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Club Med Australia has reported its end of season results with a surprising resurgence in the Free Independent Traveller sector – particularly families, outbound from Australia.
The All-Inclusive Holiday concept has trended upwards from all states, despite most tourism and hospitality sectors trending down in the second half of 2009 – the reporting period being from 1st May – 31st October 2009.
This comes on top of a strong first half (1st Nov 08 – 30th April 09) which saw increased growth of the Free Independent Traveller sector.
“But families are recognising a Club Med holiday allows them to budget, pre-pay in Australian dollars, and more importantly, then stick to that budget on holiday, because it is all included, so there can be no nasty surprises at the end,” says Gwenola Hanaut, Marketing Manager for Club Med Australia. “There is no doubt that everyone, including businesses and MICE have adopted a more conservative attitude in 2009,” she added.
“One very pleasing aspect is that we have grown the actual number of bookings too, so we have been introducing new family groups to the Club Med concept in a very tough trading environment”, she concludes.
Outstanding Resorts in 2009 have been Bali, popular once again, as Aussies top the arrivals chart data, and a resurging Bintan Island in Indonesia – possibly due to increased air access from Australia, a major refurbishment program in 2008 and relative political stability in the region.
A rather flat Phuket is now recovering, and new air services from V-Australia and Pacific Blue this month, plus ramped up Jetstar services in 2010 will help the destination grow and recover past market share.
Club Med is anticipating the trend to continue as the winter ski season in Japan gears up, followed by the traditional New Year family holiday time, and with a number of Australian employees being requested to use up leave this year, or cashed up from the Rudd bonuses during the year.
Club Med offers all inclusive holidays, with airfares, transfers, accommodation, activities, sports and tuition, three gourmet meals a day, open bar and snacking, and kids club (most ages) included in the one pre-paid price.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales. She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
