T alk to people in the streets and the chances are they’ve heard of Club Med. It’s an incredibly powerful brand.
But the amazing thing is that the company carries only 36,000 passengers a year from the UK – something Thomson or Airtours would hardly get out of bed for.
Chairman and chief executive Philippe Bourguignon, who has an excellent track record with both Club Med and his previous employer Disneyland Paris, has a dilemma. Either he allows Club Med to plod along, gradually increasing bookings each year, or he does something radical to boost sales. Of course, Bouguignon would like more sales, but only on his terms.
Buying a reasonable sized tour operator is unlikely, because there aren’t many left and, anyway, Club Med probably wouldn’t be able to afford one.
An alliance is on the cards, but only if the Club Med brand appears as the prominent name on the front of a brochure. So protective is Bouguignon of his brand, that he won’t allow any operator to just take an allocation and feature Club Med in its brochure.
I think he’s wrong. Surely he could do a deal with a bigger company to feature a few dedicated Club Med pages in its brochure. With the subsequent increased bookings, awareness of what Club Med stands for will grow. Club Med must be flexible if it is to realise its potential.
Jeremy Skidmore – editor