Flight Shop and Travel Money, the retail travel and foreign exchange brands of Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG), Australia, in India, have opened their first retail store in Ludhiana. With the launch of this store, FCTG, Australia now has 16 operational Flight Shop and Travel Money stores across India. Spread over 900 sq ft, the Flight Shop outlet in Ludhiana is located at a prime location of Pakhowal Road, and will cater to the needs of upmarket urban consumers – families, business travellers, honeymoon couples and groups of travellers. The new retail outlet will offer travellers Flight Shop’s entire range of products and services – domestic and international flights, customised and group holidays, hotels, car transfers, visa, cruise holidays, honeymoon holidays, adventure holidays and more. Along with these, Travel Money will cater to all foreign exchange needs, ranging from currency, traveller’s cheques, multi-currency forex cards and remittance.
According to an Ernst & Young India study titled ‘India’s Growth Paradigm: How markets beyond metros have transformed’, Ludhiana is projected to be as one of the emerging 42 new wave cities in the country. As the largest city in Punjab and a major industrial center in North India, Ludhiana witnesses large volumes across outbound, inbound and domestic sectors for both business and leisure travellers.
Shravan Gupta, executive director – leisure businesses, FCM Travel Solutions India (the Indian arm of Flight Centre Travel Group, Australia) said, “It gives us immense pleasure to launch our first retail store in Ludhiana. We are extremely thrilled to extend our Flight Shop offerings of unbeatable deals and our expertise in providing unmatched travel experiences to our customers in the city. Travel Money India will aim to provide convenient currency exchange, live rate tracking desk and will facilitate remittance for education, family, employment and medical purposes to our patrons.”
He further added, “Punjab is a key market for us, the trio of Chandigarh, Jalandhar and Ludhiana together accounts for high travel volumes from the region. An affluent city with high disposable income, Ludhiana is catching on to the trend of two to three trips a year. We see the city as a high potential market with significant travel spends across leisure and business sectors. USA and Canada being the most popular destinations amongst travellers from Punjab, while vogue cities like London and Paris also witness a large number of holiday bookings.”
Flight Shop and Travel Money’s current footprint extends to 16 stores across Mumbai, Delhi, Chandigarh, Jalandhar, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Pune, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kochi and Ludhiana via a combination of owned branches and newly opened franchise outlets. FCTG, Australia plans to open 50 more Flight Shop stores across the country in the next two to three years.
