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Club Med in China: Getting better at their own game

Club Med Guilin features scenic landscapes and more than 100 art sculptures all over its 46-hectare campus. (Yahoo photo)

China seems to be the place to be for most industries now — tourism, and luxury tourism at that, being no exception.

French resort brand Club Med, which has since 1950 pioneered the all-inclusive resort concept — where everything from food to airfare is included in one price — has eased its surf board up on the rising wave of the local tourist dollar.

So far, it’s got two resorts open in China, with a third, in Dong’ao, partially opening in June. Its latest resort to open in China is in scenic Guilin, which is on a tentative list for nomination as a UNESCO Heritage site. Olivier Horps, the chief executive of the company’s Greater China region, shares that it will have a total of five of its signature all-inclusive resorts open there by 2016, which includes a ski resort at Yabuli.


Club Med is of course not the first to hop onto China’s tourist wave — in fact, compared to others, it does look like it’s got some catching up to do.

Singapore luxury hotel giant Banyan Tree has already planted 10 resorts in China — according to Forbes three years ago, it planned a hefty 27 by this year — with some at beaches, others in valleys amidst mountains and still others parachuted into bustling cities like Shanghai. The Hong Kong-based Shangri-La Group already has three hotels and its first resort opening in China this year, to add to its existing 31 hotels. The coming three years will see that number rise to a total of 48 hotels and resorts in the mainland alone.

A very niche target market


And this is where Horps hints at Club Med’s direction in China — not necessarily to cash in on city tourists, but a very specific, highly wealthy, local niche market of locals.

“We’re talking about the top two per cent of the richest Chinese people, and within them, which is still a big group, people who are well-travelled, who are educated and want to have a type of European-lifestyle holiday in beautiful nature,” he tells Yahoo Singapore in Guilin. “I think you can find that when you go to that niche, you have some of these people in (all) the big cities of the world.” Also in Guilin, Horps shares that some 80 per cent of its visitors have been locals since its soft opening last year — a sign that the concept is appearing to take off among Chinese nationals.

At the same time, the Frenchman takes the opportunity to distance Club Med from the aggressive expansion that other hotel and luxury resort chains have taken in China.

“I’ve visited myself probably more than 100 sites in China by now, so we’re still very selective and want to bring the best of Club Med to China,” he says. “Some big hotel chains are more (building up) as fast as they can… whereas we go completely the other way by saying we want to be in the most beautiful natural places, and preserve them, and don’t build them so much; and we don’t care if we’re a bit far away from the main cities.”



The company’s gamble seem to be paying off fairly well — since opening Club Med Yabuli in 2010, they are more than halfway to their goal of 200,000 clients in the Greater China market by the end of next year. Their pace is also likely to be accelerated by the opening of Club Med Dong’ao — their first Chinese beach resort, which partially opens its super-premium-luxury suites next month, and the main section of accommodation in September.

Just how premium will the Club Med Dong’ao suites be? Free flow of champagne, free in-room snacks and dining as well as personal trainers at the gym — these are but some of the extra-luxurious services provided, and Horps adds that even before its opening, the Dong’ao resort has already received requests for site-wide wedding bookings.

Adding to Yabuli, Guilin and Dong’ao will be a second ski resort and another beach resort, taking the total in China to “at least five”. Horps declines to share where exactly the two new locations will be, although he notes that both chosen sites are at the stages of “very advanced discussion”.

Fuss-free holiday


Over the years, Club Med, which pioneered the all-in-one price concept, has gradually and carefully worked to shake off its long-held image of debauchery and all-night partying, and at least at its Guilin resort now sees a significant number of families — young couples with infants-in-arms or toddlers in tow, sometimes with elderly parents too.

For 32-year-old Beijing citizen Li Qian, who was holidaying at Club Med Guilin with her family for the first time, the resort’s concept looked like an appealing stress-free option, recommended by a friend of hers who had been to a Club Med elsewhere before.


“I really enjoy this concept; it’s really different from others,” she told Yahoo Singapore. “I can bring my two-year-old and my elderly mum here too, without feeling tired or like it’s troublesome at all.” Despite having visited Guilin before, Li said she found the scenery at Club Med so beautiful that she spent her first day exploring the resort grounds just to take it all in.

Li notes that there are activities for young and old — for her 67-year-old mother, for instance, these include tai chi lessons, archery, yoga and swimming, while for the young one, there is Club Med’s Mini Club — but yet she admits this may not take off as quickly with older couples and travellers in China.

“While the elder generation may not get used to this concept too quickly, I think young families like mine and my generation will like it — after working so hard, all we really want to do is relax,” she said.

From party destination to family-friendly fun


This being their third-visited Club Med — also having been to the one in Phuket and their home country — the Singapore-based Foucault family continue to spend week-long periods at its resorts for similar reasons of convenience, comfort and autonomy.

“In terms of scenery and setting, this is one of the most beautiful I’ve seen,” remarked Veronique Viardot-Foucault, 42, a doctor. She explained that she and her husband Axel, a banker, always travel with their children Noa and Orlane.


For Foucault, he feels quite strongly as a French that over the years, Club Med has had to manage its image and train its Gentils Organisateurs (G.O.s for short) to better-handle guests.

“Twenty years ago it was for bachelors looking for ladies and vice versa… but now they’ve found the right balance, and as a family it’s good for us; we can move around on our own and do our own activities,” he said. “It’s much more family-driven because they want clients who keep coming; if you want to party now, you’d go to other places where you can party all night long.”

Click here to discover more about Club Med Guilin.