Club Med aims to ride China’s holiday wave with big plans to expand resorts
Leisure group to build on its portfolio of ski resorts and destinations for urban travellers looking for a weekend break
Club Mediterranee, the French holiday group controlled by Chinese conglomerate Fosun, is poised to expand aggressively in China as more well-heeled workers look for some fun in the sun and snow.
With three resorts up and running and three more being built on the mainland, the global leader in all-inclusive holidays aims to open up to five ski resorts in China every year from 2017, according to Gino Andreetta, chief executive of Club Med Greater China.
“Five years ago it was all about work [for Chinese], but today what is important is enjoying life and Club Med is all about this,” Andreetta said.
The plan is part of Fosun’s push to break into the country’s burgeoning leisure and travel sector. Chinese tourists made more than 3.6 billion trips inside the country and 116 million trips overseas last year, official data show.
Fosun acquired six-decade-old Club Med earlier this year and has also bought into British travel company Thomas Cook and Canadian entertainment juggernaut Cirque du Soleil.
Andreetta said Club Med was the centre of Fosun’s new Happy and Lifestyle Department.