French hotel company Club Med, known for its all-inclusive holiday offerings, is planning on making inroads into the GCC market with the 300-key Club Med Musandam, scheduled for a 2028 delivery.
Oman is only the first stop in Club Med’s grand GCC expansion campaign, with six resorts expected to open within the region in the next 10 years.
“We’ve been looking for the past few years for a perfect location in the region,” Anne Browaeys, CEO Markets Europe & Africa, Club Med tells TTN's Rashi Sen in an exclusive interview. “Oman is just the beginning – we’re actively looking at properties in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE.”
“We are in complete alignment with the strategic objective of the GCC markets to draw tourism. We believe there are some great locations, where we could create a climate of tourism and have international guests visiting to discover these hidden gems.”
The incredible site in Musandam, says Browaeys, has been chosen due to its vastness – it’s over 20 acres with a 600-metre private beach. “We like to have space for our guests.”
Club Med Musandam, a result of a partnership between Club Med, Royal Court Affairs and Omran Group, will be a five-minute boat ride away from Khasab city. The 300 rooms’ resort will be a highlight of Club Med’s Exclusive Collection, the most premium line of product in their portfolio.
The Club Med Exclusive Collection currently consists of 20 properties including: five Exclusive Collection Resorts, 10 Exclusive Collection Spaces, four villas and chalets, and a yacht, the Club Med 2.
VIA DUBAI
It’s not only Oman the brand expects to benefit as the development is launched; the client journey will likely take them through the UAE - most likely through a yet-to-be-signed branded Club Med resort in the country. “We anticipate that they probably stop in Dubai city so they can visit this incredible city. And then drive to Musandam and be in this incredible retreat, to want to rejuvenate and create incredible memories in a very rooted, natural surroundings,” adds Browaeys.
Club Med has been gaining traction in the Middle East. Through its commercial partnership with dnata travel, Club Med has already been growing fast in the last few years.
In 2023, says Browaeys, the company saw business volume by GCC guests rise by 250 per cent compared to pre-Covid levels.
“We really see a strong desirability for the Club Med premium experiential all-inclusive experience from the clients of the region,” she tells us.
The influx has come through three major experiences, she explains: marine journeys, snow experiences, and mountains in the summer. “When it’s burning hot in the summer here in the region, travellers from the Middle East head towards the summer mountains to have this reconnection with nature.
“Our clients really see a Club Med experience as a sort of their yearly reboot, because of the fresh air, the walking, the sports, the reconnection to nature. It’s like you ground yourself again, and the food experience locally is great –there’s plenty of choice between the healthier options and the cheesier options too,” she says with a smile.
Club Med is very well known in some parts of the world; in fact, it’s often thought to be synonymous with easy living. “Our best advertisement is when clients leave a resort and the kids have a tear in their eyes and ask the parents, ‘when do we come back?’” says Browaeys.
“What we do incredibly well is we are very advanced in childcare. Club Med invented not only all-inclusive, but they invented the mini club for kids years ago. When kids come in, they will have tuition on tennis, sailing, water-skiing, skiing - sports that you don’t easily do in normal life. You don’t necessarily want them to be champions, but you take your kid back in the evening, they tell you about the incredible adventure they’ve had.
“And the second thing looking ahead is we work with sociologists on positive education, mental health. The core competency is about learning. We’ve designed several activities that are about empowering the children to infer their unique qualities.
“If I were to make a long story short, happy children make happy parents,” she adds.
EVOLUTION OF THE BRAND
The brand has grown with the times and changed its business model to facilitate growth. “We changed the business model. It took us 20 years, we’re finishing now,” says Browaeys.
It was, she reckons, three years ago when Club Med injected 1.5 billion euros into transforming itself. “We started noticing 20 years ago – when we are more premium, we are more profitable, and we have a higher client satisfaction rate. And therefore a higher repurchase rate. So, while our all-inclusive concept has been copied, but we are the only premium all-inclusive. It’s what we call ‘glocal’, the mix of global and local.”
There has also been a move towards digitisation, which has streamlined the client journey and made things simpler for them. “We designed a strategy that we call happy digital. And one example of something we do is, we have a digital bracelet; our clients don’t have a room key, they have a digital bracelet that allows them to open the door, pay at the spa, to check if you want to buy some extras. And what I notice is our clients tell us it’s giving them great freedom.”
It is in fact such a hit that clients often want to keep the bracelets as souvenirs of a time well spent.
KNOW MORE: CLUB MED MUSANDAM
As the newest addition to the Musandam Peninsula, Club Med Musandam promises luxe stays fit for the whole family. The project, which will begin in 2026, is set to cost over $100 million, an investment made by the Omran Group.
It will lie across 215,400 sqm and have 600 metres of private beachfront.
The resort’s décor will be inspired by Omani culture; its interiors, entertainment offerings and food and beverages will be inspired by the location, climate, and cultures of the region.
The resort will also double up as a wellness retreat complete with meditation sessions, a spa, fitness centre with classes, a yoga school and an adult-only Zen pool and bar. The Resort Centre will offer a shopping experience as well as gourmet food and beverages at either the restaurant, bar, or the wine corner. Here you can enjoy entertainment, artistic performances, and live music throughout the day.
In keeping with the Club Med ethos, the resort will be eco-certified by BREEAM or its local variant. In Oman, the aim is to achieve a 4-star rating from the Green Building Council of SA (GBCSA) for this development.
The 300-room resort will also adhere to international sustainable tourism certification Green Globe’s standards. Club Med Musandam will also sprearhead the “Bye Bye Plastics” movement, which looks at progressively cutting the usage of plastic water bottles and single-use plastics in resorts.
Among the activities families can indulge in at Club Med Musandam are scuba diving, snorkeling, sailing, kayaking, paddle boarding, tennis, paddle tennis, beach tennis and archery.
Children will be well catered to at this establishment, with a Baby club, Petit Club, Mini Club and Teens Club on the premises.
The project, which is a partnership between Club Med and Omran Group, is about creating a sustainable and authentic tourism offering that will drive economic growth and contribute to the diversification of Oman’s economy. “Our mission is to bring Oman’s beauty, peace, and warm hospitality to the eyes of tourists around the world. We are proud to support the growth of the tourism industry in Oman and Club Med Musandam will contribute to deliver this vision,” says Dr Hashil Al Mahrouqi, CEO of Omran Group.
In addition to the idyllic beach experience, guests at Club Med Musandam can also discover the magnificent suddounding rockey facets of the country and its fjords.
Club Med Musandam is expected to generate more than 400 direct jobs and 800 indirect jobs, giving a boost to the local economy. While under construction, the project will also employ around 1,000 employees in multiple execution phases. -TradeArabia News Service
