Flight Travel Centre

WALTHAM, Mass.--StudentUniverse, the world’s leading travel booking service for students and youth, today announced that it has been acquired by Flight Centre Travel Group (ASX:FLT), one of the world’s largest travel agency groups. Flight Centre has more than 30 brands in 11 countries in its portfolio.

Flight Centre’s global strength and infrastructure will allow StudentUniverse to grow within existing markets, and scale worldwide, to further dominate the student and youth travel segment. Flight Centre, who has already gained solid momentum and expanded its presence in youth and student travel, will now have a platform for the development of a youth strategy targeting 18-26 year-olds worldwide.

“The student and youth market is one of travel’s fastest-growing sectors. Young travelers are critical to the entire industry and StudentUniverse has a proven track record in the space. They understand the demands of a young, tech-savvy user base and have incredible roots in technology, ” said Dean Smith, president of FCTG Americas. “Combining their technology prowess with our global team and resources, I am confident that together we will change the course of student and youth travel.”

Flight Centre Travel Group consists of more than 30 brands (including Liberty Travel, GOGO Vacations, Cruiseabout and FCm) with an annual turnover of more than $17 billion, employs 15, 000 people worldwide, and has been listed on the Australian Securities Exchange for two decades. Its rapidly expanding network extends throughout Australia, New Zealand, the US, Canada, the UK, South Africa, Hong Kong, India, China, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates.

“This is an extremely exciting time for StudentUniverse. Working alongside a global team with a phenomenal track record, we will have the resources to build an even bigger and better service, ” said Atle Skalleberg, StudentUniverse CEO. “Our team will eventually help launch web and mobile services for millions of customers in dozens of countries and the millions of young travelers that use our service every year will now have access to more travel deals than ever.”

StudentUniverse will continue operating as an independent entity. CEO Atle Skalleberg will report to Dean Smith, president of FCTG Americas.

About StudentUniverse
StudentUniverse is the world’s leading travel booking service for students and youth. Through negotiations with a network of global partners, StudentUniverse offers exclusive pricing and terms on flights, hotels and tours. Its Travel Services division handles client requests for groups and custom itineraries.

StudentUniverse launched in 2000, by founder and executive chairman Espen Odegard, and is headquartered in Boston with offices in London, Toronto, New York and the Philippines. StudentUniverse believes that travel is essential to a modern education. Millions of students use the service every year. For updates on StudentUniverse, follow our corporate Twitter and blog.

About Flight Centre Travel Group
FCTG now has about 2800 shops and businesses in Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Mexico, South Africa, New Zealand, Singapore, mainland China, Hong Kong, India, Ireland and the United Arab Emirates.

After starting as a leisure travel agency, the company is now also one of the world's largest corporate travel managers through a network of specialist brands that includes FCm, Corporate Traveller, cievents, Campus Travel and Stage & Screen.