Club Med spreads its wings

CN&CO partner Club Med is spreading its wings all over the world. The brand that pioneered all-inclusive holidays will open two new resorts this month – in France and Japan – with four more on the cards in the next year or three.

We were privileged to spend a week at Club Med Val Thorens earlier this year, skiing in the French Alps while getting to know and understand the way Club Med operates. It really is a fantastic concept. Meals, drinks and a whole bunch of activities are included at all resorts, and kids under 12 stay free. This is a huge draw-card for anyone travelling on the good old ZAR!

Now Club Med has announced that four new resorts will be opening in various parts of the world over the next few years. The choices are already astounding. And now, with new resorts coming in Canada, Seychelles, Vietnam and Sri Lanka, choosing which Club Med resort to visit just got a whole lot more difficult.

Keep an eye on the Club Med South Africa blog for the latest news and happenings.

Here’s the official Club Med communication that went out this week:

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 Club Med accelerates its international growth strategy
with four new destinations announced
in North America and South-East Asia  

On the eve of the official opening ceremonies by mid-December of at its new mountain resorts of Grand Massif Samoëns Morillon in the Haute-Savoie region of France and Tomamu Hokkaido in Japan, Club Med has announced the continuation of its international growth strategy with four new destinations in Québec, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and the Seychelles.

Olivier Hannaert, managing director of Club Med Southern Africa, notes that these resort openings are fully consistent with the international development strategy of Club Med with the ambition to open between three and five new Resorts per year, internationally, between now and 2020.

“From the very beginning our focus has been on providing clients with incredible and memorable holiday experiences,” he says. “Since launching in 1950, Club Med has been a pioneer within the travel industry. Our mission is to innovate constantly and find new ways to provide clients with a worldwide playground to rediscover, recharge and just reconnect, either alone or with loved ones. Us opening these new resorts is but one way of remaining true to this mission.”

Le Massif de Charlevoix, Club Med opens its first resort in Canada

Club Med is building on its established status as the global leader in premium all-inclusive mountain holidays with a plan to open a new resort in 2020, Le Massif de Charlevoix in Quebec.

This new resort represents an investment of 120 million Canadian dollars (80 million euros).

Not only will this be the first Club Med resort in Canada, but also a Club Med destination that reinvents the all-inclusive format in North America.

Just one hour from Québec International Airport, this resort will be ideally located to welcome North American and international guests, as well as clients from Europe and South America.

With 300 rooms, this Premium resort will have an “Exclusive Collection” space, and will be the first Club Med mountain resort to be open all year round.

Designed to convey the authentic “Québécois” spirit at every stage of the guest experience (from its architecture to its spa concept, activities, excursions and dining offering), this new Club Med will celebrate its natural environment to the full.

Club Med Le Massif de Charlevoix will be the ideal getaway destination for many guest profiles, from families, couples and holidays with friends, to corporate seminar groups – which will have their own dedicated spaces and the benefit of the brand’s expertise in hosting ‘turnkey’ group events.

The opening of this new resort will create 350 direct jobs and 400 indirect jobs, making Club Med an active and substantial contributor to local activity, especially in terms of energising key areas of the hospitality industry, including catering and services.

Two new destinations in South-East Asia

In this part of the world where Club Med has been operating for a long time (the brand opened its first village here at Cherating Beach in Malaysia in 1979) Club Med is building on the success of its most recent upgrades – Bali and Bintan Island in Indonesia, and Kani in the Maldives – to strengthen its regional presence in premium resorts.

• Opening in 2021 – the Club Med Ho Tram resort close to Ho Chi Minh City in the south-east of Vietnam
• Opening by summer 2019 – the Club Med Ceylon resort in south-western Sri Lanka 

The first Club Med in Vietnam…

With its rich cultural and natural heritage, Vietnam is an ideal destination for the opening of this all-new Club Med: the first in the country. The south-eastern region of Vung Tau is renowned for its beautiful unspoiled landscapes, making this an idyllic location for a completely immersive experience of Vietnamese tradition and culture.

Just 90 minutes from Ho Chi Minh International Airport, the future Club Med Ho Tram will welcome international family guests and MICE groups from around the world.

With 300 rooms, from deluxe to suite, it will offer a range of childcare facilities (4 months to 11 years) and leisure activities.

For this project, Club Med is working alongside Dynasty Investment, a boutique private equity investment fund managing a diverse portfolio of real estate, education and tourism assets.

This new opening will contribute to promoting tourism in Vietnam, with particular focus on international target groups, and will benefit the local economy through the creation of direct and indirect jobs.

… and in Sri Lanka

Located in the south-west of Sri Lanka, 90 minutes from Colombo international airport, the new Club Med Ceylon will be designed for families, working age couples and corporate guests.

Its exceptional setting surrounded by luxuriant vegetation borders a white sandy beach with crystal clear turquoise water. The new resort will offer 372 rooms and a full range of childcare services.

The resort will reflect Sri Lanka’s unique culture and cuisine, vibrant traditional colours, bustling lifestyle for guests to experience and will be the starting point to the discovery of the surrounding breath-taking landscapes, rich wildlife and brilliant heritage sites of Sri Lanka.

First Club Med in the Seychelles

This new 5 Trident Exclusive Collection Resort on Sainte-Anne Island in the Seychelles archipelago will launch in 2020 and will be open all year round to offer families and active couples an exceptional destination at the heart of the Sainte-Anne Marine National Park.

Just 30 minutes from Mahé International Airport, this future Club Med Resort will be extraordinarily accessible for international guests, the majority of whom are expected to come from Europe and Asia. The new Resort will boast 295 rooms – from Club to Suite – and offer its family guests the full range of childcare facilities – from Petit Club to Junior’s Club.

Seamlessly integrated into its natural environment between tropical gardens and the Indian Ocean and bordered by 3 fine white sandy beaches, it will offer couples and families an exceptional natural setting and a broadly diverse palette of onshore and offshore sports, including diving, snorkelling, sailing, tennis, flying trapeze and archery.

A major project for Club Med and the Seychelles

For this new project, Club Med is working alongside NMH (New Mauritius Hotels), the largest and longest-established hotel group in Mauritius, where it operates all the Beachcomber hotels on the island.

Beachcomber Hotels also operates the Beachcomber Seychelles Sainte Anne Resort and Spa hotel, which currently has 87 rooms.

The Club Med proposal to take over the hotel under a new leasing arrangement with NMH will see the capacity of the hotel infrastructure significantly expanded.

The opening of the new Club Med Resort will represent a total investment of around €70 million for NMH; an investment that will boost its capacity to around 300 rooms, and make a valuable contribution to local economic development through the creation of several hundred direct jobs and an equal number of indirect jobs.

Henri Giscard d’Estaing President of Club Med declared: “I’m particularly happy to see Club Med secure a base in the Seychelles, one of the three most luxurious destinations, alongside the Maldives and Mauritius. In association with New Mauritius Hotels, our prestigious partner and respected luxury hotel operator, we will be able to offer our guests a new premium destination that fulfils all their expectations from 2020 onwards.

Club Med Sainte-Anne is an integral part of our growth strategy to open 3 to more than 5 Resorts per year between now and 2020 and fully consistent with our ambition to become the world leader in premium all-inclusive holidays for families and active couples”.