JTG's "Flight Centre" model not for me, Spencer reveals

JTG's "Flight Centre" model not for me, Spencer reveals
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One of Australia’s most respected travel agents, Penny Spencer, has spoken of her decision to leave Jetset Travelworld, explaining its impending transition to a “Flight Centre scenario” was not right for her business.

The owner and managing director of Sydney-based Spencer Travel told Travel Today that her move to Magellan Travel came at the right time for her career and her business.

Spencer, a member of Travelscene American Express for around 12 years, said she was attracted by Magellan’s “open, honest and transparent” model, while the chance to join the Magellan board and help drive the network’s corporate strategy was too good to turn down.

“It was a good opportunity for me in my career to be a director of a growing group, it was something I wanted to be part of and for my business it was the right time,” Spencer said. “I like the transparency of Magellan. It is very open and honest and was a good fit."

With much tighter franchise agreements being drawn up by JTG, Spencer said she “did not want to be locked into too many things”.

“I just knew that the next stage was very much based on a Flight Centre scenario and that wasn’t for me,” she said. “I’ve done lots of journeys with Travelscene for 12 or 13 years. They have been fantastic to me and we have grown together but I was just not ready to go on the next journey with them.

“We are a well renowned brand now so we don’t need branding anymore. It’s taken me 15 years to build my brand and to be confident in what we have. I just don’t really need what they [JTG/Travelscene] are offering anymore.”

Spencer said that for JTG as a whole, the Helloworld strategy “is the right way forward”.

“Something had to change and this probably was one of the ways it could have changed, but it just wasn’t where I wanted to go,” she said.

“Rob Gurney [JTG chief executive] is very convincing in the way he is selling what he has on offer which is a great offer for lots of agents. But it was not the right offer for me.”

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