Club Med achieved a strong performance with operating profits up by more than 41% last year over 2017 levels.
The breakdown came with annual financial results issued by Chinese parent company Fosun Tourism Group, which also holds a stake in Thomas Cook.
The tourism arm of Shanghai billionaire Guo Guangchang’s investment firm Fosun International, reported a profit of 389 million yuan, or approximately $57 million, for the year ending December 31, reversing a loss of $295 million a year earlier amid growth at Club Med.
Capacity offered by the all-inclusive brand increased by 8.9% with the majority in the four and five-star category.
The international diversity of the group’s customer base and its presence in tourist destinations helped to strengthen profitability last year, the group said.
“In 2018, the number of our customers from Asia Pacific region increased by 14.4% and particularly, customers from Greater China increased by 21.6%,” Fosun Tourism Group added.
Club Med’s forward bookings for the six months to June 30 were up by 5.2% as of March 2 over the same period last year.
Expansion of Club Med includes a series of resorts in the next few years, including Alpe d’Huez in France, the Dominican Republic, Yanqing in China, Marbella in Spain, the Seychelles and a mountain resort in Quebec Charlevoix, Canada.
Club Med operates in more than 40 countries with 67 resorts, including six in China.
Also, China became the second largest source market for Club Med in 2018 with 243,000 customers, up from under 200,000 the previous year.
Direct sales increased from 63.4% in 2017 to 65.1% last year with extension of various online sales channels and platforms.
Fosun Tourism chairman Qian Jiannong said: “Our vision is to bring greater happiness to global families, we will continue to strive to enhance brand awareness, guest satisfaction and customer loyalty.
“We will also seek more scarce valuable tourism resources and enhance the ecosystem of our businesses by offering integrated tourism products with enriched contents under various brands and characteristics.
“In addition, we will further leverage our global resources, network and talents to strength our leadership in global leisure tourism market with increase in inter-regions flow of customers and our services.”
Fosun Tourism raised approximately HK$3.2 billion in an IPO at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in December.
Thomas Cook said earlier this year said it would team up with Fosun Tourism to open two hotels in China.
More: Club Med’s Chinese tourism group parent company set for IPO
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Surge in UK bookings drives Club Med growth
