TORONTO — It got its start as a leisure retail brand but in 2004 it launched FCM Travel Solutions and now Flight Centre has stepped up its aggressive pursuit of the corporate travel market as well as the events management market.

Its new multi-storey Travel Centre in a spacious heritage building at the corner of King St. West and Spadina – at the gateway to Toronto’s hip west end – is in the same neighbourhood as many of its top-selling leisure tour operator partners including G Adventures, Intrepid and more.

But with 10,000 square feet there’s plenty of room – complete with soaring ceilings and exposed beams – and Flight Centre plans to use the modern space to its advantage with corporate and events clients.

“We can wheel people in during the day to work, and then clear out for evening events. This will be a home for our passion for travel,” said President John Beauvais at the grand opening event last night.

“We can host client appreciation events here, destination nights and niche market expos. We’ll also be offering this space up to our partners and clients. We can manage not only our own events but also the events of our clients.

Gavin Miller, Flight Centre’s Executive VP, Canada; Punam Pathak, SVP Flight Centre Travel Group Sales & Marketing; John Beauvais, President, Flight Centre Canada; and Allison Wallace, SVP, Communication & Engagement, Flight Centre Travel Group.

“We saw the opportunity to do something that had never been done before in the industry.”

He added: “We think this space can change the perception of Flight Centre in Canada. We want to bring our clients in here. We will be very active in this space. We felt it was very important for us to be here with this new Travel Centre, and particularly here in Toronto.”

The space opened earlier this summer and Flight Centre is currently moving over from its old offices at 1 Dundas. There will also be new offices at 35 McCaul St., which should be ready by April 2018 or summer 2018 at the latest.

Asked about the addition of future Travel Centres in Canada, Beauvais said Vancouver is a possibility, as well as Calgary, plus possibly a second Travel Centre in Toronto. “We know this concept will be very successful,” he said, adding that Flight Centre has had “a lot of activity in Canada in a short period of time” recently, including the acquisition of Quebec City-based travel company Les Voyages Laurier du Vallon (LDV), in a deal announced in August.

The Travel Centre’s lower floor houses cievents, Flight Centre’s full service event management agency. There’s also space downstairs for FCM. Gavin Miller, Flight Centre’s Executive VP, Canada says most of Flight Centre’s senior team have come up through the ranks and worked as travel counsellors. “We know the important work that travel counsellors do and that grounds us,” he said. “It’s the hardest job in the world.”

While the Travel Centre has been open since July this was the first chance for many of Flight Centre’s partners to see the space. “It’s not just a Flight Centre, it’s a sales theatre,” said Allison Wallace, SVP, Communication & Engagement, Flight Centre Travel Group. “We want to change the face of how people think about travel and plan travel.”

Click the link to see more Flight Centre images and 360 video.