Happy to Care

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

At Club Med resorts, we pride ourselves on our unwavering commitment to responsible tourism. Through a variety of initiatives, we strive to minimize our environmental footprint while maximizing the positive impact on local communities. One of our key focuses is harnessing renewable energy sources, such as solar power, to reduce our reliance on non-renewable resources and decrease carbon emissions. Additionally, we have implemented rigorous measures to minimize food waste throughout our resorts, ensuring that resources are used efficiently and sustainably. We are passionate advocates for animal welfare and we have taken significant steps to reduce plastic usage within our resorts, opting for eco-friendly alternatives wherever possible. Embracing the farm-to-table ethos, we prioritize locally grown and sourced ingredients in our menus, not only supporting local farmers but also reducing transportation emissions associated with food distribution.

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 and the promotion of animal welfare.
Activities to discover and protect nature

Share value locally
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

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

Eco-certification of construction

Since 2018, Club Med has been committed to eco-certifying the construction of all of our 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.

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

80% of our Resorts are Green Globe certified, and we’re on our way to achieving our objective of 100% certification by 2021.

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.

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