Groupe Pierre & Vacances Center Parcs () specializes in tourism services, providing holiday and entertainment ''villages'', leisure activity residences and hotels under the brands Pierre & Vacances, Maeva,

Center Parcs Center Parcs may refer to: * Center Parcs UK and Ireland, a short-break holiday company based in the United Kingdom and Ireland * Center Parcs Europe Center Parcs Europe N.V. (formerly Center Parcs) is a European network of holiday villages t ...

, Sunparks, and

Adagio Adagio (Italian for 'slowly', ) may refer to: Music * Adagio, a tempo marking, indicating that music is to be played slowly, or a composition intended to be played in this manner * Adagio (band), a French progressive metal band Albums * ''Adag ...

(the last in partnership with

Accor Accor S.A. is a French multinational hospitality company that owns, manages and franchises hotels, resorts and vacation properties. It is the largest hospitality company in Europe, and the sixth largest hospitality company worldwide. Accor ope ...

). The headquarters of the company is in France and the core area of the company's activities is France, but it also has facilities in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, Mauritius, the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, Switzerland,

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, Germany,

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and Spain.

History

First years

In 1967, Gérard Brémond (the future developer and main owner of Pierre et Vacances) and

Jean Vuarnet Jean Raoul Célina André Vuarnet (18 January 1933 – 1 January 2017) was an Alpine skiing, alpine ski racer from France. An Alpine skiing at the 1960 Winter Olympics, Olympic gold medalist, he is known for inventing the "Tuck" skiing position ...

(a French

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

ski Skis are runners, attached to the user's feet, designed to glide over snow. Typically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partially secured heel. For climbing slopes, ski skins c ...

champion) entered partnership to open a skiing "village" and

resort A resort (North American English) is a self-contained commercial establishment that aims to provide most of a vacationer's needs. This includes food, drink, swimming, accommodation, sports, entertainment and shopping, on the premises. A hotel ...

, called

Avoriaz Avoriaz (, ) is a French mountain resort in the Portes du Soleil in the French commune of Morzine, on a shelf above the town of Morzine. Cars are forbidden in Avoriaz; transport includes horse-drawn sleighs and snowcats during winter. One ...

, which adopted innovative concepts. Vehicles were forbidden inside the village and children had their own sectors. The style of the buildings was designed to harmonize with the surrounding landscape. Interest in the resort increased in 1973, when Brémond (a film buff) inaugurated a science fiction festival. The company adopted the name Pierre & Vacances in 1975, developing more resorts in the mountains and then on the coast. This new development area brought it accusations of being a company that "filled up the French coast with cement." By the end of the 70s, the company started to leave the real estate development and refocused itself on tourist services. It introduced a concept called "Nouvelle Propriété" (New Property), which let the tourists actually own properties inside the Pierre & Vacances' vacation villages at a relatively low cost. The new owners also received a small, but guaranteed, percentage from rental fees and could exchange their properties with anyone within the Pierre & Vacances network. The new concept enabled the company to grow without taking on debt.

Acquisitions

In 1988, Pierre & Vacances started to acquire rival companies. The first purchases included Geer (developments Cap Esterel, Les Coches and Port-Bourgenay on the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

) and Sogerva and Port du Crouesty (facilities on the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

coast). Pierre & Vacances emerged relatively unscathed from economic crisis in the 1990s, and accelerated its expansion by purchasing struggling rivals such as Société des Montagnes de l'Arc (1993), Rocher Soleil (1996) Sofap Loisirs and Pont-Royal (1997). Pont-Royal was a key piece in the company's growth, because the French State had granted it permission to construct over 20,000 square metres in the

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

region.

The company quickly adapted to the new market demands. In 1998, it launched the "eco-village" in the

Picardy Picardy (; Picard language, Picard and , , ) is a historical and cultural territory and a former regions of France, administrative region located in northern France. The first mentions of this province date back to the Middle Ages: it gained it ...

region and opened its first facilities outside France, in

Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...

and

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre Island, Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galant ...

. Pierre & Vacances became a

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...

, gathering all its subsidiaries under its name. In 1999, Pierre & Vacances was listed on the

Paris stock exchange Euronext Paris, formerly known as the Paris Bourse (), is a regulated securities trading venue in France. It is Europe's second largest stock exchange by market capitalization, behind the London Stock Exchange, as of December 2023. As of 2022, th ...

. In March of that year, it purchased the resort chain Orion from Whitehall et Westmont Hospitality. Then, it entered into a joint venture with Beni Stabili with the aim of purchasing properties in Italy. In April 2000, Pierre & Vacances acquired Grand Dorado (later renamed Center Parcs), one of the leading companies in the Benelux's tourism accommodation market. In March 2001, in a joint venture with

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (, ) is a Germany, German multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. ...

, it acquired Center Parcs Europe, a large resort parks company. In July 2001, it acquired the ski resort operations of Groupe Washington at the Valmoral resort and, in September of that year,

Club Méditerranée Club Med SAS, commonly known as Club Med and previously known as Club Méditerranée SA, is a French travel and tourism operator headquartered in Paris, specializing in all-inclusive holidays. Founded in 1950, the company has been primarily ow ...

's Maeva SA. This operation made Pierre & Vacances the leader in the French market. In 2002, the Italian company Valtur was added to Pierre & Vacances' portfolio. In 2003, the Pierre & Vacances' holding became the sole owner of Central Parcs. In 2007, Pierre & Vacances and Accor formed a joint venture to create a new company, called Adagio, with the aim of developing city residences in Europe. That year it also acquired a real estate development company focused on Mediterranean style villages for elderly people (Les Senioriales SA) and the Sunparks Group. In 2009, the name was changed from "Groupe Pierre & Vacances" to "Groupe Pierre & Vacances Central Parcs". In October 2023, the group, through its brand Maeva, acquired Vacansoleil.

Current operations

The company operates approximately 51,000 hotels, apartments, houses and similar accommodation (236,000 beds). It is still present in the property development sector through the subsidiaries PV-CP Support Services BV, Pierre & Vacances Investissement XXXXVIII, Pierre & Vacances Investissement XXXXIX and Les Senioriales SA.

Major chains

Ownership

Groupe Pierre & Vacances Central Parcs is mainly controlled by Gerard Brémond using a complex system of holding companies as shareholders.

References

Footnotes

Citations

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pierre and Vacances Hospitality companies of France Hotel chains in France Companies based in Paris French companies established in 1967 Hotels established in 1967 Companies listed on Euronext Paris