With an eye aimed squarely at the upscale
market and its sights fixed on increasing sales, service and
customer satisfaction, Club Med continues to redefine its product
and image, according to Cedric Gobilliard, president and CEO, North
America.
The French-born
Gobilliard, formerly head of sales and marketing for Club Med in
Europe, assumed his post last May.
His job is
defined by a strategy first deployed by Club Med in 2002 to reduce
financial losses, re-energize the product and refocus on the
resorts and the upscale market, especially in the Americas zone,
where 11 of Club Med's 80 villages are located.
"We remain
clearly on that track even as we continue to fine-tune, diversify
and upgrade our product to meet the changing needs of our guests,"
Gobilliard said.
What had happened
in the years following the opening of the first Club Med village in
1950 in the Balearic Islands "was that we were fighting against our
own history," Gobilliard said.
"We had many
different markets as the years passed. After a while, no one really
knew who we were or who we were going after. Was it the family
market, singles, couples?"
The bottom line,
according to Gobilliard, was that "we had to upscale. Americans
expected that. Our level of service became the issue, and we
decided to renovate our entire product."
The 11 Club Med
resorts under Gobilliard's domain are La Caravelle in Guadeloupe,
Buccaneer's Creek in Martinique, Columbus Isle on San Salvador in
the Bahamas, Club Med Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic,
Turkoise in Turks and Caicos, Sandpiper in Port St. Lucie, Fla., as
well as Cancun and Ixtapa, Mexico, and three properties in
Brazil.
The recent
improvements and renovations at these resorts were a calculated
component of the company's strategy toward wooing the luxury
market, said Gobilliard.
Since 2002, Club
Med has invested more than $160 million into the resorts in the
Caribbean and the Americas.
The 293-room
Buccaneer's Creek in Martinique, for example, completed a $60
million, 18-month, top-to-bottom makeover in December
2005.
Its reopening
heralded not only a new resort but also the relaunch of Martinique
as a viable destination for the U.S. market.
The recent $29
million redo of La Caravelle in Guadeloupe represented "Club Med's
continuing dedication to providing an upscale family experience
worldwide," Gobilliard said.
After Club Med
Cancun closeddue to damage from Hurricane Wilma in October 2005,
Club Med pumped $20 million into repairs and additions, switched
from an adults-only property to one that welcomes families and
reopened last December with strong winter season bookings already
in the coffer.
The list goes on.
A new spa was added to the mix at Club Med Punta Cana as was the
Ramp for teens, a Rollerblading and skateboarding structure with a
lounge area underneath and a canopy above that doubles as a movie
screen.
The Ramp has been
so popular it will be a fixture at all family-friendly Club Meds in
the Americas zone.
Club Med Ixtapa
on Mexico's west coast is next on the renovation list. The resort
will close in April and plans to reopen in December with a new spa
and larger family rooms and suites.
The improvements
and additions across the board range from expanded a la carte food
services and in-room furnishings to Babies Welcome programs for
infants and a new Passworld programs for teens.
Room service will
become a standard feature at the Club Med resorts under
Gobilliard's umbrella, as well.
"We're offering
the atmosphere that made Club Med famous, but we are making our
products relevant to the upscale American client with adaptations
that will increase our sales and customer satisfaction, things like
flat-screen TVs, air conditioning and WiFi public areas,"
Gobilliard said.
Travel agents
have figured heavily into Club Med's repositioning strategies.
"Agents are not comfortable with sending their clients to resorts
where the service is questionable or inconsistent," Gobilliard
said. "We have had to regain their confidence in the Club Med
product, and we are succeeding."
Next on his punch
list is an upgrade of Club Med's booking engine.
"We're not
satisfied with it as it stands now. We're working on it to make it
better, easier and more user-friendly for agents and consumers," he
said.
There seems to be
little that Gobilliard does not have his hand in or his eye
on.
"It's all about
delivering a consistently good product to a market that demands the
most of us," he said.
To contact reporter Gay Nagle Myers, send e-mail to [email protected].