CLUB Med is to concentrate its UKpromotions on 15 of its villages and hire British staff to make holidaymakers feel more comfortable.
The move follows concern that UK parents are nervous about placing their children in kids’ clubs which are staffed by overseas employees.
Speaking at a Club Med conference in Senegal, West Africa, chairman and chief executive Philippe Bourguignon said: “We want to encourage the UK and hope to do this by targeting certain villages in destinations which are traditionally popular with the UK. There is potential and we want to exploit that potential.”
The villages being marketed will be in Spain, Italy and Turkey.
Head of worldwide marketing Alain Pourcelot admitted that while all staff are required to speak English, UK parents still worry that their children will not be understood by staff who only have English as a second language.
“By having English staff and adapting the villages to English tastes, holidaymakers will feel more comfortable,” he added.
The Paris-based operator, which has 120 villages in 36 countries and reported profit growth in 1999 of 48%, is intending to double UK carryings to 80,000 by 2004.
But Bourguignon added it was unlikely that Club Med will treat the UK as a priority.
“The UK is a consolidated market which makes it hard to penetrate,” he said.
He also reassured agents that they will remain an important part of its distribution despite predictions its new on-line booking service will account for 20% of worldwide sales in the next three years.