Fosun, the Chinese conglomerate which has won a bidding war for Club Méditerranée, is banking on China’s growing affluent class and a shortage of high-end resorts on the mainland to anchor the French holiday’s group’s growth.
The company has made it clear that Chinese tourists, with their increasing appetite for high-end travel both at home and abroad, are crucial to the holiday group’s future. Club Med has said its goal is to attract 5 to 10 per cent of potential mainland visitors to four and five star holiday resorts — or some 200,000 customers.
Local tourism analysts say it is not just the sheer volume of the newly affluent Chinese population that matters. The shortage of quality resorts available in China, has led to pent-up demand for the kind of product that Club Med offers.