FCM expands European footprint into Spain
Barcelona office opens to support growing
business travel needs of clients and prospects
November 10, 2022 – Global travel management company FCM announced it is boosting its service capabilities across Spain through the opening of a new FCM owned-and-operated Barcelona office staffed by a dedicated team of expert consultants.
Previously assisted by local agency partnerships, the introduction of a direct-to-market strategy means the company’s portfolio of large national and multi-national clients will benefit directly from additional investment, new solutions and technology designed specifically for this key market.
According to FCM Global Managing Director Marcus Eklund the decision to invest in Spain was driven by changing customer requirements, while recognizing considerable business development opportunities offered by the sixth most populated country in Europe.
“We are thrilled to solidify our Iberian presence and fully own the customer experience for local clients as well as global companies with Spanish operations,” said Eklund. “By shifting to a direct-to-market strategy, we can provide a fully flexible, tailored travel management service while boosting our ability to identify and fill market gaps.”
With travel consultants based in Madrid and Barcelona, FCM manages a portfolio of over 50 clients locally across business sectors like FMCG, pharmaceutical, banking and manufacturing, with several new accounts implemented in the past month alone.
The company also organizes on the ground travel arrangements for multiple global companies with business interests across Spain such as BASF, AXA, Parexel and Procter & Gamble to name a few.
Leading the Barcelona-based team is Solenn Le Brazidec, a 20-year veteran of the travel industry, who oversees FCM’s businesses across France, Switzerland and now Spain, and has been tasked to develop strategic local supplier relationships and ultimately grow FCM’s customer base.
“We are excited to expand our presence in the country with the opening of FCM’s newest office and provide our clients and prospects with a deeper level of service,” said Le Brazidec.
With this deeper alignment across the wider region, FCM aims to further increase the standardization of its processes, as well as the quality of its services through greater global consistency, better services, improved data management and better monitoring of SLAs (Service Level Agreements).
Le Brazidec added: “This integration into FCM’s global systems means we will be able to provide customers with a true end-to-end FCM experience. I am really pleased that FCM Spain can now play a greater role in supporting MNC customers in this market, within Europe and around the world.”
This newest office builds upon FCM’s existing presence in Spain where the company already operates FCM Lab, a global hub of technology experts dedicated to developing, testing and delivering new travel technology solutions.