Club Med

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Club Méditerranée SA

logo
legal form Société Anonyme
ISIN FR0000121568
founding 1950
Seat Paris , France
management Henri Giscard d'Estaing, Chief Executive Officer
Number of employees 15,000 from 96 countries (2011)
sales EUR 1.4 billion of which 60% outside France (2013)
Branch Tourism
Website www.clubmed.com

The Club Méditerranée SA (Club Med) is one created in in the 1950 French tourism undertakings incinerating or the 66 global holiday clubs and a club ship, the Club Med 2 , operates. Club Med is the third largest provider of club holidays in the German-speaking region .

Club Med operates holiday resorts worldwide and is in the upper price segment. Characteristic of the club is the idiosyncratic vocabulary in which vacationers are referred to as GM ( acronym for “gentil membre”, French for “nice member”) and entertainers as GO (“gentil organisateur”, French for “nice organizer”).

history

The Belgian Gérard Blitz built 200 army tents in 1950, the first club village near Alcúdia on the island of Mallorca under the name Club Méditerranée (French for "Mediterranean Club"). In 1950 2,500 people vacationed there. The Club Méditerranée was initially a non-profit organization, but was soon converted into a commercial company. In 1954, Gilbert Trigano , whose father had supplied Club Med with camping equipment with his company, took over the management of the company as a trained accountant. He institutionalized the GO system. GO stands for the position of “Gentil Organizer”, who is now known as an animator in other holiday clubs .

Trigano raised the "Chef de village" (club boss) to the most important management position within the club. In 1955 a club village was founded on Moorea in French Polynesia in the South Pacific , Club Med Moorea . Since the club could only be reached by sea, vacationers had to plan four months for a club stay: one month each for arrival and departure and two months on site. One year later the first snow club village opened in Leysin in the Vaud Alps in Switzerland. The former world ski champion James Couttet taught alpine skiing there. In addition, childcare was offered in this club for the first time.

In 1957, the bar necklace - a pearl necklace - was introduced as a cashless payment method in all club resorts. During the day you tied a thin cloth, the pareo , around your hips.

In the 1960s, instead of tent and hut villages, investments were made in hotel complexes. In 1961, the company was insolvent because banks refused to take further loans. The bank heir Edmond de Rothschild stepped in as an investor. In 1963 Club Med became a public company and Trigano became its chairman . Edmond de Rothschild received a third of the shares. Blitz retired from the company in 1963. The Mini Club Med was created for children in 1967 . In 1968 the company expanded into the American market with the opening of a club village in Guadeloupe and an office in New York.

In the 1970s, next to the Collier bar, the pareo, known as le minimum , as a cloth wrapped around the waist, was characteristic of the casual atmosphere in the club . In the late 1970s, the club vacation concept for summer and winter vacations was parodied in the films Die Strandflitzer ( Les Bronzés , 1978) and Sun, Sex and Snow Flurries ( Les Bronzés font du ski , 1979).

Since 1982, the company's administration has been divided into four geographic sectors: Europe / Africa (Paris), Asia / Pacific (Singapore, Tokyo), North America / Caribbean (New York) and South America (Rio de Janeiro).

In 1993 the management of the company passed from Gilbert Trigano to his son Serge. After economic problems, Philippe Bourguignon, a former managing director of Eurodisney , became the new top manager in 1997 .

In the early 2000s, the company ran into economic difficulties. After net losses of 70 million euros (financial year 2000/2001) and 62 million euros (financial year 2001/2002), CEO Philippe Bourguignon resigned in the autumn of 2002, who failed with his concept of making the company more compatible with the masses. The previous CFO Henri Giscard d'Estaing took over the management. Club Med had a net debt of 250 million euros. Henri Giscard d'Estaing sold 57 of 128 holiday complexes in order to be able to renovate the rest. One billion euros was spent on this. Club Med recorded a profit for the first time in the 2005/2006 financial year. In 2010 the Chinese company Fosun International joined Club Med. In 2010 Club Med had the most facilities of all club holiday providers with 80 and was used by 20,000 German holidaymakers. Since the 1990s Club Med has also had a motor sailing ship, the five-master Club Med 2 , on which cabins can be booked. In 2010/11 and 2011/12 the company generated only small profits of 2 million euros. In the 2012/13 financial year Club Med generated sales of 1.41 billion euros, a loss of 9 million euros and closed 4 holiday resorts. In the 2013/14 financial year, the company again made a loss of EUR 9 million on sales of EUR 1.38 billion and closed several holiday resorts. In February 2015 Club Med was taken over by the Chinese investor group Gaillon Invest II under the leadership of Fosun International for 541 million euros following a bidding competition with Global Resorts. because the Chinese investor had secured 92.81% of the capital. Club Med had 66 holiday villages in 2015. The withdrawal of the company from the stock exchange and the complete takeover by means of a squeeze-out was announced in spring 2015,

Club Med Foundation

The Club Med La Fondation was established in 1978. She has been initiating and supporting local social projects since the 1980s. Club Med employees and guests have the opportunity to support people in poor countries with donations in money and in kind as well as social activities in the country.

literature

Web links

supporting documents

  1. ↑ a b Que va devenir le Club Med désormais aux mains de Fosun , capital.fr, 11 March 2015
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g Club Med turns 65: The new start of the all-inclusive inventor
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h Club vacation: Abtauchen all inclusive , stern.de, April 10, 2010
  4. ^ Klaus Gengenbach, Kurt Niclaus: Club vacation . In: Jörn W. Mundt (ed.): Travel event: teaching and manual . Oldenbourg , Munich 2011, ISBN 978-3-486-70952-0 , pp. 368 .
  5. ^ Brian Ward: Single Abroad: Tales of the Boyish Man , Lulu, 2011, p. 104 [1]
  6. ^ A b Club Med: The Chinese Take Over a French Legend , Die Welt, January 5, 2015
  7. ↑ a b c d e f g Club Méditerranée: Proletarians of all countries, relax , Spiegel Online, December 20, 2011
  8. ^ William D. Chalmers: On the Origin of the Species homo touristicus: The Evolution of Travel from Greek Spas to Space Tourism, Universe, 2011, p. 176 [2]
  9. ^ A Brief History , The Star
  10. ↑ Club Med: Over 60 years of experience , tourism-insider, October 17, 2013
  11. ↑ Stern: "... that thin cloth that could be taken off quickly when the opportunity was right."
  12. ↑ Boom im Stroh , Der Spiegel , 37/1970, September 5, 1970
  13. ↑ Europe At the Seaside: The Economic History of Mass Tourism in the Mediterranean, edited by Luciano Segreto, Carles Manera, Manfred Pohl, Berghahn Books, 2009, p. 179 [3]
  14. ↑ Michel Verdure: Diving Club Med, Aqua Quest Publications, Inc., 1993, p. 10 [4]
  15. ^ Spiegel report, with description of Club Med
  16. ↑ bond shy Süddeutsche Zeitung , April 15, 2015
  17. ↑ a b The son of the ex-president should fix it. In: Manager Magazin. December 17, 2002, accessed August 27, 2015 .
  18. ↑ hotel group Accor withdraws from Club Med , The World, 10 June 2006
  19. ↑ Tour operator: Unrest in North Africa is bad for Club Med , Handelsblatt , December 6, 2013
  20. ↑ Club Med closes fiscal year with a loss of nine million euros , Zeit online , November 28, 2014
  21. ^ Club Med: Nasty tricks in the battle for French myth? , Die Welt , January 6, 2015
  22. ↑ Travel provider: Takeover battle for Club Med is over , Handelsblatt, February 12, 2015
  23. ^ Club Med La Fondation
  24. ↑ Club Med Foundation ( Memento of the original from June 13, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.clubmed.de
  25. ↑ Club Med is “Brand of the Year” , reiserabatte.de, April 10, 2015