Club Med Develops New 'Amazing Family' Program, A Research-Based Project For The Perfect Family-Friendly Vacation Formula

MIAMI, Sept. 16, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Club Med, the pioneer of all-inclusive vacations, shared details today of its Amazing Family concept, a new family-oriented, in-resort branded program, and the insights from a research project that led to the creation of the program.

Through a multigenerational family vacation research study, Club Med found the overarching sentiment across families surveyed is that "family togetherness" and "intergenerational bonding" are the two biggest drivers for both choosing a vacation and evaluating it.

As a response to the research results, Club Med developed the Amazing Family concept to provide weekly activities designed to give multigenerational families the opportunity to bond, create shared memories, spend time together, reconnect and bring home new passions.

"When creating a new product offering, it's important for us to dive into what our guests – and potential future guests – need, want, and look for when planning their next family vacation. Only then can we truly create immersive experiences that fulfill their expectations," explains Sabrina Cendral, vice president of marketing and digital for Club Med North America. "To create this program, our teams initiated a global research project to analyze the travel priorities of multigenerational families, broken down by their respective markets. Our teams found similarities across the board, which led to the creation of the worldwide Amazing Family concept."

The Amazing Family program is categorized into five activity times, each with their own uniquely themed offerings and are part of the all-inclusive vacation package. The categories include:

• Time to Splash – focusing on all things "water fun" (i.e., slip and slides, water volleyball, splash zones).
• Time to Play – participating in childhood-favorite games (i.e., giant-sized family board games).
• Time to Quest – solving mysteries and challenges as a family (i.e., treasure hunts).
• Time to Recharge – relaxing activities for all ages (i.e., family yoga classes, story time).
• Happy Family Time – dedicated times for parents and children to participate in resort sports and activities together (i.e., family trapeze classes, archery, kayaking, pickleball).

"Our goal with the new Amazing Family program is to encourage families to put their phones down, disconnect from everyday stressors and reconnect with their families to create lasting memories," says Cendral. "Our resorts are built with multigenerational families in mind and are equipped with the finest amenities and activities, at no extra cost. Now we want to take the extra step to ensure that our guests can maximize their vacations while they stay with us, and to provide them with the tools necessary to fulfill their expectations."

Within the North American and Caribbean segment for Club Med, the Amazing Family concept began its testing phase in Club Med Punta Cana in May 2019. Since then, the program has officially rolled out in Punta Cana, and will expand to three other resorts shortly: Club Med Caravelle (October 2019), Club Med Cancun Yucatan (November 2019), and Club Med Michès Playa Esmeralda (November 2019). The concept will be featured in more than 30 resorts worldwide by 2021, including both beach resorts and ski resorts.

When Club Med Michès Playa Esmeralda, the first Club Med Exclusive Collection resort in the Americas, opens Nov. 23, 2019, its Amazing Family program will offer activities that will feature all five categories of the program. Additionally, the resort will unveil a hands-on family community garden ("Little Gardeners' House"), where parents and children will be able to learn about planting, recycling and composting, and then put the theory to practice. The garden will provide a fun, immersive experience for all ages, while still providing an educational and sustainability-minded activity for children.

To ensure the success of the program, Club Med created new Amazing Family positions. Each resort will have at least two dedicated family entertainment experts whose sole responsibility will be to animate the program and encourage families to spend time together during their vacation.

The Creation of the Amazing Family Program – Key Findings (U.S. statistics)

The Amazing Family program was developed based on the findings from a proprietary research project that Club Med performed in conjunction with an external marketing research firm to analyze the travel needs, behaviors and drivers of multigenerational families in the U.S., U.K., France, Russia and China.

For the U.S. study, multigenerational families are identified as those traveling with grandparents, parents and grandchildren present at the same time. The project surveyed 300 parents who went on a multigenerational vacation within the past three years.

The Most Important Factors of a Multigenerational Family Vacation
The families surveyed were asked to grade several different vacation priority elements from a scale of 1 (not important at all) to 6 (very important). Findings show that, aside from safety, those surveyed identified spending quality time together (and those activities that facilitate this such as accommodations, meals, activities, etc.) as their most important criteria for their family vacation. The following criteria are ranked from most important to least important:

1. Ensuring the safety of my family throughout the trip – Average score (out of 6): 5.7
2. Being able to spend some quality time with my children and their grandparents, all together – Average score: 5.3
3. The overall mood/ambiance throughout the trip – Average score: 5.1
4. The types of activities we could all partake in (me, my children and their grandparents) – Average score: 5.1
5. The types of activities available for my children throughout the trip – Average score: 4.9
6. The availability of activities that were adapted to different ages (toddlers, children, teenagers, adults) – Average score: 4.8
7. Being able to find accommodations that are geared towards families/large parties – Average score: 4.8
8. Being able to expose my children to new things (countries, activities, cultures) – Average score: 4.8
9. The availability of wide-ranging food that would please the different generations – Average score: 4.8
10. The quality of the local cuisine – Average score: 4.7

"This new research contradicts the previous thought process that most resort companies operated under," stated Cendral, referring to the belief that parents mostly look to drop their kids off for the day and enjoy alone time throughout their vacation. "Although it is still important to offer children's services and care, with the increase of technology use at home and multigenerational travel becoming more prevalent, parents – now more than ever – are also seeking experiences they can share with every member of the family together to create lasting memories."

"At Club Med, we believe we are in the best position to act as facilitators in creating transformative family moments," added Cendral.

For more information, visit www.clubmed.us/AmazingFamily.

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About Club Med
Club Med, founded in 1950 by Gérard Blitz, is the pioneer of the all-inclusive concept, offering approximately 70 premium resorts in stunning locations around the world including North and South America, Caribbean, Asia, Africa, Europe and the Mediterranean. Each Club Med resort features authentic local style and comfortably upscale accommodations, superior sports programming and activities, enriching children's programs, gourmet dining, and warm and friendly service by its world-renown staff with legendary hospitality skills, an all-encompassing energy and diverse backgrounds.

Club Med operates in more than 30 countries and continues to maintain its authentic Club Med spirit with an international staff of more than 23,000 employees from more than 110 different nationalities. Led by its pioneering spirit, Club Med continues to grow and adapt to each market with three to five new resort openings or renovations per year, including a new Alpine ski resort annually.

For more information, visit www.clubmed.us, call 1-800-Club-Med (1-800-258-2633), or contact a preferred travel professional. For an inside look at Club Med, follow Club Med on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

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