Timeshare Trends Blog

The Ritz-Carlton Destination Club and the Abercrombie & Kent Residence Club have unveiled its first of its kind partnership. The two luxury destination clubs have forged a new exchange opportunity for the benefit of their members. This strategic alliance presents members of both clubs an expanding universe of extraordinary destinations that only they can provide. The collaboration allows Ritz-Carlton Destination Club members access to 17 Abercrombie & Kent Residence Club residences in North America. They include Scottsdale, Lake Tahoe, Aspen, South Carolina, Punta Cana, Sun Valley, Jackson Hole, Hawaii’s Big Island, the Turks & Caicos, and Mexico’s Los Cabos, Punta Mita and Puerto Aventuras. In return, Abercrombie & Kent Residence Club Members are able to convert their nights for use at 10 Ritz-Carlton Destination Club locations in Colorado’s Aspen Highlands, Bachelor Gulch and Vail, St. Thomas, Jupiter in Florida, San Francisco and North Lake Tahoe, Hawaii, and Abaco in the Bahamas.

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Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation, the Marriott International’s spinoff of its Orlando based timeshare division became official on November 21 with the distribution of the new company’s shares to existing Marriott shareholders. Operating separately from Marriott International and based in Orlando, eligible shareholders received one common stock for every ten shares on Marriott International Class A common stock they hold. The timeshare company’s stock is trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol VAC. Marriott Vacations Worldwide is joining Standard & Poors SmallCap 600 stock index after the close of trading Monday, replacing LoJack Corp.

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The Orlando based company that owns the Mystic Dunes Resort and Golf Club in Celebration filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization and plans to sell its properties to Diamond Resorts International. Tempus Resorts lender, GMAC Commercial Finance has stated that it is getting out of timeshare financing. The Tempus Resorts CEO says they are profitable, but filed for bankruptcy because the private-equity company that bought its loan portfolio opposed the sale to Diamond Resorts. The deal will now be reviewed by a bankruptcy judge. Existing timeshare owners would retain Tempus privileges, but could upgrade to the Diamond Resorts

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Starwood Vacation Ownership has expanded its Sheraton Vistana Villages, located on the south end of world-famous International Drive in Orlando. The current expansion phase includes 200 new villas, a new swimming pool complex, a new recreation building that will house a second fitness center, game room and arcade, as well as an activities desk with sports, pool games and equipment. The Sheraton Vistana Villages is the second Sheraton vacation ownership property located in Orlando. The first property is the Sheraton Vistana Resort, one of the Orlando’s largest timeshare properties.

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Legoland Florida is on schedule to open in late 2011. Legoland Florida will be the world’s largest Legoland Park and is expected to bring Winter Haven back to it tourism heyday when Cypress Gardens was one of Florida’s leading attractions and the first official theme park built in the state of Florida. Legoland Florida is being developed on the site of the long closed Cypress Gardens.

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Harris Rosen has been inducted into the Florida Tourism Hall of Fame. Announced at the 43rd annual Florida Governors Conference on Tourism, the award was bestowed upon Mr. Rosen for his contributions to the industry. Among his contributions, he supported construction of the Orange County Convention Center, donated 20 acres of land to create and build the University of Central Florida’s School of Hospitality Management, he owns and operates seven properties in Orlando including the Rosen Shingle Creek, Rosen Plaza, and Rosen Centre.

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Wyndham Worldwide Corporation has recently renewed its financing for its Orlando based timeshare operations. According to a recent story in the Orlando Sentinel, Wyndham has stated that the securitized timeshare receivables conduit has a capacity of $600 million, and is renewed through September 2011. Timeshare companies typically use the receivables facilities to turn timeshare buyers mortgage into cash that the companies can use for further development.

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Universal Orlando’s profits are way up thanks to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Universal Orlando has just posted its best quarterly results in its entire 20-year history. Attendance at the resort has soared 36% in the recent third quarter when compared to the same quarter last year, climbing by over one-million visitors to 3.7 million. It is the highest quarterly attendance Universal has reported since Universal Studios opened in 1990 and the biggest percentage gain since its second park, Islands of Adventure debuted in 1999. Universal’s quarterly revenue has rocketed up 62% to $364 million fueled by ticket sales and enormous demand for Potter-themed merchandise. The popularity of the park allowed Universal to raise ticket and parking prices in the middle of the quarter.

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Interval International has revealed that its U.S. resident members reported annual household income greater than $125,000 per year, 88% are satisfied with their membership, 33% would like to purchase additional holiday time, and Interval International’s U.S. members spend about 23 nights away from home, taken as leisure time. Also determined in the profile, Florida, California and Hawaii are the most popular destinations members said they wanted to visit within the next two years, with New York City the most popular urban destination. The Caribbean is the number one “international” favorite destination for US residents. An official at Interval International said, “The observations and insights drawn from this research reinforce the value our members place on vacationing. This study also represents the latest in Interval’s continuing commitment to bring timely and consumer-centric research to the market.”

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Ultimate Escapes has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The Kissimmee, Florida based luxury timeshare company has listed assets of $10 million to $50 million with debts of $100 to $500 million. According to a recent Orlando Sentinel story, Ultimate Escapes has been trying to sell its vacation club to another destination club, hospitality company or investment group. The company has grown to become the second largest luxury destination club with 1,100 members and more than 100 properties valued from $1 million to $3 million each in 65 resort locations from Italy to Costa Rica. Membership fees have ranged from $70,000 to $200,000 or more with annual dues of $8,000 to $16,000.

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