Timeshare Trends Blog

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.

Bookmark To:

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.

Bookmark To:

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.

Bookmark To:

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.

Bookmark To:

Bluegreen Resorts has been named a finalist in 2010 American Business Awards. Bluegreen Corporation has been selected as the first finalist in multiple categories for the 2010 American Business Awards (also referred to as the Stevie Awards). This annual competition recognizes the achievements and contributions of organizations and businesses, ranging in size from up to 100 employees to more than 2,500 employees. Bluegreen was selected as the finalist in three different categories, including the Most Innovative Company of the Year, Corporate Social Responsibility Program of the Year, and Corporate Environmental Responsibility Program of the Year. Premier Bluegreen resorts include the Fountains in Orlando, the Big Cedar Wilderness Club in Branson, and more than 50 property locations in some of the top vacation destinations.

Bookmark To:

The Island One Resorts Management Corporation has recently filed for voluntary Chapter 11 reorganization in US Bankruptcy Court in Orlando, Florida. Island One Resorts is a 25-year-old, Orlando based timeshare developer that currently owns and operates eight Florida timeshare resorts and one Caribbean timeshare. In the Orlando area, Island One resorts include Barefoot’n the Keys, Bryan’s Spanish Cove, Liki Tiki Village, Orbit One Vacation Villas, and Parkway International Resort. Other timeshare properties include the Charter Club Resort in Naples, the Cove on Ormond Beach, The Crescent Resort in Miami, and Chenay Bay Resort in the US Virgin Islands. Through Club Navigo, a points-based vacation club, Island One also offers its member-owners access to numerous US timeshare resorts, Mexico timeshare, and Caribbean timeshare. According to the Orlando Business Journal, court documents state, “The company attributed the Chapter 11 filing to the downturn in the economy in 2008 and the fact that unit sales and resort revenues were reduced as consumers generally took steps to limit spending on vacations.”

Bookmark To:

The timeshare industry has contributed $69 billion of economic output in the US economy. A recently released economic impact study of the timeshare industry highlights the key economic and fiscal impacts on the U.S. economy in 2009, according to the American Resort Development Association (ARDA). Developed in conjunction with Ernst & Young, the report shows that the U.S. timeshare industry generated an estimated $69 billion of economic output with 465,800 full and part-time jobs, more than $22 billion in income and nearly $8.4 billion in total taxes. “The contribution of the timeshare industry on local economies goes beyond the resort footprint,” said Howard Nusbaum, ARDA president and CEO. “In addition to sales and corporate operations, development of new resorts and renovation projects, it also includes the impact of expenditures from vacationers during timeshare stays.”

Bookmark To:

According to a recent Sentinel newspaper report, federal investigators have recovered more than $868,000 in back wages for more than a thousand workers at Central Florida Investments, the Orlando timeshare operator that does business as Westgate Resorts. The US Department of Labor had determined that 1,065 company employees who scheduled tours, officially called “off property consultants” were not paid at least the federal minimum wage for all the hours they worked. The agency also said that workers premium pay did not include commissions, and that overtime was incorrectly computed. The report also indicated that Westgate failed to keep accurate time-card records. According to a Westgate representative, there was no finding by the government of intentional wrongdoing, noting that management of commissioned-based sales people is complex.

Bookmark To:

Hotel traffic and occupation is up considerably in the Orlando area according to Smith Travel Research. The increase is much attributed to the draw of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter located in Universal Orlando. The increase is especially notable in the Universal Orlando attraction area. The most recent statistics indicate that hotels in the local Orlando market filled 72% of their rooms in July, a 6% improvement from the same month a year ago. The average room rate was also up 3.6% a night to $85.89 a night. The only exception to increased occupancy in the Orlando area was the north Orlando submarket, which caters to business travelers.

Bookmark To:

This latest edition to the Bonnet Creek resort has added 300 units to Wyndham’s flagship resort property. The resort is situated on actual Walt Disney World Resort property and now boasts approximately 1,150 units sprawled across 58 acres. “When we broke ground on this project in 2002 we knew we were taking a calculated risk since Orlando was one of the most heavily saturated timeshare markets in the country,” said Franz Hanning, president and chief executive officer of Wyndham Vacation Ownership. “The fact that we continued to expand this site in spite of the current marketplace is a testament to the popularity of both the resort and our points product. We originally intended to build 744 units, but we had to keep on building because we kept on selling.”

Bookmark To: