Business travel management company FCM Travel Greater China plans to invest in artificial intelligence capabilities and equip staff with the skills they need to make the most of the technology as China's outbound travel market recovers.
The effort to introduce and integrate AI into its operations began with the recent opening of the company's new “AI Center of Excellence” in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou.
According to Calvin Shih, general manager of FCM Travel Greater China, the city's abundance of talent, proximity to Hong Kong and location within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) made it an ideal destination.
He said artificial intelligence is a tool that can enable companies to operate more efficiently and save time that can be spent on “higher value” tasks, such as providing a better customer experience.
It's not as simple as “just doubling the number of employees,” Xie said.
“We want to operate lean. We don't want to have a huge army,” said Calvin Shi, general manager of FCM Travel Greater China. Photo: South Carolina State University handout
“We want to operate lean,” he added. “We don't want to build a huge military. It's about how we transform the workforce and [employees] It gives you the skills you need for the next decade.”
FCM is the flagship corporate travel division of Australia's Flight Centre Travel Group, with offices in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Hong Kong.
Xie said having offices in Guangzhou and Hong Kong will bring deeper synergies to business access in the Gulf economic zone.
“We have no plans to expand the office further. [FCM’s] “The nature of our business does not require us to open offices in every city, but we would like to maintain our presence in top-tier cities,” he added.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a talent exodus from Hong Kong, making it difficult for the group to recruit and retain talented personnel, but it has become easier recently, especially with many young professionals in mainland China eager to join multinational companies, he added.
“But do we need to bring in more elites? I think the answer is yes, especially in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area,” Xie said.
With corporate and leisure travel recovering across China, the Group's business is picking up.
The report found that while traditional favourites such as South Korea and Japan remain popular, new destinations are on the rise: Australia and Malaysia have both made it into the top 10 destinations for Chinese travellers, with the former rising seven places and the latter surging from 18th to ninth.
China's business travel spending rose 12.6% from a year earlier to $360 billion, but remains slightly below the $380 billion it spent before the pandemic, according to a report last year from the World Business Travel Association, and is expected to recover to $4.1 billion by the end of this year.
There has been a surge in the number of business travelers who are adding leisure time to the end of their trip, sometimes referred to in the industry as “bleisure.”
FCM saw a roughly 40 percent increase in “bleisure” travel as business travelers were more willing to extend their trips due to difficulties obtaining visas and reduced international air capacity compared to pre-pandemic times.
Chinese business travellers make most frequent stops within Asia, with Singapore the top destination, according to Flight Centre data. Tokyo, Bangkok, Seoul and Frankfurt are the other most popular destinations.
Singapore is expected to maintain its position as the top destination for Chinese business travellers in 2024, boosted by a 30-day visa-free entry deal agreed in January.
