Happy to Care
Sustainable tourism - our vision
This is the place to be happy; and now is the time to be happy
But tomorrow has to be happy too...
At Club Med, we know that our planet’s resources are not infinite. We are aware of the growing impact of tourism on the environment. We think that local communities ought to be able to benefit from our business. And we see how our employees (G.Os & G.Es) are looking for meaning in their work.
An old commitment, an up-to-date approach
From 1950 to today, some key dates
- 1950: birth of Club Méditerranée, initially a non-profit association
- 1965: opening of the first permanent Village in Agadir (Morocco), a destination chosen for its beauty and hospitality, but also to contribute to the rebirth of a region that was devastated by the earthquake of 1960
- 1973: construction of the first wastewater treatment plant in Mauritius at Pointe aux Canonniers
- 1978: creation of the largest solar panel field in Europe at Club Med des Boucaniers, in Martinique
- 1979: birth of the Club Med Foundation
- 2005: creation of the Club Med sustainable development department
- 2012: Valmorel, first mountain hotel in France to be certified HQE (High Environmental Quality)
- 2013: first natural swimming pool in China, at Club Med in Guilin
- 2019: launch of the Happy to Care scheme
Expert in dream locations, conscious of their fragility
To preserve our exceptional natural heritage >
- Certified sustainable holidays: 80% of our resorts are GREEN GLOBE certified, with a target of 100% by 2021
- Concrete eco-commitments such as the elimination of single-use plastic, combatting food waste, promotion of animal welfare
- Activities to discover and protect nature
Pioneer in tourism, accelerator of local development
- Charity at the heart of your holidays, with the Club Med Foundation: for example with "Friends around the world", children from local communities meet young GMs and learn from them
- Support for local farmers and agroecology with the "Green Farmers" scheme
- Respect for local hosts and support for the local economy such as prevention of child abuse in tourism with ECPAT
- 75% of jobs are filled locally, local purchases being developed
Happy G.Os and G.Es make happy G.Ms
A responsible employer >
Offer more than a job – offer experiences, for self development and the forging of bonds for life
- 100% of Chefs de Village come from internal promotion
- 46% of management committees are women
- 90% of Resorts have G.Os of at least 9 different nationalities
CSR Report
Corporate Social Responsibility:
the latest CSR report >
Since 2007, Club Med has published an annual CSR report to comply with the growing and legitimate regulatory accountability requirements, sometimes exceeding them, but above all in a spirit of sincerity towards its stakeholders and continuous progress.
Reduction of food waste
Recipes that use leftover food
Today, we have succeeded in reducing food waste per meal per person to just 101g thanks to more than 60 years of experience in hearty yet well researched buffets – a remarkable performance for a group that is one of the lowest generators of avoidable waste.
Club Med has thus acquired special expertise in presenting you with flavoursome and hearty buffets that are also smart.
Among our best practices:
• Optimised stock management
• Team training
• Precision adjustment of quantities due to accurate planning for the number of guests and knowledge of what each nationality prefers
• Buffets equipped for cooking and final preparation on demand
• Portions of just the right size or served at the buffet by a cook
• Adapted size of plates and presentation dishes
• Sensible restocking of buffets
• Recipes that enable some of the food that wasn’t eaten from buffets to be re-used
• Raising awareness with our customers
• Automated scrap weighing for menu optimisation with Winnow technology
Promotion of animal welfare
Fighting against animal exploitation, Promotion of animal welfare
With help from specialists, Club Med has been committed for several years to developing our best practices, in accordance with our values.
• Excursions:
From 2021, Club Med will no longer offer circus activities, elephant rides or swimming with elephants; similarly, we will only offer trips to observe whales, dophins and porpoises in the open sea and no longer in captivity. Since 2019, we have been supporting our service providers in best practices in this area with the WCA (World Cetacean Alliance).
• Free range eggs:
Since the end of 2019, 100% of the eggs in our resorts in Europe and Mauritius have come from free range sources.
Club Med is committed to sourcing 100% of our eggs from free range hens (whole eggs, egg-based liquids and products) at all of our Resorts in Europe, Brazil and the United States from 2025, and in other markets by 2027.
This commitment is part of Club Med's purchasing policy, which states that all purchased products must meet the company's requirements for hygiene and health and safety.
We are progressing in this approach in partnership with experts and our service providers, because we feel that the solution does not lie in removing the involvement of these animals from tourism entirely, but in the selection and deployment of best practices for animal wellbeing.
Goodbye plastic!
- Single-use plastic ban
In 2018, Club Med launched its “Bye-Bye Plastics” scheme, which aims to eliminate most single-use plastic products in bars, restaurants and rooms by 2021 (straws, dishes, amenities in the guest rooms, etc.). - Since the end of 2019, we have removed all straws, cups, beakers, and disposable plastic plates, cutlery and trays from all our Resorts around the world (excluding Brazil for cutlery).
- Since the end of 2019, all shower gels, shampoo and body lotion in our bathrooms have been dispensed in large containers that can be reused in all our Resorts* (*excluding the Exclusive Collection range and Brazilian Resorts.)
- By the end of 2020, all single-use plastic accessories in guests’ rooms are also phased out in all Resorts, as is already the case in China.
- From 2021, all plastic water bottles in restaurants and rooms are gradually replaced by glass bottles, recycled plastic, or other solutions.
Plastic water bottles have no longer been given out for treks since the summer 2019 season in Europe-Africa Mountain Resorts. There are water fountains in the Resorts, where guests can fill the bottles that we place in the rooms. Reusable bottles are also available in our stores.
Locally grown food on the menu
Our Green Globe certified resorts
Club Med’s commitment to sustainable tourism is built on solid foundations
awarded by recognised international certification bodies
- 100% of the construction of our new resorts has been BREEAM eco-certified (or equivalent) since 2018
- 46 Resorts certified Green Globe for their sustainable management (objective: 100% in 2021)
- Over 20 Resorts awarded the Ecoleader label by TripAdvisor®
- Discovery Tours by Club Med certified as ATR since 2017
BREEAM certification
Eco-certification of construction
Sine 2018, Club Med has been committed to eco-certifying the construction of all of their new Resorts with BREEAM (or equivalent certification depending on the world region), one of the most recognised international and independent green building certifying bodies in the world which certifies the responsible design and construction of different types of buildings.
Additionally, in October 2017, Club Med's Construction and Sustainable Development teams worked with the BREEAM teams to create the first CLUB MED - BREEAM "Resort" eco-construction benchmark, the first standard specially for Resorts, which are specifically composed of several buildings spread over large spaces.
Green Globe eco certification
Eco-certifying our operations
Green Globe certification is one of the strictest international and independent certifications for sustainable tourism, and only awards establishments in the tourism sector who are committed to improving the environmental and social management of their business activity.
Eco-certification is granted by accredited bodies which ensures environmental and social best practices at those sites. More than 300 criteria are taken into account in the following areas:
- actions towards the economic and social development of the host region
- efficient water and energy management
- protection of biodiversity
- reduction of greenhouse gas emissions
- protection of air quality and noise management
- training teams and raising G.M. awareness of the need to conserve resources
- preservation and showcasing of local cultural heritage
- social policy
In 2020, 80% of our Resorts were Green Globe certified, and we were on our way to achieving our objective of 100% certification by 2021.
ATR (Act for Responsible Tourism) label
Certification of Club Med’s Discovery Tours
All of the Discovery Tours by Club Med have been awarded the Act for Responsible Tourism label since December 2017. ATR has a federation of French tour operators who wish to create their tours sustainably using a responsible approach, to support the development of the local economy and to preserve the environment.
An annual audit is carried out by the ECOCERT external organisation to ensure 16 commitment criteria are met, and which are divided into 3 areas: transparency, partnership and consistency.
EcoLeaders scheme by TripAdvisor®?
Eco-friendly holidays as seen by TripAdvisor®
Over 20 Club Med Resorts have been recognised by TripAdvisor® for their eco-friendly best practices and have been awarded EcoLeader status.
Among other conditions, 7 ecological best practices are the minimum requirements for achieving TripAdvisor® EcoLeader status:
- Monitoring of energy consumption regularly (at least once a quarter)
- Over 75% of bulbs must be energy saving
- There must be a towels and bed linen reuse scheme
- At least 2 types of waste must be able to be recycled
- Staff must be educated and trained about best ecological practices
- Customers must be informed of the ecological actions implemented
Our EcoLeader resorts
Let's all embrace eco-gestures together!
We are intensifying our efforts to reduce our energy consumption by stepping up measures in our resorts, our offices and our travel agencies.
Rest assured, the impact on your vacation is as light as powdery snow.
Eco gestures
Now it's our turn!
You too can help reduce energy consumption
We are convinced that the small reflexes of each individual are important in order to conserve precious resources. Here are the daily eco-gestures you can apply even on vacation:
• Turn off the lights when you leave a room, empty rooms prefer darkness.
• Leave your electronic devices off instead of on standby.
• Your idle chargers dream of being unplugged.
• One bath saved, 4 showers gained!
• Do not change towels like shirts.
• Stairs instead of elevators, that's good for your health!
Measures in Resorts
What measures are applied in our resorts?
Discover the actions in our european mountain resorts this winter
Rest assured that these measures will not reduce the quality of the experience and that the comfort of our customers and our teams will continue to be guaranteed.
• Our hot tubs are hibernating this winter.
• Our hammams and saunas rest until 2:00 p.m. - closed in the morning.
• A little fresh air in our fitness rooms and ski rooms - a few degrees cooler.
• No overtime for our digital screens - switched off at night, and for our in-room TVs - switched off on the main arrival and departure days of our customers.
Measures in travel agencies and offices
Everyone gets involved
Our employees also contribute to reducing overall energy consumption
• Turning off neon signs, digital windows and lights from opening to closing of our travel agencies
• Lower temperatures in office rooms
• Turning off the hot water tanks in the toilets
• Depending on the location, half of the elevators are stopped to favor the use of stairs
• Switch off electronic devices at night (drinking water dispensers, copiers, coffee machines, etc.)
• Maintenance of heating/air conditioning systems to reduce avoidable additional consumption