After an extremely busy year, Mike Li, chief financial officer of a consult-ing company, wants to have a totally relaxed seven-day-vacation in Phuket, Thailand.
Like him, more and more travellers prefer to indulge themselves in one place for a period rather than travel to many places while on their short vacation.
Embracing the beauties of nature, being totally relaxed, enjoying the local lifestyle and never being worried about being lonely when visiting a foreign country ... all these feelings could be easily found in any Club Med resort - a leading French brand of vacation "townships".
Founded in 1950, the brand continues to grow through its popularity and uniqueness.
"Our concept of 'all-in-one price' has attracted many travellers all over the world," said Gao Hua, general manager of Club Med China.
She said the concept refers to charges for all services in the village - including dinner, accommodation, transportation, interpretation, gym and entertainment - and they are all included in the total travelling package. There will be no extra fees if people want to enjoy any item more than once.
'Gentle Organizers'
"When visitors arrive at the village, the GOs will begin to provide their dedicated services for GMs (gentle members) who are visitors," Gao said.
GO means the gentle organizer and they are different from service staff found in hotels.
Wearing no uniforms, charging no tips but being specialized in various duties, they guide visitors through various activities or help take care of tourists' children. Sometimes, they may dine with guests.
Describing them as playmates of guests may be more precise.
"Our 20,000 GOs are all young men and women in their mid-20s," Gao said.
The Club Med recruits GOs from all over world every year. So far, the GOs come from over 80 countries, so language is not an obstacle for travellers.
"These GOs can speak at least three languages. The majority of the Chinese GOs are from Taiwan Province but we have started to recruit employees from the Chinese mainland," Gao said.
According to her, the first batch of GOs from the mainland will take up their posts in April or May.
Beside GOs and GMs, the local handymen are called GEs, or gentle employees.
Leisure services
Club Med provides all kinds of leisure services, making people feel they are the residents of the village.
"From the moment we arrived, walked through the landscaped gardens and found our lodging overlooking the crystal-blue sea, we knew it was going to be a relaxing week," Hedley Perkin wrote in "Travel/Metro", a tourism magazine, after he stayed in Club Med in Kemer, Turkey last year.
Club Med designs different activities and courses according to different resorts.
In Kani Island in the Maldives, for example, the sports include diving, surfing, setting-up exercises on the sea, polo, other ball games and deep-sea fishing.
In Sahoro, Japan, visitors can enjoy golf, skeet-shooting, archery and bike-riding through the hills.
Recently it introduced services for couples spending their honeymoon at the resort.
"I regret not choosing Club Med when I spent my honeymoon in Indonesia three years ago," Lin Yan, a tour guide, said after she led young couples to Ria Bintan, Indonesia. "We felt lonely when staying at the big hotel then."
Market potential
Club Med targets clients with high income and many of its members are company leaders who usually spend holidays with families, according to Wang Hua, sales manager of Club Med's
Shanghai office.
The service price in a Club Med village is around 7,000- 10,000 yuan (US$843-US$1,204) each day, excluding air fares, he said.
People can consult a local travel agency to become a member.
With the improvement of living standards, many Chinese people like to go abroad for their annual holidays.
In 2003, the number of outbound tourists from China was 16.6 million, 36.84 per cent higher than the previous year, according to statistics.
In 2003, the total tourism revenue in China was 387.8 billion yuan (US$46.72 billion), up 10.11 per cent compared with 2002. China's tourism revenue is No. 5 in the world.
The average length of annual holidays in Germany is 40 days while the period in China is 10-14 days.
Last year, leisure tourism accounted for only 6 per cent of the total and sightseeing tourism accounted for 71 per cent, with business travelling making up the remainder. The figures for the world were 33 per cent, 26 per cent and 41 per cent, respectively.
"Although the number of Chinese people having leisure vacations is small compared with that of Western countries, the proportion keeps increasing and the market sees a big potential," Gao said.
