Business travel firm bets on AI to boost efficiency as Chinese work trips rebound

The drive to adopt and integrate AI into its operations began recently with the opening of the company’s new “AI centre of excellence” in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou.

The city was the ideal destination thanks to its large pool of talent, proximity to Hong Kong and its position in the Greater Bay Area (GBA), according to Calvin Xie, the general manager of FCM Travel Greater China.

It is not as simple as “just doubling the number of employees,” said Xie.

“We want a lean operation,” he added. “We don’t want to end up with a large army. It’s more about how we will transform our workforce to get [employees] equipped with the skills they need for the next decade.”

FCM is the flagship corporate travel arm of Australia’s Flight Centre Travel Group. It has offices in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Hong Kong.

“We don’t have a plan to expand our offices further. Given [FCM’s] business nature, we don’t need to open offices in all the cities, but we do want to maintain our presence in the tier one cities,” he said added.

The coronavirus pandemic led to a brain drain in Hong Kong, which made it difficult for the group to hire and retain talent. But these days it is easier to recruit, particularly on the mainland where a lot of young professionals are eager to join a multinational company, he added.

“But do we need more elite people to join us? I think the answer is yes, particularly in the Greater Bay Area,” said Xie.

Business is picking up for the group as both corporate and leisure travel rebound across China.

The report said that while traditional favourites such as South Korea and Japan remain popular, new destinations are emerging. Australia and Malaysia have entered the top 10 destinations for Chinese travellers, with the former moving up seven places and the latter leaping from 18th to ninth.

There has been a leap in the number of business travellers tagging some leisure time onto the end of their trips – a trend sometimes referred to in the industry as bleisure.

FCM has seen an increase of around 40 per cent in “bleisure” trips as difficulty in securing visas and sluggish international air capacity compared to pre-pandemic levels has made business travellers more willing to extend their trips.

China’s business travellers most frequently stay within Asia, with Singapore ranking as the leading destination, according to Flight Centre’s data. Tokyo, Bangkok, Seoul, and Frankfurt were the other most popular destinations.

Singapore is maintaining its lead as the number one destination for Chinese business travellers in 2024, its appeal boosted by the 30-day visa-free entry arrangement agreed in January.