Club Med Appoints First Kiwi Chief of Village

PRESS RELEASE

Club Med Appoints First Kiwi Chief of Village

New Zealander Ben Martin has quickly climbed the management rungs at Club Med making history with his appointment as the first Kiwi Chief of Village.

The 32-year-old, originally from Auckland’s NorthShore, has spent 8 years with Club Med working around the world in various roles including flying trapeze instructor, Chief of Sports and Chief of Entertainment.

Ben began his Club Med career in Lindeman IslandAustralia, before moving to the Maldives, Bali, Japan, Thailand, Senegalin Africa, Bodrum in Turkeyand Trancoso in Brazil.

And his advice to anyone considering a career with Club Med – “Do it! Club Med offers you the chance to travel to exotic places, meet amazing people from around the world, learn new talents that you never knew you had, and more than anything else an opportunity to have a lot of fun,” he says.

“Kiwis are perfect for Club Med as we have a very easy going nature, a natural inquisitiveness, and a huge love of sport and the outdoors. We have some great Kiwi G.Os (Club Med staff) around the world at the moment, but the more the merrier!”

Ben’s new role is that of a General Manager, the figurehead of the resort.  “My job is to ensure not only guest satisfaction, but also the resort’s financial performance, as well as the development and satisfaction of the employees.

“A Chief of Village’s day is anything but typical and can include tours of the resort to get to know all of the guests, to rehearsing for the latest stage show, to MC of a large family event on the beach, to business reviews of the month’s performance. It’s a general manager position with a large component of Public Relations, where you are to be present in all aspects of the operations.”

The fluent French, Portugese and Japanese speaker – who is also semi-fluent in Italian and Mandarin - says he is very proud of his achievement, a goal he set himself when he joined Club Med in 2001.

“I have many passions, and I’m very fortunate that a lot of them can be enjoyed in the resorts. My first love is languages, I usually learn a different language every year or so, to try and attain a level of fluency. It helps when you live in the country. I get a lot of help from the international staff I work with,” Ben says.

“I love the look of surprise on peoples faces when they realise you can speak their language. To be able to truly communicate with local people greatly enriches your experience of the country.
“My other big love is circus, specifically the flying trapeze. I was a circus G.O for a few years and even as I moved up the ladder I still took an active role in the shows.  I train any chance I get. I hope to still be able to be involved in my new role, but realise that the time commitment required may not make that easy.”
 
Ben has just completed four months of management training in Franceand will shortly be assigned a Club Med Resort. 

Anyone interested in a career with Club Med visit http://jobs.clubmed.com.au.

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