Gilbert Trigano; Co-Founder of Club Med

Gilbert Trigano, co-founder of Club Med, which revolutionized vacations with a mix of sun and surf, has died in France. He was 80.

Trigano, who died Saturday, pioneered the concept of Club Med’s all-inclusive vacations in exotic locations that combined around-the-clock entertainment, copious buffets and a reputation for sexual liberalism.

France’s Secretary of State for Tourism Michelle Demessine on Sunday hailed Trigano as the “father of French tourism.”

Trigano, who fought with the Resistance during World War II, helped found Club Med in 1950 and became chairman in 1963.

“We were young men, survivors of the war. We made a profession out of offering others what we wanted for ourselves: a chance to discover the sea, to breathe deeply and live healthily,” he said recently.

But the company’s fortunes gradually declined. Trigano and his son Serge quit the resort chain in 1997 after Philippe Bourguignon, the man credited with rescuing Euro Disney, took over management with a promise to return Club Med to profit.

The low point for the Trigano family came last year, when a French court convicted father and son of manslaughter over a 1992 plane crash that killed 30 holiday-makers in Senegal. Each received an eight-month suspended jail term and was fined about $4,200.