From unlit straw huts to a global empire of all-inclusive luxury

Countries & Cities · Published 12 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: In 1950, Club Med was nothing more than a low-priced summer tent colony on Mallorca. Today, it is a massive French tourism operator with nearly eighty resort villages worldwide. The journey from communal washing facilities to upscale destinations involved bankruptcies, aristocratic rescues, and a high-stakes bidding war.

Founded in 1950 by Belgian entrepreneur Gérard Blitz, the original Club Med villages were remarkably primitive. Guests stayed in unlit straw huts on beachfronts and shared communal washing facilities. The venture faced early instability; Blitz went bankrupt in 1953, leading to Gilbert Trigano—the French 'King of Camping'—taking control of the company.

The company's trajectory changed significantly in 1961 when Baron Edmond de Rothschild provided financing to save the club from bankruptcy caused by reckless spending. Under Trigano's leadership between 1963 and 1993, the number of villages expanded greatly. The company also diversified its offerings, introducing winter sports villages in Leysin, Switzerland, in 1956 and expanding beyond the Mediterranean to Tahiti in 1965.

The business model has undergone several transformations. Originally a non-profit association, it became a for-profit public limited company in 1995. While it shifted from attracting singles and young couples to focusing on families—marked by the 1967 launch of the Mini Club—it has faced modern challenges. In the 1990s, competition and management issues led to a decline, followed by significant losses after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Today, Club Med is primarily owned by the Chinese conglomerate Fosun Group, following a bidding war that concluded in February 2015. The final sale price reached €939 million ($1.07 billion), a significant increase from the initial €541 million friendly bid made in 2013. This ownership shift aims to tap into China's vast potential tourist market.

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