Club Med General Manager Pacific Michelle Davies sat down with Karryon to talk about its new dual hotel concept, how luxury travel advisors are driving its strategy, 2026 trends and the luxury properties it has in the pipeline.
“No other hotelier is offering something as comprehensive as this,” explains Davies, following a recent road show in Melbourne to promote its first South African properties.
The ‘dual resort’ concept combines a beach resort on South Africa’s Dolphin Coast, just north of Durban, with Mpilo safari lodge, a private safari lodge in Zululand on an 18,000-hectare reserve – home to the Big Five.
“The feedback we’re getting is that this is a revolutionary concept and we’re pushing the boundary of what dual concept means.”
Davies says the safari lodge, which opens in July 2026, will only have 77 safari lodge tents, and that means it’s “organically limiting the number of guests around the wildlife at any one time”.
Guests can be surfing one day, and on safari the next, and the concept of having such vastly different experiences at dual properties is something it’s now exploring in other areas.
“The success of this, even before it has opened has been incredible, and so we’re exploring other options, but we want to make sure it’s going to add real value, so it needs to allow families to experience an entirely new world. It has to be really intentional and add real value.”
The tribe code
Davies says it is seeing significant growth in both multi-gen travellers and multi-families travelling together.
“We know they want to have departures around the same times, they want to be close to each other to have their own section of a resort, and they want to sit together for meals.
“So this is something we talked about with a lot of luxury travel advisors in Australia to ensure we know what the pain points are and to work out how we can address those, and the tribe code came out of that.
“So each group now has a code on check-in so it’s known that they are all together and we can better ensure they are with their tribe during their stay.”
Focus moving forward
Davies says as luxury travel evolves, families increasingly want privacy and exclusivity, and that’s where its exclusive collection comes in.
“This is the main area of development for us moving forward.
“So it’s making sure we have an oasis within the wider resort, so luxury suites with views and the opportunity to have a private concierge.
“It can be within a resort, or an entire resort at that calibre, and we also have villa and chalet concepts in the Maldives and French Alps. This isn’t a new area, but it’s one we’re focusing on going forward with elevated accommodation.”
The top travel spots
Club Med saw a 400 per cent increase from Australian luxury travellers alone for stays across four resorts: Bali, Bintan and its two Maldives properties for the 2026 summer season.
That, Davies says, is driven by multi-gen families, and the fact Bali is so accessible.
“It doesn’t matter where you are, there’s an ease to get there, and for the Maldives, it’s popular because it’s like your own private island, as a parent, you don’t have to worry about where the kids are.”
She says while Japan was a big draw card for luxury families this year, they’re now looking at going further afield.
“Ski has seen incredible growth, and we’re seeing families branching out from Japan and looking at going further afield. So the east coast of Canada and Europe are growing as key destinations over the winter months, because advisors are persuading families to go in the off-season when things are quieter and they can also experience the Christmas markets.”
New resorts in the pipeline
South Africa’s Dolphin Coast resort and Mpilo safari lodge open in July 2026.
Other properties in the pipeline include:
- Club Med has just signed a deal to open Club Med Mont Tremblant, northwest of Montréal in 2028
- Club Med Musandam in Oman will open in 2028
- Club Med Borneo opens in Q4 2026
For more information, visit Club Med.
