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16 | INDUSTRY FRACTIONAL NEWS
NEWS IN BRIEF
RCI wins big at ARDA
Holiday exchange fi rm RCI was one of the big winners at this year’s American Resort Developer Association (ARDA) Awards, alongside Wyndham Vacation Ownership and Holiday Inn Club Vacations. RCI dominated the advertising and promotion categories with a total of seven awards, while Wyndham and Holiday Inn received eight and ten gongs, respectively, across the resort sales, marketing and management categories. RCI was rewarded for its RCITV/Enhanced Search Bilingual Brochure, its travel guide website EndlessVacation.com and green promotional campaign Earth Hour Email.
Ritz-Carlton’s celebrity signing
The Ritz-Carlton Destination Club has signed a deal with Hall of Fame golfer Annika Sorenstam to help promote its brand. Sorenstam’s branded clothing and lifestyle products, which include fragrances, wines and autographed photography will be sold at destination club locations, and the golfer’s ANNIKA Academy will visit several resorts. She will also host this year’s Lion Crown Golf Series, a series of member tournaments held at a number of club destinations, the fi nals of which will take place at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club Spa Jupiter in September. Ritz-Carlton Development Company’s COO, Peter J Watzka, said the partnership would its members experiences they couldn’t get elsewhere.
Oceanico sells fractional resort
Portuguese developer Oceanico has sold its 50% stake in a fractional golf resort for an undisclosed sum. The company said it had sold Royal Obidos Spa & Golf Resort on the Silver Coast to its partner company MSF TUR.IM because it wanted to focus on projects in the Algarve. “The partnership with MSF TUR.IM has been extremely positive and we are proud of the work we have achieved together. However, Oceanico´s most valuable assets and workforce in Portugal are all located in the Algarve and therefore it makes total sense to concentrate our eff orts on operating our seven golf courses, our real estate projects and resort operations here,” said Oceanico Group director Gerry Fagan.
TIMESHARE
Timeshare owners on hunt for next purchases
New research from holiday exchange fi rm Interval International could add weight to the argument that the fractional industry should be targeting existing timeshare owners. Interval’s latest survey of its US
members showed that nearly one-third of timeshare owners are likely to increase their vacation ownership in the future. Almost a third of members have also invested in second home ownership, with around half having bought for vacation purposes and the other half owning investment property. “Given that our US members report
a high level of satisfaction with their timeshare ownership, it makes sense they could be open to purchasing fractional off erings,” said Darren Ettridge, vice president, resort sales and services.
VACATION CLUB
David Lloyd reveals plans for resort empire
Former tennis star David Lloyd has revealed his plans to use shared ownership to break in to the resort development world. Speaking exclusively to OPP, Lloyd
explained his intention to sell shares in units in existing resorts through partnerships with developers around the world. This would allow his fi rm, David Lloyd Resorts (DLR), to build up its brand name and position before taking on operation of leisure facilities, he said. “We want to do more work with
developers who own land and become joint venture partners in building resorts. Next year we’ll still be as we are but after that we we’ll be a full owner-developer… Once we’ve sold a certain number at some of the developments we hope to come in and rebrand them as David
New model | Desert Springs in Spain is one of the resorts in Lloyd’s new vacation club
Lloyd Resorts.” Lloyd has already begun his developer
career with the launch of his own resort, Cape Swan in Phuket, Thailand, and has plans to build in the Caribbean. The company is also planning to launch several investment funds containing properties from the developments. The 290 properties available through
his shared ownership vacation club have largely been sourced through purchase agreements with ten resorts. The projects include Almanzora Group’s Desert Springs in Spain and the off -plan Eagle’s Ridge in Canada, as well as other resorts in Spain, Cyprus, Turkey and Thailand. DLR will keep around 25% of shares in each property.
Newskys – The Fractional Ownership Portal
trevor.l@newskys.co.uk
Upgrade sales | Absolute has targeted its timeshare owners with fractional product
“Interval International’s US resident
membership base reports high levels of household income, travels approximately 23 nights per year solely for leisure purposes, and takes about four leisure trips annually – attributes sought by fractional and private residence club developers and marketers.” Debate at February’s Fractional Summit in London showed that parts
of the fractional industry are still keen to remain distinct from timeshare. But other companies, such as Absolute World, have used the crossover to make millions of dollars worth of sales. “Our existing Vacation Club owners
are very open to look at the fractional product off erings as an intelligent upgrade to their existing timeshare,” said Absolute’s chairman Bryan Lunt.
www.opp.org.uk | APRIL 2010
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