The all-inclusive vacation specialist in France wants to meet a demand from its B2B customers, who represent half of its business.
After two years of the pandemic spent in “defensive” mode, according to Jérôme Pasquet, Villages Clubs du Soleil is resuming its march forward. “If 2022 goes as we imagined, we should have 20 million euros in cash at the end of the year”, figures the chairman of the association’s management board. “It allows us to begin a new cycle of development in a serene way. Finally, coming out of the pandemic, we are in a good situation. »
A development cycle which will aim to “retain” a clientele accustomed to 3-star establishments, by “offering them the best of what is done in this range. I know that upgrading is very trendy in our sector. But that is not our will. We want to stay in the same range, by consolidating it”. Villages Clubs du Soleil will therefore invest 18 million euros for the renovation of all of its 17 sites by 2025, with particular emphasis on certain points (rooms, restaurants, children’s area and energy performance of buildings).
Soon a B2B platform
A renovation plan which will be based on the experiments carried out in the new village of Soustons (Landes), which will open its doors next June. “We have 2.5 million euros to bring the site up to our expectations. Beyond the fact that it is our great novelty for the 2022 season and that it is already our best sale for the summer, Soustons will be our pilot village to test and improve all the changes that we are considering”, explains Jérôme Pasquet. . But the forward march of Villages Clubs du Soleil will not only go through the product.
Indeed, the operator has resumed the digitization of some of its services, which began before the pandemic. A new reservation tool is being rolled out, and the B2C platform will be redesigned. But, above all, Villages Clubs du Soleil will deploy a platform dedicated to B2B. “It’s new for us, and it’s a request from our customers. B2B, that is to say large works councils, groups, tour operators and travel agencies, accounts for 50% of our turnover. And these partners need to have quick access to information, to be able to book in a few clicks. And we must be able to offer these possibilities because the digitalization of the sector is underway, and our competitors allow it.
In 2022, a structural recovery?
With this lever, Villages Clubs du Soleil hopes to increase its market share in different segments, and in particular that of MICE. “There is a very strong increase in demand. In the economic model of our urban village, in Marseille, MICE had a more important place. And we are working on it: from 159,000 euros in turnover in 2019, we should reach 1 million in 2022”, hopes Jérôme Pasquet. The Soustons site, too, will have spaces provided for seminars and other group events.
With these various projects, Villages Clubs du Soleil wants to take advantage of what seems to be a structural recovery. After a white winter 2020-2021, the operator’s 11 mountain establishments welcomed 67,000 holidaymakers, for an occupancy rate of 82%. Turnover on snow stays is 45 million euros, an increase of 12% compared to winter 2018-2019 over a similar period. “This winter is one of the best in our history,” concludes Jérôme Pasquet.
