Club Med may set up another village here

By Sharen Kaur (Published in NST on September 22 2009)


FRENCH-BASED Club Mediterranee, which operates the Club Med resort chain, may set up another village in Malaysia if it gets the chance to take over an existing property with a management contract.

Club Med vice-president of marketing and general manager of commercial for Asia-Pacific, Olivier Horps, said having a second resort in Malaysia would help to boost its revenue for Asia-Pacific.

"We may look at Kota Kinabalu, Sabah as a second destination. It could happen soon if there is a proposal from somebody," Horps told Business Times in an interview.

He said currently, a lot of foreigners are travelling to Malaysia and staying at its sole resort here, the Club Med Cherating in Pahang.

Club Med Cherating, which was set up in 1979, is poised for further development, having last been refurbished at a cost of RM30 million in 2004/2005.

The refurbishment had helped increased its occupancy rates from 50 per cent in 2004 to between 60 per cent and 65 per cent.

The resort, which has about 700 beds, looks at the number of beds instead of rooms to gauge its occupancy.

It now sells each room from RM550 per person per night, inclusive of accommodation, three meals, snacking and free flow of alcohol and non-alcohol beverages and entertainment.

"We review our (room) prices each year. The only time we raised room rates by a higher percentage was recently, when we included the two-day/one-night stay package with free-flow of beverages and dining.

But it has improved our sales volume," Horps said.
"We will make investments this year to add environment-friendly activities, instead of increasing rooms. We plan to create a new path in the jungle. We have cliffs looking into the sea and may create new activities there," Horps said.

Club Mediterranee, set up in 1950 by Gerard Blitz, has 80 resorts in its global portfolio with Malaysia being the first country in Asia-Pacific to have a Club Med resort.

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