Luxury global tour operator Scott Dunn – a member of Flight Centre Travel Group’s Luxury Travel Collection – is, as planned, expanding its presence in the United States with the opening of a New York office in August 2023.
Building on a year of record sales in the US, Scott Dunn will shortly offer a bi-coastal operation in America, having established its presence in San Diego, California in 2016.
Located in Bryant Park, Manhattan, the Scott Dunn New York office will be the East Coast Hub for sales, marketing and business development and will open with a number of team members transferring from the company’s existing global offices in London, Singapore and San Diego, with plans to rapidly grow the team through local recruitment.
The expansion to the US East Coast – flagged previously by Flight Centre Travel Group when it acquired the business in February – is a core part of the brand’s strategy to continue Scott Dunn’s rapid growth within the US market.
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Scott Dunn aims to triple the size of the business development team, with a B2C approach, using its own marketing channels. In addition, as part of a new approach in its distribution strategy, travel agents will be engaged for the first time to tap into a high-growth area, which will enable the brand to reach more guests on a larger scale.
The US expansion is the result of strong performance and growth over the past years, following the post-pandemic boom in travel. Scott Dunn US started 2023 with a record-breaking January; turnover saw 97% increase from January 2022, and up 60% from January 2019. This growth has continued; March 2023 saw a further 10% increase from January 2023, more than 125% increase from March 2022.
Specialising in delivering highly personalised tailor-made holidays to over 100 destinations, Scott Dunn is recognised as a leading tour operator and was voted as Condé Nast Travellers’ Top Travel Specialist in the World for a record tenth consecutive year.
Commenting on the expansion, Sonia Davies, CEO of Scott Dunn said: “We are delighted to be opening in New York, building upon what has been a significant period of high growth for our US business.
“Our growth plan is ambitious as we recognise the considerable opportunities in the US,” Davies said.
“We are looking at rapidly growing our North American business, with an aggressive three-year plan. Our presence in New York will allow us to spend more time with our guests in-person, as well as opening sales and marketing opportunities, where we see significant growth potential for 2023 and beyond.”
Davies continues: “The East Coast opening affords us access to a larger pool of talent and network of high-net-worth prospective guests, enabling us to strive towards our ambitious US growth targets, which include scaling the business to over three times the size of the pre-pandemic business. Investing in the highly effective business development arm is key, as well as using agents for the first time will really turbocharge these strong growth areas.”
“We recognise the benefits to having operations on both coasts, and most importantly, this will ensure we can continue to deliver a seamless experience for our guests,” Davies concluded.
Lead image: Bryant Park, Manhattan, New York