Travelling the Club Med way

Heidi Kunkel

Tell us about Club Med

The purpose of life is to be happy.
The time to be happy is now.
The place to be happy is here. - Gérard Blitz

This is the brand’s motto. Club Med is a 66-year-old company well-known globally. It started in 1950 with providing a new vision of happiness by offering people freedom and joy in their holidays and offering the best worry-free getaway from their everyday life, via exceptional natural environment and sports activities.

Today, we still share the same values of our founders Gerard Blitz and Gilbert Trigano: kindness, freedom, responsibility, multiculturalism, and pioneer spirit.

What is the Club Med Way? And why does it appeal to travelers across the globe?

We have been defusing stress since 1950, and we know that handling the small details before a big trip is anything but relaxing. So, let us take care of it - it's included in your package. We are not a simple “Resort Brand.” Our policy is to take care of everything for everyone. That is why we are so focused on the all-inclusive element. What this means is that when a client books a holiday with us, the following is covered:

• Flights
• Transfers
• Accommodation
• All meals, all day
• All drinks, all day
• Activities and entertainment throughout the day
• At snow resorts, ski lessons, ski hire, and ski passes are all included
• A wide range of sports
• Kids’ Mini-Club from babies to 17 years old, at select resorts

Our clients could quite literally leave their wallet at home once they have booked their Club Med holiday.

Club Med Bali

What puts Club Med apart from other similar holiday providers?

Club Med is so much more than just hotels around the world; it has a varied offering of products:

• Our all-inclusive element is a big thing that sets us apart. We literally take care of everything for our clients
• Our resorts which range from 3 T to 5 T (T= “Trident” which is Club Med’s * rating system) in beautiful sunny or mountain destinations
• Villas and chalets in the luxury space.
• The Cruise of the Club Med 2.

We recently adjusted our resorts to not only make them appealing to vacation customers but also to companies. We developed a Meetings & Events offering for seminar and incentive groups as a result.

Our biggest differentiator is probably the overall experience our guests experience on arrival at the resort, which continues until they leave. Our GOs and GEs, the vibe, the atmosphere – everything works so well to provide our guests with the most incredible holiday experience they are likely to have ever experienced.

Tell us about the new Club Med resorts launching in 2017?

It includes two new resorts in the seaside: Lake Paradise, and Rio das Pedras (a new 5T space) both in Brazil. We also have two new mountain resorts opening in December 2017. The one being Grand Massif Samoëns (in Morillon in the French Alps) and the second being Tomamu in Japan.

Club Med Val Disere

Do you find the popularity of certain destinations wax and wane? How often do you need to update the Club Med offering to keep travellers and members engaged and interested?

Club Med is present all around the world. Beyond the destinations we offer, it is mainly the social and consumption trends that lead the top destinations from one year to the next. Customers’ expectations keep evolving: living in the moment, living their passion, spending time with their family and themselves.

In addition to that, the whole Club Med experience is “not your usual holiday” experience. Each of our resorts is referred to as a “village.” The village is a unique place, located in some of the most beautiful places around the world, which, besides accommodation and catering, offer various attractions: entertainment, well-being, sport and more. To provide all of these services, in all seasons, each village is organised so that everyone can express their talent within a well-defined and secured framework.

Our GOs and GEs are the ones who drive the resort. GOs or Gentil Organisateur is a Club Med invention. It is unique. The GO is the ambassador of the Club Med spirit at all resorts. GEs or Gentil Employé, who is also a Club Med employee and native to the country where the village/resort is located, are the soul, the vitality and the wealth of the Club and represent the wonderful spirit of Club Med.

No other travel brand in the world has GOs and GEs. It is unique to Club Med, and something our clients, referred to as GMs (Gentil Membre) at all resorts, absolutely adore. As South Africans would say, this is an element that brings true “gees” to the resorts.