Sales and profits at travel agency Flight Centre have taken off.

The company said its evolution from travel agent to “travel retailer” had gained momentum as it lifted its first half profit by 20.7 per cent to $110.8 million for the six months to December 31.

Managing director Graham Turner said it will pursue its goal of growing sales by up to 10 per cent this fiscal year.

He said Flight Centre expected a pre-tax profit of between $370 million and $385 million for the full 2013/14 financial year, up between eight and 12 per cent on the underlying 2012/13 result.

To achieve it, the company would continue to transform stores into travel retail hubs to make them less like office spaces where customers come simply to make bookings.

Mr Turner said a strong focus on 24/7 accessibility, including online transaction services and live chats with travel experts, was key as consumers increasingly choose to bypass agents by booking their own trips online.

Revenue for the half increased 15 per cent to $1.05 billion during the half, thanks to strong online and in store sales growth in both corporate and leisure travel.

The result was a starkly different travel tale from online travel group Wotif.com.

The internet pioneer reported an 18 per cent slide in first half net profit as it forked out money on marketing to compete with rivals.

Mr Turner said Flight Centre’s three biggest businesses – Australia, the US and the UK – had generated nearly 80 per cent of its total transaction value.

“The Australian business has, so far, been the key contributor to overall results although we have also seen continued growth in offshore earnings,” he said.

CFO Andrew Flannery also pointed to the fact that fluctuations in the dollar value had not stopped Australians travelling overseas en masse.

Outbound departures in the month of December rose eight per cent when the Australian dollar dropped to 90 US cents, compared with around $US1.06 a year earlier.

“It’s what we’ve been saying for some time. We’re happy to see that expectation has materialised,” he said.

Meanwhile, Flight Centre continued to expand its store network, with 2,643 stores in operation as of the end of 2013, an 8.2 per cent increase on the previous year.

It also created an additional 1,100 full-time jobs.

Flight Centre announced a fully-franked interim dividend of 55 cents per share.

At 1600 AEDT its shares were trading $1.80 higher at $51.60.