Flight Centre rolled up its sleeves for Queensland’s koalas on Friday, hosting a tree-planting event at Spicers Hidden Vale, a luxury retreat about an hour west of Brisbane managed by the Turner family.
Deforestation has reduced much of the koalas’ natural habitat, contributing to issues such as inbreeding and the spread of disease. Creating avenues of trees allows koalas to move between areas and reach new habitats.
The event celebrated the company’s long-running partnership with Brisbane-based social enterprise Reforest.
Travel Weekly attended the event, where Flight Centre staff, clients and Reforest staff planted trees and heard from Flight Centre leadership about how the initiative has grown since launching just over two years ago.
Speaking at the event, Andrew Stark (Flight Centre’s Global Manager) said the program demonstrates how sustainability can be embedded into everyday travel decisions rather than treated as a standalone corporate initiative.
“For us it’s not a separate purpose that sits outside the business,” Stark told Travel Weekly. “Our business is about opening up the world for people, and sustainability is part of how we give back.”
The initiative is built around the ‘captain’s pack’, an add-on customers can choose when booking travel that includes a tree-planting component.
According to Stark, the idea originated from within the business and was implemented quickly.
“The captain’s pack was conceptualised, brainstormed and implemented within a few weeks,” he said.
The program quickly exceeded expectations. In its first year alone, more than 1.2 million trees were planted, helped by strong uptake from customers.
“When you realise we do just over two million bookings a year, you can see how quickly something like this can scale,” Stark said.
“The key is to make it easy – simple for consultants and simple for customers to understand.”
Since launching the partnership with Reforest, Flight Centre consultants have introduced the tree element during the booking process, allowing customers to easily contribute to reforestation projects.
Reforest supports native reforestation projects designed to deliver verified carbon removal and biodiversity outcomes. Businesses can add trees to travel bookings, starting with a single tree or scaling up depending on sustainability goals.
Trees can be planted locally in Australia or internationally and organisations can track their impact through reporting and engagement tools.
Flight Centre Business Travel has also committed to planting 1,500 trees each month, building momentum alongside contributions made through customer bookings.
For Stark, the initiative has turned out bigger than he imagined.
“We probably surprised ourselves with the scale,” he said.
For Stark, the success of the program also reflects a broader strength within the travel brand.
“Our business has always been about storytelling,” he said. “And this is another story our people can share with customers.”
