FCM's Managing Director of Asia wins Executive of the Year

Bertrand Saillet named Executive of the Year

22 November 2018

The leader of FCM Travel Solutions Asia, has been recognized for his efforts in helping the business become a major play in the corporate travel sector. Bertrand Saillet, Managing Director for FCM Asia, was last night named as Executive of the Year – Business Services at the Singapore Business Review Management Excellence Awards 2018. This award celebrates Singapore’s most outstanding business leaders, including trailblazing individuals and teams whose initiatives have brought tangible business gains for their company's operations.

Bertrand joined the business 3 years ago, and during this time, the Flight Centre Travel Group brands, including FCM, were facing a multitude of challenges, most notably, the economic crisis and the shrinking marine and oil industry business taking place globally.

Under his leadership, Bertrand, as the General Manager for FCM Singapore, focused on driving business and digital transformation. This saw the business reporting a 540% revenue increase in Asia at the end of FY2017. The company also saw a 25% increase in customer acquisition across the region. Under his leadership, employee turnover dropped by 15%.

The successful transformation of the business was achieved through Bertrand’s strategic vision and dedication to building a sustainable and profitable business across Asia, focusing on what FCM Travel Solutions does best — delivering amazing travel experiences for our customers. To achieve this, he set out his plan with a clear focus on the following:

  • Business – integration of both retail and corporate businesses, consolidation of the product portfolio and building a strong and consistent corporate culture
  • People – empowerment and simplified operational systems and processes and a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship
  • Infrastructure – introduced and led the way with technological innovations to better serve the corporate travel sector including the launch of our next-generation technology suite, FCM Connect and SAM, FCM’s AI chatbot travel assistant
  • Centre of excellence – centralising key functions in order to cross-leverage core competencies across the region

With significant financial growth, innovation and employee satisfaction, FCM Singapore is globally recognized for its successful trajectory and the same transformation model is now being replicated across the Hong Kong, Malaysia & China businesses. The remarkable turnaround was also a key contributing factor to Bertrand’s promotion to his current role to lead FCM Travel Solutions and the Flight Centre Travel Group in Asia.

 

“I am extremely humbled to receive this prestigious award and it affirms that I am on the right track to take the business to the next level. As a leader, I will continue to evolve with our clients and support them to achieve their business goals.”

Bertrand Saillet - Managing Director, FCM Asia

 

The Singapore Business Review Management Excellence Awards was held on November 22, 2018 at the Conrad Centennial Singapore. 

The 2018 nominees were judged by a panel consisting of Henry Tan, Managing Director at NEXIA TS; David Chew, Executive Director, Risk Advisory Deloitte Southeast Asia, Lim Wei Wei, Partner, Practice Leader, Governance, and Risk at Baker Tilly TFW; Pardeep Singh Khosa, Director of Dispute Resolution at Drew & Napier; and Yang Eu Jin, Partner and Co Head of Capital Markets Practice at RHTLaw Taylor Wessing LLP.