PARIS Club Med will acquire Paris-based Gymnase Club as it expands its strategy to become “a holiday and leisure company.”
The deal, which includes the purchase of 200 sports clubs, is expected to bring about a number of synergies especially in the French market including providing Club Med with an outlet through which it can promote its products and services. Cross-marketing synergies include the opportunity now for Gymnase Club cards to be sold to Club Med members, while Club Med vacations can be sold to Gymnase Club members.
All-inclusive Club Med earlier this year launched a new brand called OYYO, aimed at “young adults who are hungry for leisure and adventure in sports and music and who share the same values of friendliness, freedom and a taste for something new.”
The first OYYO property will open next May in Bikalta, Tunisia, with 850 bungalows.
Club Med has also revealed major expansion plans for North America, with a strategy that calls for aggressive growth here over the next five years.Club Med plans to open at least one property a year in each the United States, the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America over at least a five-year period. (5/8/01) Ruthanne Terrero