Update on ARDA Conference Las Vegas 2011
After attending the most recent ARDA Convention in Las Vegas, there seems to be quite a bit to report upon.
The mood in general could be described as buoyant and generally upbeat. Everyone seems to agree that the Timeshare and Vacation Ownership Industry offers too great a product to be kept down for long. Sales continue to be active around the region, in particular in Mexico and Latin America.
Developers and Lenders are actively looking for ways to be very much “outside the box” when it comes to launching new resorts, or in finishing resorts that may have stalled due to the economy. There is one thing that was made abundantly clear – that the industry was healthy overall, and that the economic meltdown had nothing to do with the concept of Timeshare and Vacation Ownership. And the difficulty we have been facing has everything to do with lenders making easy money available to people who probably should not have been purchasing homes, let alone Timeshare Vacations!
There were some revolutionary new ideas being floated around, which were big departures from the standard approach to buying a Vacation Ownership Product. Doug Bech, of Raintree Vacation Club put forth the idea of purchasers being able to buy vacations for shorter periods of time, and one pundit even went so far as to suggest a 5 X 5 product. One that would offer one week for five years in five different locations around a particular region! I liked that one and I think a lot of other would too! But suffice it to say, the brain cells were really working overtime to come up with new and innovative ways to help jump start the Timeshare Machines.
In addition, the launch of Tapestry Resorts was the buzz during the conference. People were very interested in how we differentiated ourselves, and were agog at the concept of actually guaranteeing our work and our performance! But our Public Relations people must have been working long and hard for us to have as much attention in the media and around the convention floor, as we received!
We look forward to a cautiously optimistic year for our new Hospitality Management brand and will keep everyone abreast of any new developments!
John Small
