Value Creation Is The Bedrock Of Our Business ANNUAL INTEGRATED REPORT 2022 71 Group Business Review TRAVEL Overview FGV’s Travel Division offers expert knowledge, a wide range of travel products and services, as well as excellent customer service that is widely recognised in the market. Although we were significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, 2022 was a better year as we have successfully adapted to the endemic phase that has brought the travel industry back to life. In 2022, our travel business recovered from the pandemic’s lows, as tickets sold increased by 81% through our wholly owned subsidiary, Felda Travel Sdn Bhd (Felda Travel). The reopening of borders also supported the resumption of the flow of migrant workers to Malaysia, where we facilitated the travel arrangements of more than 10,000 migrant workers from their country of origin to our respective estates. Throughout the year, we managed 121 Hajj and 1,211 Umrah pilgrims who were unable to travel in 2021 due to the pandemic. Felda Travel has collaborated with Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN) to launch a new shariah-compliant financing facility worth up to RM200,000 for the government and selected private organisations’ employees to finance their Umrah and Hajj expenses. This was a significant milestone that we believe will strengthen our position in the Malaysian tourism market. We have also collaborated with the Saudi Tourism Association (STA) which has offered sponsorship of RM166,000 for Felda Travel to promote Saudi Arabia tourism. This allocation will be spent on promotional activities involving websites, digital platforms, bot automation, commercial advertisements and content marketing. As for our hospitality business, we have completed the first and second phases of room renovations at Hotel Seri Costa in Melaka. With this completion, we have renovated a total of 61 rooms out of the 88 rooms that were initially identified for renovation. To improve occupancy rates, we have established the Costa Club to enhance customer engagement and retention, as well as organised more seminars and meetings. Outlook Going forward, we will continue to focus on the Hajj segment, since Malaysia’s pilgrim quota has returned to the pre-pandemic level of 31,600 pilgrims in 2023. For corporate ticketing, we will continue to venture into bigger market segments and provide excellent services to our new and existing customers. We anticipate a significant increase in tourists from China, which will be a positive development for our hospitality business. NAVIGATING CHALLENGES • Ongoing local and overseas business expansion initiatives to increase our presence in bulking business • Collaborating with established partners to expand market share Lack of presence of bulking business in international ports • Continue exploring business collaborations with local and overseas key palm oil players and traders to be the main off-takes of the bulking space • Increased renewable energy throughput Response Outcome Challenge • Providing flexibility to customers through customised bulking packages, by offering competitive rate Refineries with direct access to jetties have less dependency on independent bulking terminals • Increased external revenue contribution by 24% against the previous year and added six new customers with an additional throughput of 30,000 MT • Chart growth plans through potential Merger & Acquisition (M&A) Heavy reliance on organic growth initiatives • Continuous engagements with key industry players for potential M&As and collaborations
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