'Graham Turner has always done things his own way. He is well...

'Graham Turner has always done things his own way. He is well known for the Stone Age-inspired family, village, tribe corporate structure that is at the heart of the Flight Centre culture. It is a core ethos of the company and is a model that has helped Flight Centre keep a small business focus no matter how large the company has grown. Turner believes that people work best in small groups (families) that can then work together (villages) to ultimately create larger, but lean structures (tribes).'

'But Turner remains unfazed by the internet threat. He argues that people still want to talk to a travel agent about their plans.'

'He argues that travel does not have the same problem as other retail businesses. He says people need to get personal advice, especially when it comes to complex trips, that they can’t get online. “Say you’re looking at sporting goods, there’s an almost limitless supply of product that you can buy online, then you go into a store and they have a limit to how much they can stock and that’s a problem,” he says. “With travel, it’s the opposite: there is a limit to how much you can do online and what online can do. There is more information inside the shop. In a shop you’re talking to a person and the service is almost limitless — not only do they have it in their own head because they are expert in the area, but they have access to databases and information and product that is vastly more complex. They have everything on the internet, but they know where to look and what to look for that’s right for you. You can’t transact that online. We see bricks-and-mortar shops and our blended model providing person-to-person contact rather than person-to-machine. (It) has a future for the long-term, not just for the next five to 10 years.”'

'The next step will be to follow his wife into the hotel business. Flight Centre is investigating joint ventures to own and operate hotels. The plan will give Flight Centre greater quality control over the product it is selling, as well as extra margin.'

' “I’m not going anywhere at least for 20 years or so I reckon,” he says.'

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/bus...spicers-retreats/story-e6frgabx-1227306610615