Club Med refocuses as upmarket brand

by Daniel Rogers Marketing 29-Sep-04

Club Med, the French all-inclusive holiday operator, is trying to move its brand upmarket in the UK by promoting more luxurious long-haul destinations and tying up with French spa brand Cinq Mondes.

The company, which carries about 40,000 British holiday-makers each year, will ramp up its promotional activity early next year, including a press, radio and TV campaign through long-term ad agency Publicis.

'We have the advantage, in terms of our locations and food, over other all-inclusive operators from the UK,' said Chris Woodbridge-Cox, Club Med's UK managing director. 'We plan to keep up volumes but improve margins by switching emphasis from, say, Ibiza to Morocco or the Maldives.'

The company is in the process of ditching all its two star-rated resorts and investing in its three- or four-star destinations. This includes the new Riad development in Marrakech, Morrocco, which will open fully in December and is the first to feature the Cinq Mondes spa.

Club Med's senior management is said to recognise that the brand has reached its peak in France and Italy, while the German market is suffering from economic hardship, leaving the UK as the bright spot in its European forecasts.