Timeshare Information

Holiday Inn Club Vacations® has added the seventh location to its portfolio of vacation resorts, a 36-unit resort located on the Rio waterway in the “City Center” activities district of Marco Island, FL.

Holiday Inn Club Vacations Sunset Cove Resort joins the flagship location, Holiday Inn Club Vacations at Orange Lake Resort in Orlando, FL, and five other Holiday Inn Club Vacations resorts.

“As part of our alliance with IHG, we said we’d grow Holiday Inn Club Vacations in places where our Holiday Inn Club Members have said that they want to vacation,” explained Don Harrill, president and CEO of Orange Lake Resorts, the timeshare developer that manages Holiday Inn Club Vacations properties.

“Our Members have asked for another drive-to destination in Florida, and Sunset Cove Resort delivers just that, with a unique and upscale experience for all owners and guests who visit,” said Harrill.

Like all Holiday Inn Club Vacations resorts, this location at Sunset Cove Resort offers more space, more amenities and more things to do, including three-bedroom residences ranging from 1,667 square feet to 1,900 square feet, with views of either the Gulf of Mexico or Smokehouse Bay.

The resort offers a host of amenities for guests including a pool with sundeck, a bar and promenade area, boat dock and fitness center. The property is also a part of Resort Condominium International’s (RCI) distinguished Registry Collection® program.

“At Holiday Inn Club Vacations, we offer great resorts where families can create their own vacation experiences,” said Del Ross, vice president, U.S. Sales and Marketing, IHG. “We offer our guests the flexibility to vacation when, where and how they want to, all under the comfort and security of a well-known and trusted brand like Holiday Inn.”

Holiday Inn Club Vacations was created in 2008 as a strategic alliance between IHG, the world’s largest hotel company, and Orange Lake Resorts, a leader within the timeshare industry with nearly 30 years of proven success. Holiday Inn Club Vacation’s flagship property in Orlando, located next to Walt Disney World® Resort, was established in 1982 by Holiday Inn founder Kemmons Wilson.

Photo Credit: holidayinn.com

Continuing its notable growth in the South Pacific, Wyndham Vacation Resorts Asia Pacific and Wyndham Hotel Group, both part of the Wyndham Worldwide family of companies, has announced the purchase of a combination of hotel rooms and timeshares, together with the management rights for Wyndham® Resort Torquay.

The beachfront property located in Torquay, near Melbourne, Australia, was developed by Massey Pty Ltd as OnShore Torquay and formerly carried the Crowne Plaza flag.

“The Asia Pacific region continues to be a key area of focus for our company’s development,” said Barry Robinson, managing director Wyndham Vacation Resorts Asia Pacific and also managing director for Wyndham Hotel Group in the South Pacific. “We are pleased to introduce the Wyndham brand to Torquay, further strengthening our presence in this region of Australia.”

Wyndham Hotel Group was launched in the South Pacific region in 2010 with the acquisition of Wyndham Surfers Paradise, the hotel division’s first mixed use property in collaboration with Wyndham Vacation Resorts Asia Pacific.

Wyndham Resort Torquay will be a mixed-use property featuring 149 rooms, a combination of hotel rooms and one and two bedroom timeshares. In addition to management of the resort, Wyndham has contracted to acquire a selection of hotel rooms and timeshares to be transferred into WorldMark South Pacific Club by Wyndham, for use by its 44,000 Vacation Owners of Wyndham Vacation Resorts Asia Pacific’s Vacation Ownership club.

Torquay, one of Australia’s favorite beachside towns, is located 90 minutes from Melbourne and approximately half an hour from Avalon airport. It is home to one of Australia’s most famous surf beaches, Bells Beach and is the gateway to the world-renowned Great Ocean Road.

“Wyndham Resort Torquay is a significant addition to our portfolio as we continue to expand into Australia and the South Pacific region through franchising and management agreements,” said Robinson.

Photo Credit (top) : visitgreatoceanroad.org.au
Photo Credit (center): jason.com.au

Everything’s coming up roses for Dial An Exchange (DAE), one of the world’s largest independent timeshare exchange organizations, after being named a winner in two international competitions.

Selected from a field of international entries, DAE has been named a finalist in three categories in the American Resort Development Association’s (ARDA) annual Awards Program.

In the Advertising, Promotion & Communications Division, the company was named a finalist in the Magazine Advertisement category for their Dial An Exchange Old School Service advertisement as well as selected as a top winner in the Sales Center Materials division for Dial An Exchange – North America.

In the Sales and Marketing Division competition, DAE was named a finalist for their Call Center with less than 200 persons. The top award winner will be announced at a Black Tie Gala held in conjunction with ARDA’s annual conference in Las Vegas on April 4, 2012.

DAE was also honored with the Best Project Team award for its North American operations at the Global Networking Expo, GNEX 2012 & Perspective Magazine Awards Gala. This annual event was held in February in Cancun, Mexico and attended by industry leaders from five continents. The Perspective Magazine Awards annually recognizes the top companies and individuals doing business in the timeshare and fractional sector of the hospitality industry.

Commented Fermin Cruz, Vice President of North American Business for DAE who accepted the award, “The entire team in the North American office for DAE is especially proud of winning in the Best Project Team Award category. We work very hard as a team and to receive an award that was voted on by our peers makes it a special honor.”

Dial An Exchange CEO Francis Taylor agreed. “Winning this prestigious award for two consecutive years is a testament to the level of success DAE continues to achieve. During 2011, the company grew more than in the previous five years."

"This growth was achieved while maintaining an A+ customer satisfaction rating with the Better Business Bureau. At the same time, we added 100,000 new members as a result of new industry partnerships,” said Taylor.

Interval Leisure Group (ILG) has announced that it has acquired Vacation Resorts International (VRI).

"With the acquisition of VRI and ILG’s existing management interests, Interval Leisure Group becomes the largest independent provider of resort and homeowner association management services to the shared ownership industry,” said Craig M. Nash, chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Interval Leisure Group.

“ILG companies now deliver these services to more than 180 timeshare resort and club locations and 325,000 owner families. The purchase supports our strategic focus on asset-light, fee-for-service businesses and further positions us as a leading source for shared ownership management and membership expertise,” said Nash.

Headquartered in Laguna Hills, California, Vacation Resorts International (VRI) has provided resort and homeowner association management services to the shared ownership industry for 30 years. VRI has four regional offices and manages more than 140 resort and club locations in North America for the approximately 250,000 families who own at VRI-managed properties.

Interval Leisure Group (ILG) is a leading global provider of membership and leisure services to the vacation industry. ILG is headquartered in Miami, Florida, and has more than 2,800 employees worldwide.

The company’s primary business segment is Membership and Exchange, which offers travel and leisure-related products and services to approximately 2 million member families who are enrolled in various programs.

Interval International, the segment’s principal business, has been a leader in vacation ownership exchange for 35 years. With offices in 15 countries, it operates the Interval Network of more than 2,600 resorts in over 75 nations. ILG delivers additional opportunities for vacation ownership exchange through its Trading Places International (TPI) and Preferred Residences networks.

Bluegreen Vacations, a leading provider of Colorful Places to Play, has announced that its Missouri resort, Bluegreen Wilderness Club at Big Cedar, was presented the City of Branson’s 2011 Green Initiative award for its eco-friendly practices. Bluegreen Corporation is honored and proud to receive the award.

While Bluegreen Wilderness Club is decidedly focused on rustic luxury, with 18 Concierge and Presidential villas, slate and hardwood floors, flat-screen TVs, exquisite fireplaces, stainless steel appliances and soft, comfortable and inviting furniture and bedding; it is also diligent about remaining energy conscious and eco-friendly. While we continue to evolve our practices to become as energy efficient and eco-friendly as possible, we have already accomplished many great things.

At Bluegreen Wilderness Club, we are diligent about the following:

1. Landscaping practices to reduce use of water and fertilizer to guard against runoff into Table Rock Lake, and to recycle organic materials into the soil by composting and mulching

2. The living ‘green’ roof at Indian Creek Swimming pool Pump House and the emphasis on sustainability throughout the newly constructed Indian Creek Lodge

3. Recognition by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources Certified Green Lodging Program

4. Participating Property, “Clean the World” Program to recycle soap products for distribution to needy, third-world countries to provide sanitizing cleansers to combat infection transmission and to reduce the impact of these cleaning products on our landfills and groundwater

5. Encouragement to all guests to participate in our resort-wide commitment to recycling by providing convenient containers for collecting recyclable materials

6. The resort’s recycling programs divert and transport an estimated 128.5 tons of recylcable material that would otherwise be sent to a landfill

7. Use of energy efficient and solar lighting fixtures where practicable

8. Use of water/energy conserving fixtures where practicable

“We are honored to receive this award, as we believe instilling a culture of environmental respect and sustainability is an important part of living and working in The Ozarks,” said Howard Kitchen, General Manager of Wilderness Club at Big Cedar. “As a Bluegreen Corporation resort, we are proud to represent the timeshare industry with a positive, environmentally friendly award.”

Timeshare rentals at Bluegreen’s Wilderness Club at Big Cedar start at just $60/night.

When the third season of the two-time Emmy Award-nominated series "Undercover Boss" premiered in January, the CEO of Las Vegas-based Diamond Resorts International, Stephen Cloobeck, got an inside look to the inner-workings of his corporation's timeshare developments.

Cloobeck's right-hand man, David Palmer, president of Diamond Resorts, pushed the experience on Cloobeck after talking with other CEOs who went through the "Undercover Boss" experience.

"Stephen's expectations about customer service are pretty unrealistic," Palmer said in an interview at the episode's premiere in New York City. "That is what I like about him, but I felt like the snapshots he was getting during his "surprise" visits were still very varnished. He needed this."

So after an hour of makeup each morning, Cloobeck posed as Jack Fischer, a middle-aged man who wanted to quit his day job and venture into the world of hospitality. Fischer would shadow four different Diamond Resorts employees to find out what it was really like, and if the career change was really for him.

Cloobeck gave up the corporate executive suite at Las Vegas-based Diamond Resorts for two weeks to fix and paint drywall, handle small maintenance projects, and check in guests at a few of his company's timeshare developments.

"I realized my company was nowhere near as efficient as it could be," Cloobeck said. "I also understood after my experience that everyone in my company needs to communicate better, which means they'll communicate with our guests better."

While he saw small things that needed "fixing" in the company, Cloobeck said the interaction with employees helped him understand what workers go through.

Cloobeck would encourage any CEO to participate in the series. "It's important to get into the trenches and see if systems are working properly," he said.

Tourism is the number one service export from the United States and President Obama has outlined a series of initiatives designed to boost international visitor numbers to the U.S.

Included in the measures are plans to expand the Global Entry System, which makes it easier for frequent visitors to cross borders, and expand the number of nations whose citizens could enter the country without a visa.

“I have directed my administration to send me a new national tourism strategy focused on creating jobs,” said Obama. “We are going to see how we can make it easier for foreign tourists to find basic information about visiting America.

The president added that his goal was to ensure the United States is the top tourist destination in the world.

Chief executive, Ken Chenault, who sits on the Obama-initiated Jobs Council, said: “The initiatives the president announced earlier will help to expand travel and tourism to the United States and recapture our share of a growing, global market.”

Building on the momentum from President Obama's announcement highlighting the travel industry's significance to the economy, the U.S. Travel Association has announced a major year-long campaign intended to raise its profile across the nation and among policymakers in Washington, DC.

"The world is experiencing a travel boom and the United States needs to be part of it," said Roger Dow, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association. "The impact of the $1.8 trillion U.S. travel industry is significant and growing, which is why we are galvanizing support and asking all Americans to 'Vote Travel' this election season."

The Vote Travel campaign will have several important elements over the course of the year and will have a significant presence at the political party conventions in Charlotte, S.C., and Tampa, Fla. Additionally, the campaign plans to host events and rallies nationwide, perform strategic grassroots outreach, and undertake paid, social and earned media efforts.

The U.S. Travel Association is a national, non-profit organization representing all components of the travel industry that generates $1.8 trillion in economic output and supports 14 million jobs. U.S. Travel's mission is to increase travel to and within the United States.