Dean Smith
Flight Centre USA President Dean Smith has been given a second title: president of Flight Centre Travel Group for the Americas, which puts him in charge of operations in the U.S. and Canada. Travel Weekly's Kate Rice talked with Smith about his new responsibilities.
Q: How does the new appointment change operations?
A: We're still running both countries independently, which is historically what Flight Centre does. One of the drivers behind the decision is that some of our multinational customers sit across borders, so it's important to have a single view. We are also introducing a number of smaller brands in each market. For example, we have CIEvents, which we introduced in the U.S. but now are introducing in Canada. We are expanding our newest brand, Campus Travel, which is travel for faculty, into the Canadian market. Also, the Americas includes Latin America, and we license the FCm brand in 15 Latin American countries, so we are considering looking for opportunities to expand in the Latin market on the corporate side. On the leisure side, there are synergies, as well. We see similar trends in both markets. Both have leisure customers who recognize the service and value we provide. It makes sense to apply one strategy in both the U.S. and Canada.
Q: What initiatives are you planning?
A: Liberty has a certification program for Europe experts, EuroGuru. We have it as a proof of concept in 11 of our Manhattan stores and have seen a 17% growth in Europe air tickets in stores with EuroGurus, which is higher than what we see in other stores [without EuroGurus]. We see similar growth in other European products, but we use air tickets as a measure. We have run that trial for about six months and are pretty convinced that that certification program is driving a lot of that success. We're going to roll it out across Liberty [Travel], and we have about 300 consultants lined up to go. We have plans for an AussieGuru and an AsiaGuru. This is for Liberty consultants who are already skilled at selling the Caribbean and Mexico and cruise. We think our customers are looking for these skill sets in other destinations, as well. Another example is the Travel Center flagship store model, which we have in New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Los Angeles. We believe it is a really great model for showcasing all of our brands. We look to replicate that in Canada, but we will use Flight Centre as the brand. This is an obvious opportunity to share resources and capabilities. We'll also work with our supply chain to find opportunities that benefit our suppliers, as well.
Q: You started as an agent with Flight Centre in Australia in 1996. What do you think of the channel now and how it's changed?
A: I try to talk to every new employee that we have as they come through our training class in Ramsey, N.J. We probably have 30 new employees a month coming through across Liberty and Gogo, and I tell them that one thing has changed since I started as a travel consultant in 1996. Our job then was to give customers ideas and choices. Today they have all the choices in the world. They are overwhelmed with choices. Our job today is to give them direction. They are coming to us for validation and celebration. We want them to be excited about what they're doing. It's a great thing, a fantastic thing to take a vacation. We direct them on how to take the best vacation. And that resonates with our new people.