In 2010, the repositioning of Club Med as an "upscale, friendly and multicultural" tour operator was

supposed to be achieved, through the complete renovation of its portfolio of vacation villages.
owever, the outcome of this strategy, implemented since the early 2000s, when Club Med has
faced the loss of impetus of its historical model, was still unclear. !uch a repositioning clearly
clashed with Club Med"s history and culture, generally associated with a rela#ed atmosphere, rough
and ready amenities and an open$minded lifestyle.
%he 200& results showed that, even if operating profits were finally up after several years of
decrease, revenues were still declining. Club Med"s Chairman and C'( enri )iscard d"'staing
e#plained that the net loss *+,-m. /-1m0 resulted from four elements 1 *10 the overall economic
crisis, *20 the 121 flu virus and its impact on tourism, *30 the renovation cost of the villages, and
*40 a "limited number of property transactions, due to the mortgage crisis". e also announced the
opening of five new villages in China between 2010 and 201,. is promise was to "deliver a new
profitable Club Med for 2010".
owever, the brea5 with Club Med"s history and culture had succeed 1 since 2004, this strategic
turnaround had cost aroung +1bn.
Club Med's history : the years of growth
Club Med was founded after the second 6orld 6ar by )7rad 8lit9 and )ilbert %rigano.
Coming from a belgian diamond merchant family, )7rard 8lit9 was a world$class athlete in
swimming and water$polo. In 1&,0, he spend some days a vacation in a tent village close to Calvi,
Corsica. %his gave him the idea to create a "vacation camp" under the sun. e founded the 8elgian
association "Club M7diterran7e" in :pril 1&,0 and opened his first village on a desert beach on the
island of Mallorca, !pain.
8lit9 bought his tents from a french supplier, )ilbert %rigano. :part from owning a family tent
business, %rigano was a former resistance fighter and a reporter for the ;rench Communist
newspaper l"umanit7. :ttracted by the vacation village concept, fascinated by 8lit9"s personality,
%rigano became the treasurer if the association in 1&,3, then president in 1&<3. %he same year, Club
M7diterran7e was incorporated.
In 1&,,, Club M7diterran7e opened a second tent village in %ahiti *8lit9"s wife was of tahitian
origin0. In 1&,<, a winter village was opened in =eysin, !wit9erland, and in 1&<,, Club
M7diterran7e opened its first permanent village in :gadir, Morocco.
In 1&<<, in order to finance a vast international e#pansion plan in 2orthern :frica, 'urope, :merica
and :sia, the company was listed at the >aris stoc5 e#change. ?uring the ne#t twenty years, do9ens
of villages opened, including two giant sailing ships, Club Med 1 and Club Med 2.
First difficulties
In 1&&1, the year when 8lit9 died, (peration ?esert !torm strongly impacted the tourist industry
and Club Med suffered heavy losses. In 1&&3, )ilbert %rigano was replaced as chairman and C'(
by his son, !erge. In spite of his turnaround plan, !erge %rigano did not manage to put the situation
right. In 1&&@, upset shareholders replaced him with an e#ternal manager, >hilippe 8ourguignon,
the former C'( of 'uro?isney.
8ourguignon"s ambition was to "transform a vacation villages company into a service company".
e implemented a growth strategy, both organic *new concepts such as a low$cost village for young
people0 and e#ternal *ta5eover of another tour operator and of a gym clubs chain0. %his ambitious
e#pansion strategy came with a severe cost$cutting plan, a shift in human resource management *in
the villages, many Club Med employees were replaced with local suppliers0 and the implementation
of a real I% infrastructure *many processes were still done manually0. Club Med became profitable
in 1&&-.
In 1&&&, net profits grew by 4-A. In 2000, revenues and profits soared again *B2-A and B,1A
respectively0. In three years, Club Med attracted more than 300 000 new customers. In 2001, when
)ilbert %rigano died, Club Med had 12@ villages, 24200 employees and 1,- millions customers.
owever, the terrorist attac5s of &C11 caused an immediate collapse of the toursit mar5et.
8ourguignon"s volume strategy was no longer sustainable. !ince he was disowned by Club Med"s
employees $ who criticised his autocratic management and were used to %rigano"s paternalism $ he
resigned from the chairmanship in 2002. e was replaced by the C'( he had recruited himself fro
?anone, enri )iscard d"'staing. )iscard d"'staing was also the elder son of the former >resident
ot the ;rench Depublic.
The repositioning plan
6hen )iscard d"'staing became chairman and C'(, Club Med was facing two e#ternal threats 1
$ %he tourist industry was heavily affected by the terrorist threat.
$ %han5s to the internet, new low$cost entrants were rapidly e#panding, and incumbents were
offered vacation villages, similar to the Club Med concept, but a lower prices.
:ll this convinced )iscard d"'staing to implement an upscale repositioning 1 the closing down of
appro#imately ,0 low$end villages, renovation of the e#isting infrastructure, opening of new
prestigious establishments, a significant rise in serices *all$inclusive pac5age, open$bar policy, more
comfortable rooms0, but also a significant price rise. %he number of villages decrease to -0 and a
much more sophisticated advertising campaign was launched. 8etween 1&&- and 200-, the
proportion of high$end villages went from 1-A to 4@A, whereas low$end villages were
disappearing. %he clientele also evolved significantly 1 households with a high revenue accounted
for <3A of customers in 2003, and -2A in 200,.
%his repositioning was mainly financed by selling property, which reduced financial costs and
amortisation, limited debt, and allowed Club Med to offer an acceptable balance sheet for investors
to finance the renovation of its villages. owever, two e#ternal events wea5ened this strategy 1 the
mar5et was still in a downturn *on top of terrorist threats, the 2004 tsunami in :sia brutally reduced
the opportunity for property profits.
In 2010, analysts were still uncertain about the results of this profound strategic reorientation, which
was disrupting Club Med"s historical culture.
The roots of Club Med's Culture
;or more than fifty years, Club Med e#hibited a distinct culture. )ilbert %rigano used to say that he
had created a "profoundly psychological industry".
Mar5ed by the !econd 6orld 6ar, 8lit9 had created Club Med because the thought that all
'ruopeans deserved vacations on the seaside and under the sun. e defined his concept as the
"antidot against civilisation". :ccording to )ilbert %rigano 1 "More than )7rard, I tried to reconcile
capitalism with utopia. I remember these early mornings when we were boldly building the world
with a total madness, but we 5new perfectly what we were doing 1 we 5new we wanted to influence
people"s life and future". 8lit9 was an idealist and %rigano a pragmatist, but they agreed on
"gathering people hurt by modern society in a peaceful and soft place where they could regain their
forces, an articial enronment to teach people to smile again".
%o do so, they built up a culture with rich symbols, rituals and myths. Eillages were isolated from
their local environment in order to brea5 from day$to$day life. :menities were limited 1 tents at first,
then huts $ often without electricty $ with shared bathrooms. In this closed world, as of 1&,1,
customers were named )Ms *)racious Members0 and coordinateurs )(s *)racious (rganisers0.
(n arrival, welcomed by )(s, )Ms had to ban professional Fargon and social origins. :t the
restaurant, there were only eight$people tables, in order to force )Ms to ma5e new acGuaintances.
:s of 1&,<, Clud Med banned money from the villages and implemented a payment system based
on plastic pearl nec5laces.
)(s were the 5eystone of the whole system. %hey were e#pected to maintain a permanent festive
atmosphere through shows, village dances and sport competitions. ?uring the first years, 8lit9
personally recruited them with his wife, Claudine. )ilbert %rigano insisted 1 "Claudine informally
played the role of head personel, which was a 5ey role because everything relies on )(s. !he and
)7rard were the tutelary patents of the Club, they choose children in their image and maintain
family relations with them.
;rom an organisational point of view, the best )(s could become general managers of a village, in
charge of all the operational aspects, from animation to hospitality and security. %he best general
managers $ a Fob it reGuired an almost permanent night$and$day presence with )Ms $ could access
administrative positions at Club Med headGuarters in >aris, even if these coordinators were not
necessarily good e#ecutives.
Hnder the trident logo *a reference to >oseidon an the Mediterranean !ea0, Club Med generated a
"sea, se# and sun" alchemy which reached its apogee in the 1&@0s.
Towards a new culture
In the 1&&0s, this life in a community was no longer in the line with social evolutions. =oose morals
were unacceptable for families. Eillages were more and more considered as ghettos, without any
contacts with with local cultures. Hndue familiarity between )(s and )Ms repelled some
customers and the obligation to participate in all activities was seen as brigading.
:s a conseGuence, as of 2002, after having as5ed !erge %rigano about Club Med"s historical culture,
)iscard d"'staing attempted deep cultural change. :n ambiance charter was produced. It
highlighted the core values of the company 1 multicultural, pioneer, 5indness, freedom,
responsability. It also spelled out inappropriate behaviours for )(s 1 cronyism, hasty Fudgement,
individualism. :s thic5 as a phone boo5, it also e#plained new procedures and limited "vulgar"
activities such as water games or roles played by a member of the opposite se#. : school village
opened in Eittel in ;rance, in order to train 10000 employees *out of a total of 1<0000. %he goal was
to reconsider relational behaviors, ways of dressing and attitudes. %he organisation of the village
was also modified. )eneral managers $ who used to supervise directly 1, services $ were now
assisted by two deputies *one in charge of hospitality, the other in charge of leisure0
A transformation in progress
%his evolution was still in progress by 2010. 'ven if customer satisfaction had incresed, the
occupancy rate hade not. 2othing indicated that shareholders would give )iscard d"'staing enough
timer to complete Club Med"s transformation 1 the share price plummeted from ,4+ in :ugust 200@
to 13+ in Ianuary 2010.
'ven if )iscard d"'staing maintained that his strategy was beginning to bear fruit, in mid$200& he
had to react to the potential threat of a hostile ta5eover bid from e#ternal investors, who estimated
that an upscale repositioning was inconsistent with Club Med"s values and business model. :n
increase in capital dispelled this threat, but analysts were still cautious about the results of such
strategic and cultural turnaround.
'n 2010, le repositionnement du Club Med en tant Gue tour$op7rateur "haut de gamme, convivial et
multiculturelJ 7tait cens7 Ktre r7alis7, grLce M la r7novation complNte de son portefeuille de villages
de vacances. %outefois, le r7sultat de cette strat7gie, mise en Ouvre depuis le d7but des ann7es 2000,
Guand le Club Med a fait face M l"essoufflement de son modNle historiGue, n"7tait touFours pas clair.
Hn tel repositionnement clairement en conflit avec l"histoire et la culture de Club Med,
g7n7ralement associ7e M une atmosphNre d7tendue, 7Guipements bruts et prKts et un mode de vie
ouvert.
=es r7sultats de 200& ont montr7 Gue, mKme si les b7n7fices d"e#ploitation ont finalement augment7
aprNs plusieurs ann7es de baisse, les revenus 7taient encore en baisse. >r7sident et chef de la
direction M. enri )iscard d"'staing de Club Med a e#pliGu7 Gue la perte nette *de ,- M +. -1m /0
r7sulte de Guatre 7l7ments1 *10 la crise 7conomiGue globale, *20 le virus de la grippe 121 et de son
impact sur le tourisme, *3 0 le coPt de la r7novation des villages, et *40 un "nombre limit7 de
transactions immobiliNres, en raison de la crise des prKts hypoth7caires". Il a 7galement annonc7
l"ouverture de cinG nouveau# villages en Chine entre 2010 et 201,, sa promesse 7tait de Qlivrer un
nouveau rentable Club Med pour 2010".
Cependant, la rupture avec l"histoire et la culture de Club Med avait r7ussi1 depuis 2004, ce
revirement strat7giGue avait coPt7 environ + 1 milliard.
L'histoire du Club Med: les annes de croissance
Club Med a 7t7 fond7 aprNs la deu#iNme guerre mondiale par )7rard 8lit9 et )ilbert %rigano.
Issu d"une famille belge de marchands de diamants, )7rard 8lit9 7tait un athlNte de classe mondiale
dans la natation et le water$polo. 'n 1&,0, il passe GuelGues Fours de vacances dans un village de
tentes prNs de Calvi, en Corse. Cela lui a donn7 l"id7e de cr7er un "camp de vacances" sous le soleil.
Il a fond7 l"association belge QClub M7diterran7eJ en :vril 1&,0 et a ouvert son premier village sur
une plage d7serte sur l"Rle de MaForGue, en 'spagne.
8lit9 a achet7 ses tentes auprNs d"un fournisseur franSais, )ilbert %rigano. 'n dehors de poss7der
une entreprise de tentes familiale, %rigano 7tait un ancien combattant de la r7sistance et un reporter
pour le Fournal communiste franSais ="umanit7. :ttir7 par le concept de village de vacances,
fascin7 par la personnalit7 de 8lit9, %rigano est devenu le tr7sorier de l"association en 1&,3, puis
pr7sident en 1&<3, la mKme ann7e, le Club M7diterran7e a 7t7 constitu7e.
'n 1&,,, le Club M7diterran7e a ouvert un deu#iNme village de tentes M %ahiti *la femme de 8lit9
7tait d"origine tahitienne0. 'n 1&,<, un village d"hiver a 7t7 ouvert M =eysin, en !uisse, et en 1&<,, le
Club M7diterran7e a ouvert son premier village permanent M :gadir, au Maroc.
'n 1&<<, afin de financer un vaste plan d"e#pansion internationale en :friGue du 2ord, en 'urope,
en :m7riGue et en :sie, la soci7t7 a 7t7 cot7e M la 8ourse de >aris. :u cours des vingt ann7es
suivantes, des di9aines de villages s"ouvrirent y compris deu# voiliers g7ants, Club Med 1 et Club
Med 2.
Premires difficults
'n 1&&1, l"ann7e oT 8lit9 est d7c7d7, l"op7ration %empKte du d7sert a fortement impact7 le secteur
du tourisme et le Club Med a subi de lourdes pertes. 'n 1&&3, )ilbert %rigano a 7t7 remplac7 en tant
Gue pr7sident et >?) par son fils, !erge. 'n d7pit de son plan de redressement, !erge %rigano n"a
pas r7ussi M redresser la situation. 'n 1&&@, les actionnaires boulevers7s le remplacent par un
gestionnaire e#terne, >hilippe 8ourguignon, l"ancien >?) de 'uro?isney.
="ambition de 8ourguignon 7tait de Qtransformer une entreprise de village de vacances en une
soci7t7 de services". Il a mis en Ouvre une strat7gie de croissance, les deu# organiGues *nouveau#
concepts tels Gue les villages M faible coPt pour les Feunes0 et e#terne *prise de contrUle d"un autre
tour$op7rateur et d"une chaRne de clubs de gym0. Cette strat7gie d"e#pansion ambitieuse est venu
avec un plan de r7duction des coPts grave, un changement dans la gestion des ressources humaines
*dans les villages, de nombreu# employ7s du Club Med ont 7t7 remplac7s par des fournisseurs
locau#0 et la mise en Ouvre d"une v7ritable infrastructure informatiGue *de nombreu# proc7d7s ont
7t7 encore effectu7es manuellement0 . Club Med est devenue rentable en 1&&-.
'n 1&&&, les b7n7fices nets ont augment7 de 4-A. 'n 2000, les revenus et les profits ont grimp7 M
nouveau *B 2-A et B ,1A respectivement0. 'n trois ans, le Club Med a attir7 plus de 300 000
nouveau# clients. 'n 2001, lorsGue )ilbert %rigano est d7c7d7, le Club Med avait 12@ villages, 24
200 salari7s et 1,- millions de clients.
Cependant, les attaGues terroristes du &C11 ont caus7 un effondrement imm7diat du march7
touristiGue. =a strat7gie de volume de 8ourguignon n"7tait plus durable. ?epuis Gu"il a 7t7 d7savou7
par les employ7s du Club Med $ Gui critiGuaient sa gestion autocratiGue et ont 7t7 utilis7s pour le
paternalisme de %rigano $ il a d7missionn7 de la pr7sidence en 2002, il a 7t7 remplac7 par le >?)
Gu"il avait lui$mKme recrut7 de ?anone, enri )iscard d"'staing. )iscard d"'staing 7tait aussi le fils
aRn7 de l"ancien pr7sident de la D7publiGue franSaise.
Le plan de repositionnement
Vuand )iscard d"'staing est devenu pr7sident et >?), le Club Med a 7t7 confront7 M deu# menaces
e#t7rieures1
$ ="industrie du tourisme a 7t7 fortement affect7e par la menace terroriste.
$ Merci M l"Internet, les nouveau# arrivants M faible coPt ont 7t7 en pleine e#pansion, et entreprises
en place ont 7t7 offerts villages de vacances, similaires au concept Club Med, mais d"une pri# plus
bas.
%out cela a convaincu )iscard d"'staing de mettre en Ouvre un repositionnement haut de gamme1 la
fermeture d"environ ,0 villages bas de gamme, la r7novation de l"infrastructure e#istante, l"ouverture
de nouveau# 7tablissements prestigieu#, une augmentation significative des serices *forfait tout
compris, open$bar politiGue, des chambres plus confortables0, mais aussi d"une hausse significative
du pri#. =e nombre de villages a diminu7 M -0 et une campagne beaucoup plus sophistiGu7e de la
publicit7 a 7t7 lanc7e. 'ntre 1&&- et 200-, la proportion de villages haut de gamme est pass7e de
1-A M 4@A, tandis Gue les villages de bas de gamme disparaissaient. =a clientNle a 7galement
7volu7 de maniNre significative1 les m7nages ayant un revenu 7lev7 repr7sentent <3A des clients en
2003, et -2A en 200,.
Ce repositionnement a 7t7 financ7 principalement par la vente de biens, ce Gui r7duit les coPts et
amortissements financiers, un endettement limit7, et a permis M Club Med d"offrir un bilan
acceptable au# investisseurs afin de financer la r7novation de ses villages. Cependant, deu#
7v7nements e#ternes ont affaibli cette strat7gie1 le march7 7tait encore en p7riode de r7cession *au$
dessus de menaces terroristes, le tsunami de 2004 en :sie brutalement r7duit la possibilit7 pour les
b7n7fices de propri7t7.
'n 2010, les analystes 7taient encore incertains Guant au# r7sultats de cette r7orientation strat7giGue
profonde, Gui a boulevers7 la culture historiGue du Club Med.
Les racines de la culture de Club Med
?epuis plus de cinGuante ans, le Club Med a pr7sent7 une culture distincte. )ilbert %rigano disait
Gu"il avait cr77 une "industrie profond7ment psychologiGue".
MarGu7 par la !econde )uerre mondiale, 8lit9 a cr77 le Club Med parce Gu"il pensait Gue tous les
'urop7ens m7ritaient des vacances en bord de mer et sous le soleil. Il d7finit son concept comme
"l"antidote contre la civilisation". !elon )ilbert %rigano1 Q>lus Gue )7rard, F"ai essay7 de concilier
capitalisme et utopie. Ie me souviens de ces d7buts de matin7e Guand nous avons courageusement
construit le monde avec une folie totale, mais nous savions parfaitement ce Gue nous faisions. 2ous
savions Gue nous voulions influencer la vie et l"avenir des gens ". 8lit9 7tait un id7aliste et %rigano
pragmatiGue, mais ils 7taient d"accord sur le fait de Qrassembler les gens touch7s par la soci7t7
moderne dans un endroit paisible et dou# oT ils pourraient retrouver leurs forces, un environnement
articiel pour apprendre au# gens M sourire M nouveau."
>our ce faire, ils ont construit une culture de symboles riches, de rituels et de mythes. ?es villages
ont 7t7 isol7s de leur environnement local afin de rompre avec la vie au Four le Four. !ervices ont 7t7
limit7s1 des tentes dans un premier temps, puis des cabanes $ souvent sans 7lectricit7 $ avec salle de
bains commune. ?ans ce monde clos, en 1&,1, les clients ont 7t7 nomm7s )Ms *)entils Membres0
et Coordinateurs )(s *)entils (rganisateurs0. W l"arriv7e, accueilli par )(, )M a dP interdire le
Fargon professionnel et origines sociales. :u restaurant, il n"y avait Gue des tables de huit personnes,
afin de forcer )M de faire de nouvelles connaissances. 'n 1&,<, Clud Med interdit l"argent des
villages et mis en Ouvre un systNme de paiement bas7 sur des colliers de perles en plastiGue.
)( 7tait la cl7 de voPte de tout le systNme. Ils devaient maintenir une ambiance festive permanente
M travers des spectacles, des danses villageoises et des comp7titions sportives. >endant les premiNres
ann7es, 8lit9 a personnellement recrut7 avec sa femme, Claudine. )ilbert %rigano a insist71 ".
Claudine a Fou7 le rUle de chef du personnel, Gui 7tait un rUle cl7, car tout repose sur les )os. 'lle et
)7rard sont les brevets tut7laires du Club, ils choisissent des enfants M leur image et entretiennent
des relations familiales avec eu#.
?"un point de vue organisationnel, les meilleurs )( pouvaient devenir directeurs g7n7rau# d"un
village, en charge de tous les aspects op7rationnels, de l"animation de l"hospitalit7 et M la s7curit7.
=es meilleurs directeurs g7n7rau# $ un emploi, il n7cessitait une pr7sence Guasi permanente nuit et
Four avec )M $ pouvaient acc7der M des postes administratifs au siNge du Club Med M >aris, mKme
si ces coordonnateurs ne sont pas n7cessairement de bons dirigeants.
!ous le logo trident *une r7f7rence M >os7idon et la mer M7diterran7e0, le Club Med a g7n7r7 un
"sea, se# and sun" alchimie Gui a atteint son apog7e dans les ann7es 1&@0.
!ers une nou"elle culture
?ans les ann7es 1&&0, cette vie dans une communaut7 n"7tait plus en ligne avec les 7volutions
sociales. MOurs l7gNres 7taient inacceptables pour les familles. Eillages 7taient de plus en plus
consid7r7s comme des ghettos, sans aucun contact avec avec les cultures locales. =a familiarit7
e#cessive entre les )( et )M a repouss7 certains clients et l"obligation de participer M toutes les
activit7s a 7t7 consid7r7 comme embrigadement.
'n cons7Guence, M partir de 2002, aprNs avoir demand7 M !erge %rigano sur la culture historiGue du
Club Med, )iscard d"'staing a tent7 un changement culturel profond. Hne charte de l"ambiance a
7t7 produit. Il a soulign7 les valeurs fondamentales de la soci7t71 multiculturel, pionnier, gentillesse,
libert7, responsabilit7. Il a 7galement pr7cis7 les comportements inappropri7s des )(1 copinage,
Fugement hLtif, l"individualisme. Xpais comme un annuaire t7l7phoniGue, il a 7galement e#pliGu7 les
nouvelles proc7dures et QvulgairesJ des activit7s limit7es telles Gue des Feu# d"eau ou des rUles
Fou7s par un membre du se#e oppos7. Hn village scolaire a ouvert M Eittel en ;rance, afin de former
10 000 employ7s *sur un total de 1< 0000. ="obFectif 7tait de revoir les comportements relationnels,
des faSons de s"habiller et les attitudes. ="organisation du village a 7galement 7t7 modifi7e. =es
directeurs g7n7rau# $ Gui permet de superviser directement 1, services $ sont d7sormais assist7s par
deu# adFoints *un en charge de l"accueil, l"autre en charge de loisirs0.
#ne transformation en cours
Cette 7volution 7tait encore en cours en 2010, mKme si la satisfaction du client a incresed, le tau#
d"occupation hade pas. Dien n"indiGuait Gue les actionnaires donner )iscard d"'staing asse9
minuterie pour terminer la transformation du Club Med1 le pri# de l"action a chut7 de ,4 + en :oPt
2.00@ M 13 + en Ianvier 2010.
MKme si )iscard d"'staing a soutenu Gue sa strat7gie commence M porter ses fruits, M la mi$200&, il
se devait de r7agir M la menace potentielle d"une offre publiGue d"achat hostile de la part des
investisseurs e#ternes, Gui estime Gu"un repositionnement haut de gamme 7tait incompatible avec
les valeurs du Club Med et modNle d"affaires. Hne augmentation de capital a dissip7 cette menace,
mais les analystes sont encore prudents sur les r7sultats de tel revirement strat7giGue et culturel.