in-store travel experts bring a nuances understanding of customer needs and local market demands, a work-ethos encompassing prompt hospitality, passion for travel and global standards of service deliver," Flight Shop National Brand Leader India Vicki Parris said.

Flight Centre is the signature retail travel brand of the Flight Centre Travel Group portfolio. It is present in 11 countries around the world and is labelled as Flight Shop in India.