Club Med to ‘intensify’ trade focus this year

All-inclusive resort operator Club Med is “intensifying” its UK trade focus and plans to take 120 agents on 15 fam trips this year.

Anne Browaeys, chief executive for Europe and Africa, said: “A third of our UK revenue comes from trade partners and we aim to increase revenue by 10% in 2024. Agents are key to our success.”

The first fam trip will be to Marbella (April 24-27) with handpicked agents. Other agents can win spots on trips through a six-week incentive, which started on April 8.

Destinations include Marrakech (May 13-15) and, later this year, Sicily, Turkey and Mauritius.

Club Med’s trade marketing budget has increased and the operator now has a contact centre for agents plus a full team of four account managers. It also plans to offer more face-to-face training and webinars.

Browaeys said the UK market was showing some of the strongest growth in her region.

Club Med’s UK revenue last year was €93 million, up 30% compared with pre-pandemic 2019 and up 17% over 2022.

The strong results followed a long-term strategy to shift resorts from mid-scale to luxury, with the final renovation starting this month at Serre-Chevalier in France.

“We’re switching to healthy profitability – the upscale move allows us to have high satisfaction levels and return rates, and the desirability of the brand recruits new clients,” she said.

“We’re now intensifying our actions with agents. We want to tell trade partners about the incomparability of the client experience – that there’s no stress and it is seamless.”

For ski holidays this includes a promise to switch clients to another resort if there is a lack of snow, although this is rarely needed as locations are at high altitudes, she said.

The brand also wants to showcase its ‘sun’ resorts to the trade, including facilities such as childcare and cuisine.
Club Med reported strong sales for the next winter season since holidays went on sale in March.

Last week, revenues were 72% up compared with the same booking week last year, with customer numbers up 65%.

Since 2023, the operator has had a pipeline of 13 new resorts and 10 renovated resorts, including one in South Africa due to open in 2026.

Browaeys said: “[Clients] are happy to spend money but demand value for money. Booking an all?inclusive holiday means you can secure the price in advance.”