Travel DAZE Exec 2024: Flight Centre’s Clinton Hearne says people make a successful business – Travel Weekly

Flight Centre employees are some of the most sought after in the travel industry thanks to their vigilance, hunger and dedication.

On the opening day of Travel DAZE Exec 2024 we unpacked the things businesses can do to drive high performing staff themselves with Clinton Hearne.

From dressing up as Winnie The Pooh for a 5am global marketing call to helping drive Flight Centre’s cult-like culture, Clinton Hearne lives and breathes the brand.

“I’ve been very fortunate to have been with Flight Centre Travel Group for 18 years next month and our purpose is really clear, it’s to open up the world for those that want to see,” Flight Centre global head of marketing Clinton Hearne said.

“Being in travel we have such an amazing part of people’s lives that they will talk about forever and the stories that they tell their friends, good or bad, will live with them forever.

“It (business culture) needs to be embedded across the boar, so Flight Centre its from onboarding as a novice and working in one of our stores to if you walk into any one of our head offices around the ground, it’s there, to open up the world for those that want to see.

“And leaders need to embody that all the time.”

Trust in the workplace

Flight Centre is built on people and relationships and one of the driving forces behind such an excellent workplace culture is trust.

“I’m really lucky to work for a brand that has a lot of fun,’ Hearne said.

“But that’s all based on reward and recognition, you get to have fun when you work really hard and I think that’s how we tie that together.”

But how can you build trust?

Hearne says it’s simple

“Trust comes from your actions,” he said.

“If you say you’re going to do something, do it, it’s not that hard!”