This week at Flight Centre Travel Group’s Luxury Travel Collection Global Business Leader Island Soiree, Sonia Davies, Chief Executive Officer, Scott Dunn revealed the British travel group will not be launching a consumer-facing business in Australia, instead choosing to be a wholesaler to Luxury Travel Collection advisors.

Luxury travel business, Scott Dunn, was purchased by Flight Centre Travel Group in February 2023. The company focuses on servicing the ultra-high-net-worth consumer segment of the industry. It currently has teams on the ground in London, New York, San Diego and Singapore, with around 250 staff. Enquiries coming in from Hong Kong or Australia are typically serviced via the Singapore branch.

Speaking to delegates at the conference, Davies said, “Scott Dunn is not looking to enter this market. As part of Flight Centre Travel Group, we have access to all of you . We want to partner with you as a wholesaler.”

Scott Dunn is an award-winning team of specialised travel advisors who sell luxury tours to more than 100 destinations around the world, and speculation about an Australian launch has been circulating since Flight Centre Travel Group purchased it last year.

Danielle Galloway, Global Managing Director of Luxury Leisure for FCTG, said, “Scott Dunn globalises our footprint and gives us an incredible tour operator in the ultra-luxury space. With a presence in the US, UK and Singapore markets, it makes sense for us to move into that space.” “Launching Scott Dunn in the Australian market would require a huge marketing investment with no guarantee of yield. We need to make good business decisions, and those decisions have to have a good return,” Davies told LATTE during a one-on-one interview.

“We can only do so many things. We have teams in the US, the UK and Singapore, and there isn’t a need to stretch the team further. We’re prioritising the B2B wholesale market but we’ll never turn down organic business from consumers.”