Club Med has pledged to increase its commitment to the trade following news that its UK country manager and agency sales manager were leaving.
The staff changes see Joy Lacana, agency sales manager, leave on October 17 after six years with the operator. She will be replaced by Yann Richard, who is being promoted from his role as trade sales manager for Club Med in France. He has been with Club Med for six years.
Country manager Eric Chauvet is also leaving the company after 16 years. A new country manager is currently being recruited.
Chauvet said Richard would be focused on “the continued strategy of strengthening the relationship” with trade partners in the UK and continuing to grow trade sales, backed by the operator’s three business development managers on the road.
He added: “I am confident that Yann will succeed in his new role as he brings solid experience in developing sales across multiple channels with strong branding and product range.”
Chauvet said the operator planned to increase its training investment by 80% for 2015, with more fam trips and roadshows for the trade. “We intend to take more travel agents on educational trips plus we intend to do training roadshows through different sessions in the UK. We’ve also invested in a new Club Med e-learning website which we shall roll out to our key partners very soon.”