The announcement was made by Yves Martin, Executive Vice President, Club Mediterranee and Ralph �Scout� Walton, III, Senior Vice President of the Crested Butte Mountain Resort. If plans continue on schedule, Club Med�s second Colorado ski village will open in November 2000 after a series of renovations to convert the resort into a traditional Club Med family ski village. The purchase is expected to be finalized in April 2000. 

�Four months after relaunching Club Med�s image in the USA, we�re proud to announce our commitment to a new village in Crested Butte. This is only the beginning �, said Philippe Bourguignon, Chairman and CEO of Club Mediterranee. � ... we have a variety of new locations and products under development for North American members�.
 

Ranked among the top 15 North American winter resorts by Conde Nast Traveler Magazine for the past two years, Crested Butte offers unparalleled trails for skiers and snowboarders alike. Originally an authentic Victorian mining town, Crested Butte has worked hard to preserve its heritage and sense of community. Its superior reputation has attracted winter sports enthusiasts worldwide, including ESPN, who chose the resort to host their Winter X Games for the last two years. �Club Med brings its world class experience in hospitality, travel and leisure to Crested Butte and will fit well into our family-oriented resort,� said �Scout� Walton.

Crested Butte Marriott Resort is located at the base of the Silver Queen and Keystone high speed quads in the heart of the ski village, the Crested Butte

The Crested Butte village will be marketed under Club Med�s 3-Trident, Family village segmentation offering specially supervised day and evening fun, activities, ski classes, etc. for youngsters 4 - 12. Adults, too, can take advantage of daily ski classes with instruction for all levels including racing and a host of other activities.  Accommodations, daily morning or afternoon ski and snowboarding classes, lift tickets, all meals, nightly entertainment, kids participation in Mini Club Med activities and more are included in Club Med�s all-inclusive ski package.

Crested Butte will join Club Med Copper Mountain, a Family ski village which opened in Colorado in 1981, as a second U.S. winter destination. Club Med�s third U.S. Family village, Sandpiper, is in Port St. Lucie, Florida.

Club Mediterranee is a global tourism group with a presence in 40 countries. Club Mediterranee originally introduced the concept of all-inclusive vacations, and is today the world leader, with 150 leisure operations (114 of which are Club Med Villages), hosting approximately 2 million guests annually. Out of that number, 1,570 are GMs (Gracious Members).

Club Mediterranee has annual sales of *1.5 billion euros (approx. US$ 1.5 billion) and employs 23,000 people, 10,000 of whom are GOs (Gracious Organizers, Club Med staff).

Club Mediterranee, has been known up to this point as a resort developer and operator. Today, it is becoming a full-service leisure travel and recreation organization. The company continues to develop new villages and activities under the Club Med brand. However, with the rapid consolidation worldwide in tourism and travel, Club Mediterranee is also developing additional activities under other brands country by country.  The creation of Club Med Online, an Internet portal, will enable the Group to develop online sales and to link all of its Internet sites worldwide.

Club Mediterranee currently operates under the following brands: Club Med, Club Med World, Club Med Cruises, Club Med Business, Club Med Discovery, Club Med Voyages, Jet Tours, Jumbo, Forum, Eldorador.

Club Mediterranee�s stock is traded on the Paris Bourse. The principal shareholders are Ifil/Exor, CDC, Rolaco, Nippon Life and Amex.