Club Med, the world’s leading all-inclusive brand with more than 80 resorts from skiing havens in France to tropical paradises in Indonesia, has signed an agreement with China’s ChinaPaoShan Group that calls for the pre-opening of a second Club Med resort in China in Guilin, Guanxi Province, in August 2012.
Currently a Relais & Châteaux site, the second Club Med resort in China will open in pre-launch mode for the summer 2012 season. In 2013, it will be fully aligned with Club Med standards for full-year operation in 2014. Club Med will operate and market the resort through a ten-year management contract with site owner ChinaPaoShan. Guilin attracted more than 20 million Chinese tourists and 1.4 million international visitors in 2010. Located in Guanxi Province in southern China, Guilin is one of the country’s prime tourist destinations, renowned for its unique scenery. Guilin is also ideally situated for easy access. The city’s international airport is 45 minutes from the Club Med resort and an hour’s flight from Hong Kong and Guangzhou.
The future 4-Trident resort, catering in particular to families, will open with 162 rooms split by a main building housing 116 rooms and a “château” with 46 rooms, most of them suites. A design plan to expand the resort to more than 300 rooms is planned for the summer of 2013.
The resort will have two swimming pools, a fitness room and a spa. Yoga, tai chi, mountain biking and numerous excursions will be offered in one of China’s most breathtaking natural areas. Childcare will be provided for children from 2 years, with a Petit Club Med and a Mini Club Med. The resort will also feature a conference center for business clients.
In line with Club Med’s goal of becoming the leading provider of all-inclusive vacations for Chinese customers, three other resort projects at seaside or cultural destinations have already been identified or are in the planning stage.
Club Med has decided to strengthen its presence in upscale resorts in China by opening five locations between now and 2015. The objective for 2015 is to attract 5% to 10% of China’s potential 4 and 5-star resort customers, whose numbers are expected to quadruple over the next four years. On the basis of this outlook, Club Med could attract 200,000 Chinese clients in 2015 and China could become Club Med’s second largest market worldwide in terms of client numbers.

City.Mobi

Also in China today, City.Mobi is celebrating the success of its new guide to Beijing.

City.Mobi offers the most comprehensive mobile travel guides available, with over 800 cities in 200 countries listed. Each is developed by the City.Mobi team to combine into a single global travel directory.

However, each city retains its own mobile identity via a dedicated domain. Already on offer are Brussels.Mobi, Paris.Mobi, Sanfrancisco.Mobi and Sydney.Mobi.

Beijing.city.mobi is the latest in this illustrious line up, offering click to call functionality – which means no scribbling down telephone numbers.

Most entries are also linked to websites where users can quickly access more detailed information if needed.

Other key features include information on accommodation, restaurants, attractions, entertainment, nightlife, shopping, and transport.

City.Mobi guides include user reviews and traveller utilities such as a translation guide, currency converter, news and local weather guide.