Algolia powers AI search overhaul for Club Med website

Algolia has partnered with Club Med to run an AI-based search experience across the resort operator's global website, as travel brands face tighter consumer budgets and rising competition for direct bookings.

The deal covers trip discovery and search across 70 destinations and 35 local markets. The new system supports more than 1.5 million travellers a year as they compare resorts and packages online.

Travel companies are placing more emphasis on website performance and merchandising as travellers spend longer comparing options and prices. That has elevated the role of site search and filtering, which often sit between browsing and a confirmed booking.

Alongside the search rollout, Club Med has rebuilt parts of its website, refining site structure and redesigning templates. The goal is a consistent experience across markets while still giving local teams room to promote region-specific offers.

Search Overhaul

Algolia's search and retrieval product now handles resort and package discovery on Club Med's site. The experience is designed for speed and relevance, with results appearing quickly and adjusting to user behaviour.

Club Med has introduced a new search interface with multiple filters and federated results. It lets users narrow choices by factors such as dates and participants while still maintaining a broad view of available offers.

Contextual pricing now appears within search results, giving users price information as they browse instead of sending them to separate pages for each option.

Club Med has adopted Algolia's Dynamic Re-Ranking, which automatically reorders results based on observed traveller behaviour and interaction data.

Algolia's Query Suggestions and Collections are also part of the deployment, giving local teams in 35 markets tools to highlight seasonal promotions and curated packages within the search experience.

Measurement Focus

Club Med is linking Google Analytics 4, Contentsquare and Algolia Analytics as part of the programme. Together, they support tracking of click-through rates, funnel engagement and A/B test performance.

The company reported improved engagement and conversion since implementation, including higher click-through rates, increased online conversions and a lift in online bookings tied to more relevant search results.

Measurement and testing are becoming more common in travel eCommerce, where small changes in filtering, sorting and content can shift conversion rates. That increases pressure on brands to pair merchandising controls with data feedback loops.

Global travel sites also face a common operational challenge: balancing consistency with localisation. Club Med operates across markets with different languages, seasonal patterns and demand profiles, requiring both a unified platform and local flexibility to tailor offers and content.

Agentic AI Plans

Club Med is exploring conversational trip planning through agentic AI, with planned work on personalisation and conversational search. It also intends to run tests comparing AI-based re-ranking with local merchandising rules.

The company is piloting Algolia Agent Studio for conversational trip planning, reflecting a wider shift in retail and travel toward chat-style interfaces and guided journeys alongside traditional search boxes and filters.

Maroua Chouari, QA Automation Engineer at Club Med, said the search layer has become a commercial tool rather than a navigation feature.

"Transforming search into a guided, intuitive experience - one that is fast, helpful, and aligned with how guests plan their trips - is essential for Club Med. With Algolia, we can pair speed with structured elements like federated results, dates and participant filters, and localized curation at scale. The result is greater clarity and effortless discovery for travelers. Search has become a true strategic lever for growing direct online bookings as well as an increasing share of online conversions."

Nate Barad, Vice President of Product and Technical Marketing at Algolia, said the project reflects a broader push to use AI-driven search to improve how travel offers surface online.

"Club Med is synonymous with all-inclusive travel, and it's clear why. By embracing AI-powered search to surface the right offers at breathtaking speed, Club Med is fueling the growth of its digital bookings whilst delivering a standout user experience. It's a privilege to support the brand as it continues to reinvent travel and push the boundaries of digital innovation to offer truly unique experiences," Barad said.

Further work on personalisation, conversational search and ongoing A/B testing remains on the roadmap, with Club Med planning additional trials as it expands the new search experience across more journeys on its website.