Salvador Cortés

My guest today and I worked together in Club Med Playa Blanca during the 1996/1997 winter season, but his first season was in Club Med Cancun on May 8, 1988 (yes, he knows the exact date!) as an Assistant Traffic G.O. From Mexico City, please help me welcome Salvador Cortés! Salvador worked for Club Med from May1988 to May 2022! Before Club Med, Salvador worked for Pemex (the Mexican state-owned petroleum company), as a certified pipe fitting specialist and was also a professional Mountain Climber and Guide and was an instructor in “Ice Climbing” techniques (yes, I learned there is ice in Mexico!). He was also a volunteer in the Socorro Alpino Mexicano (Mexican Alpine Rescue). He climbed mountains such as Aconagua, El Capitan and Chamonix, to name only a few. Salvador was actually a G.M before he was a G.O. He stayed for two nights in Club Med Huatulco and was impressed by the way he was welcomed by the many smiling faces of the G.O. team. Salvador worked in villages such as Huatulco, Paradise Island, Ixtapa, Eleuthera, Sonora Bay, Punta Cana, Columbus Isle and Turks & Caicos. Since Salvador was in charge of Traffic for his whole career, I asked him for a “traffic nightmare story” and he delivered with Hurricane Gilbert! Salvador’s first season coincided with category 5 Hurricane Gilbert (for which they had no warning of), so he takes us through what that was like during a time before TV’s were in the rooms and the internet did not exist. When he had his interview with Club Med, the only position available was Assistant Traffic, but Salvador had some prior experience with that when he was taking guests on mountain climbing expeditions. We recorded this interview on July 14, 2022, so I had to ask him about his first ever Bastille Day in Club Med! **My First Season podcast has always been free to listen to and is available on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Samsung Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes. And if you like what you hear, please leave a review at Apple podcasts.

And please check out his social media:

Salvador Cortés (@salcortes) • Instagram photos and videos

(8) Salvador Cortes (@montagneur) / Twitter

Salvador Cortes | Facebook