FCM Travel has announced a $20 million global investment in its meetings and events division to target worldwide growth.
Simone Seiler, General Manager at FCM Meetings & Events Global, explained that the business was repositioning worldwide to deliver a unified offering, leveraging itself as a subsidiary of FCM Travel and harnessing its global scale but with regional customisation.
“Globalising the FCM M&E business will allow us to add consistency and scale for customers looking for a global meetings and events provider, with hub offices in all four regions, global consistency but with local nuance to understand specific client needs,” said Seiler.
“Australia, India and Mexico are currently thriving for us and we really see North America, Asia and Europe as key regions with the largest opportunities for growth,” she continued, explaining that the company is targeting exponential growth and already expanding into the likes of United Arab Emirates and South Africa.
“Our global vision for the future of meetings and travel management is centred around innovation, sustainability, accessibility and seamless integration of technology like our new FCM Venue Finder platform to enhance the overall experience for our clients,” she added.
Frits De Kok, Head of FCM Meetings & Events – EMEA, commented: “Over the past couple of years, we’ve been on an incredible journey to refine and strengthen our meetings and events offering globally and in Europe. We know the growth potential for this segment is unparalleled and that is why we’re investing so heavily in it.
“Our focus has been on building an end-to-end solution that seamlessly integrates event management with travel management, offering a cohesive approach for our clients navigating the complexities of a hybrid world. We are strategically investing in our people and technology, ensuring that we have the right teams in key locations across Europe, including the Nordics, Spain and France, with an eye on expansion into South Africa and Dubai in early 2025,” he added.
As part of the move, Joanne Shaw has been appointed at Global Director of Enterprise Sales, based at FCM Meetings & Events in London.
The company has also released the results of its State of the Market survey, undertaken by Flight Centre Corporate, which obtained 562 responses from the Qualtrics platform between June 3 and July 11. It reveals that more than a quarter of customers allocate half their travel budgets to the MICE sector.
MICE travel accounts for more than half of the travel spend among 23% of Flight Centre Corporate’s customers in the Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. A further 8% allocate between 25-50% of their travel budget to the MICE sector.
