| Journal: TWUK | Section: |
| Title: | Issue Date: 21/08/00 |
| Author: | Page Number: 33 |
| Copyright: Other |
Club med by Teresa Machan
Magical Club Med’s staff do vanishing act
Operator chalks up 50 years
IT’S rather fitting, and strangely comforting, for a company that claims to have invented the first package holiday to have all of its senior spokespeople on holiday and unavailable for comment.It’s August, after all, and there’s a birthday to celebrate. To put Club Med’s 50th anniversary in context, the holiday operator predates both the jumbo jet and television.
The concept was founded on passion, magic and a cold winter’s day, according to Philippe Bourguignon, chief executive officer of Club Mediterranee.
If you think being delayed at Gatwick is tough, the first 300 Club Med holidaymakers faced a hellish 36-hour trek from Paris through France and Spain, followed by a boat crossing to the Balearic Islands, where they then, finally, took a bus to Alcudia Village in the Balearics.
The canvas village, on a beach site, featured 200 US army tents furnished with camp beds and mattresses, a well, kitchens and a bar with a coffee machine. Activities ran to a musical wake-up, swimming, volleyball and death-defying underwater fishing. Thank heavens for progress. The price back in June 1950, for a two-week vacation, was approximately £243.
After Alcudia came Baratti, Corfu and Djerba villages followed by the Alps, Polynesia, Africa, South America and Asia.
Since the summer of 1950, Club Med has proliferated into a global all-inclusive operator with 120 villages on five continents in 50 countries.
Bourguignon insists although there are alterations that have been made, some things haven’t changed.
“For the past three years, we have made many changes, renovating our villages, opening new ones. But in essence nothing has changed: you are at a place where you can leave your troubles behind and enjoy the holiday of a lifetime.”
So where does a Club Med boss go on holiday? It’s top secret but it’s not Club Med – it’s sold out for this summer.
In the beginning: Club Med has since added long-haul resorts, such as La Caravelle, Guadalupe, to its portfolio
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What’s new at club med
Get active: the operator boasts 60-plus sporting activities
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