January 6, 2008
Interview of Mr. Graham Turner with Financial Express
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'OUR attempt is to pack enjoyment in your baggage'
It won't be that much of a headache getting to a place if you pick the right travel service.

FOR Graham Turner, life has been a journey through and through. The years spent jostling at prime international ports, traversing between extreme time zones and surviving jet lags forced him to start thinking out of the box. And Eureka! The idea struck one day. "I thought of a one-stop solution that could make our travel light, affordable and memorable, so that we can look for it every month. The rest was history and plain business," says the founder and chairman of Flight Shop limited, the global travel retailer with format Flight Shop (named Flight Shops in India), with operations across the globe.

His company, Flight Centre Limited, (FCL), through its retail and corporate brands, provide a complete travel services for leisure and business travelers in Australia, New Zealand, the US, Canada, the UK, South Africa, Hong Kong, China and India. After starting out with just one store 25 years ago, today FCl has more than 1,500 shops and business spread across nine countries. The Company's corporate travel management network, FCm Travel Solutions, extends to more than 40 other countries- including India – through strategic licensing agreements with independent local operators. The latest addition to the company's operations in India was to its leisure travel shops, Flight Shops In India.

"We see potential in giving a valued service to the leisure travel market and to build on the success we have experienced in the corporate travel sector in India. We believe the Flight Shops will give that support to Indian travelers. The visitors to a Flight Shop could expect excellent holiday bargains, with the expert consultants arranging everything from air fares, accommodation and package holidays to car hire and visas. Our expert service will be hacked by a value proposition and promotional efforts like a 'Perfect Holiday Promise - enjoy the holiday you paid for or we'll give you a Rs 1,500 voucher," he says.

And he is just not looking at travelers alone. For Graham Turner, the back- end operations have equal importance, and so are the meetings he has to catch later in the day. People development and strategizing with key members on market positioning are on top of the charts, followed by meeting key local players that can help network get wings, discloses one of his team member.

Turner brings to his role almost 25 years of corporate and leisure travel experience, during which he - and the company he founded – have been recognized for their innovation and leadership in the industry.

After completing his university education in Australia, Turner began his travel career in London. He started by investing in an ageing bus to be used for budget double- decker bus trips around Europe, North Africa and Asia. The entity, Top Deck Travel, developed into a thriving business with some 80 buses by the early 1980s, when turner returned to Australia and opened the first Flight Shop store.

Turner believes travel is a necessary part of our system holds huge opportunities and thus can safely accommodate many business like his. He does agree with people when they say "India is a bus not to be missed”, but he also wants to catch the country's real essence while he is at it.

His visit to India is not just to expand business, but also to know what an Indian traveller and business individuals looks for. A lot about his business would depend on the response the initial Flight Shops bag. But as of now he thinks "India is a fun and knowledge trip."