Club Med eyes 30% annual growth in Indian outbound travelers

French hospitality chain Club Med is targeting 25-30 per cent annual growth in the number of Indian outbound travelers to its 67 resorts globally, as it focuses on brand awareness and tying up with channel partners in the country.
Club Mediterranee SA, known as Club Med, catered to around 2,500 Indian travellers in its various resorts for the fiscal year ended October 2015. The company offers 'premium all inclusive concept' in resorts and that is the USP of its brand identity.
"India as a market provides huge growth potential for the company and we are keen to further strengthen this market," Club Med Business Development Manager India Manoj Upadhyay said.

The company is looking to capture a large chunk of growing number of Indian outbound travelers and plans to have 25-30 per cent annual growth in Indian guests to resorts in the next 4-5 years, he added.
The company has resorts at preferred destinations by Indians such as Bali, Bintan, Phuket, Cherating, Maldives and Mauritius, Upadhyay said.
Speaking on the challenges faced by the company, Upadhyay said: "We are sometime identified as a timeshare membership or a medical tourism company or a travel franchisee which we are not. We want to communicate to the customers that ClubMed is a premium resort French brand which offers all inclusive holidays to its valuable guests."

The company is laying thrust on creating brand awareness, positioning the brand properly and organising regular road shows across India including tier-II and III cities, he said.

In India, Club Med is operating since 2008 but it does not have any resort in the country. It is working with both B2B and B2C channels to raise awareness about its brand and concept besides marketing and social media campaigns.
Started in the year 1950 by former Belgian water polo champion, Gerard Blitz, the company has 67 resorts at 26 countries out of which 42 are beach resorts while remaining 25 are ski resorts.

Club Med resorts are located at various destinations in Asia Pacific and China, Europe, Africa, North America, Caribbean and South America.
The company is planning to come up with more resorts in the coming future and it would be as per corporate expansion plans and strategy to identify new locations. Currently, Club Med employs over 20,000 staff globally.