Club Med plans new resorts in China as travel market opens up

French resort operator Club Med plans to open three new resorts in China this year, as part of its efforts to better cater to Chinese consumers and the market.

The three resorts are under construction in Taicang and Nanjing's Xianlin area in Jiangsu province as well as Heilongtan town, Sichuan province. They all belong to the brand Club Med Joyview, which was launched in 2018 for short-haul trips.

"Chinese consumers today have become more focused on short-distance travel by self-driving partly due to the pandemic, so we expanded the product line with more resorts located within a two — to three-hour drive from first — and second-tier cities," said Henri Giscard d'Estaing, president of Club Med.

Currently, the group operates nine resorts across China, including four Joyview resorts in Beijing's Yanqing district, Qinhuangdao in Hebei province, and Anji county and Qiandao Lake scenic area in the eastern province of Zhejiang.

The Heilongtan Joyview resort, which is only a 90-minute drive southwest of Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, covers about 7 hectares and will feature multiple facilities for families with children.

The project will integrate with local culture and inject new impetus into tourism in West China, said Club Med.

Since Club Med entered China in 2003, it has been committed to catering to Chinese travelers' demands and providing them with "all-inclusive holidays".

Club Med in China has developed as the market evolved, Giscard d'Estaing said.

In 2022, it opened a new ski resort called Club Med Changbaishan in Northeast China's Jilin province. It was in response to the nationwide winter sports craze sparked by the Beijing Olympic Winter Games.

During the Spring Festival holiday in January this year, the resort reported a high occupancy rate of more than 85 percent, according to Club Med.

The ongoing construction in Taicang will allow tourists from the neighboring city of Shanghai to spend their weekends skiing upon completion, said Giscard d'Estaing.

Club Med also introduced a new membership type in China to follow the trend of digital transformation in 2022. "We tapped into digitalization for the first time in China and so far we have built more than 40 Club Med digital sites in 18 languages around the world. We are more 'digital' thanks to China's digitalization," Giscard d'Estaing said.

The president of Club Med was optimistic about the prospects of the Chinese tourism market, as pandemic control measures have been optimized.

"We have seen a robust rebound in domestic tourism and the outbound sector will also grow strongly but it takes some time considering problems such as the shortage of international flights," he said.

China's outbound tourism market is expected to see a clearer recovery in the third quarter of this year, he added.

To meet Chinese travelers' increasing demand for overseas trips, Club Med has diversified its outbound trip products since November and strengthened cooperation with online travel agencies such as Ctrip and Fliggy in marketing and promotion.

In addition, it plans to send 200 Chinese GOs or Gentle Organizers, which refer to its young and versatile staff members, to its resorts in 26 countries and regions worldwide this summer in a bid to offer quality services to tourists from China.

When they come back, they will be more capable of receiving international travelers coming to China, Giscard d'Estaing said.

Data from Club Med showed that its average business volume in January and February reached the highest monthly level in recent years. In China alone, its turnover during the Spring Festival holiday was doubled compared with the holiday in 2022. The figure also surpassed the pre-pandemic level of 2019.