Rarely does a winter fall/early winter product launch hit the mark so the squarely. Most tour operators and destinations in these parts tempt with southern destinations and sun, sea and sand packages designed to offer an alternative to the Canadian cold and snow, while a few others embrace the season to make mountains out of ski hills. Club Med does both.
Recently, the 70-year-old resort brand (founded 1950), which includes both sun and ski destinations in its portfolio, did just that at a trade event in Toronto, where the company’s VP for Canada and Mexico Amélie Brouhard pointed out that Club Med is the only all-inclusive brand that covers both diametrically opposed niches.
That the company, which has an office Montreal, launched its 2020 season in Toronto was significant, Brouhard told Travel Industry Today. “We’re not as well known outside Quebec, where we are (recognized) as a much more mature brand,” she said. “So, we are really targeting English Canada.”
Staff limitations make it challenging for Club Med to cover all of Canada, but two reps are designated for Toronto, and over the past year, the effort has been paying dividends with 18 percent growth in bookings from the province.
Overall, Club Med’s performance in Canada in 2019 has been exceptional, increasing 15 percent in FITs year over year, and including a 23 percent jump in mountain resorts (ski).
Looking ahead, reservations for this winter are ahead by 20 percent Brouhard reports.
With 66 family resorts (and a sailing ship) scattered across five continents and 26 countries, including North and South America, the Caribbean, Asia, Africa, Europe and the Mediterranean, not to mention a 70th anniversary at hand in 2020, there was plenty for Brouhard and her team to talk about with the event’s nearly 100 guests. Here’s a sampling of what’s new and noteworthy:
NEW BROCHURE
The new 2020 Trident brochure features both sun and mountainside resorts together for the first time. The two-in-one guide is designed as a complementary tool to the many existing digital resources available to travel agents.
RESORTS
• The first Club Med Exclusive Collection resort (most upscale category) and first new resort in over 25 years in the North American zone, Miches Playa Esmeralda opened its doors in the Dominican Republic on Nov. 24 with 335 rooms and four eco-friendly boutique villages.
• A “completely transformed” Caravelle resort in Guadeloupe was inaugurated on Nov. 15. Featuring new family suites, water play area, kids and baby club, and an adult-exclusive Zen Oasis with rooms and an infinity pool, the resort is located on a spectacular beach overlooking the Caribbean Sea. The resort first opened in 1973, marking Club Med’s second location in the West Indies, and was expanded in 2006.
SKI
With 24 ski resorts in the French Alps, Switzerland Italy, China and Japan (and soon Canada), Club Med business development manager Janet Martin says, “Our ski success is primarily due to the uniqueness of the all-inclusive offer that we have. Basically, we’ve taken out the irritants that could prevent a family from having this experience in the international zone” by packaging lift tickets and lessons, along with food and beverages. Martin notes that Club Med has committed to opening at least one new ski resort per year, emphasizing, “We’re not just sun!”
MICE
Group sales in Canada increased 27 percent in 2019 year over year, reports meetings and incentives BDM Maria Chung. The growth, she says, has been fuelled by a host of new and renovated meeting spaces in Club Med resorts, along with unique resort experiences for guests like yoga by the sea or learning to swing on trapeze.
UPCOMING
• In France, the development of mountain activities is ongoing with the upcoming opening of Club Med Alpe d’Huez on Dec. 15. The totally renovated and expanded ski resort, located two hours south of Geneva and known for 300 hours of sunshine a year, will elevate from three to four Tridents.
• In fall, 2020, Club Med will open a 4-Trident Exclusive Collection resort in the Alps, La Rosière, in the San Bernardo French-Italian ski area.
• In the Indian Ocean, a new Exclusive Collection resort will open its doors on a private island in the Seychelles in October 2020.
CANADA
Perhaps the most notable new resort from a Canadian perspective will be in Quebec’s Charlevoix region in December 2021. It will be not only the first all-inclusive ski resort, but the first all-inclusive of any kind, in Canada. Sales will open in December 2020.
RESPONSIBLE DEVELOPMENT
By 2021, Club Med intends to have all its resorts Green Globe certified (77 percent already are). Among the initiatives are eliminating single-use plastics and/or using 100% eco-friendly recycled plastic. Globally, Club Med has committed to supporting local communities, equal opportunities, diversity, careful use of local resources, and the consumption of local products.
ANNIVERSARY
“We’ve come a long way, we’ve basically evolved with the baby boomer,” Canadian national sales director Jacinda Lowry says of Club Med’s 70th anniversary year in 2020. And with a plan to open three to five resorts a year going forward, including new destinations, as well as investing in the company’s existing portfolio, she vows, “We have the mission and goal to continue for the next 70 years!”