Flight Centre Travel Group has announced two new investments in its “Labs” programme, including the Sam mobile app used by its FCM Travel Solutions and Corporate Traveller brands in several markets.
The group has fully acquired Sam after increasing its stake in Paris-based 3Mundi from the 25 per cent it purchased in 2017. The agreement means Flight Centre Travel Group is now the sole owner and licensor of the product.
The group says it plans to continue driving Sam’s roadmap to meet the needs of its corporate customers globally.
In addition, the company has increased its investment in 30SecondsToFly and its Claire artificial intelligence corporate travel solution. Flight Centre Travel Group will have two-year exclusive use of Claire in the large global TMC category, during which time the product will be integrated into Sam to provide AI-powered chat and booking capability.
The deal increases the group’s stake in 30SecondsToFly to approximately 10 per cent.
John Morhous, chief technology officer for Flight Centre Travel Group corporate brands, commented: “We’re thrilled to bring the Sam team fully into the Flight Centre family. We’ve worked closely with the team and product for many years now and look forward to continuing to drive mobile innovation through the platform.”
fctgl.com