World Travel Awards Highlight Host Resort And Region
October 27, 2009 by susan · Leave a Comment
Big Winners Include Fairmont, Marriott, American Airlines and Host Hacienda Tres Rios; Awards Help Traveling Public Find Best in Class
Hacienda Tres Rios, an all-inclusive luxury resort in Mexico’s Riviera Maya, was the setting for the 2009 World Travel Awards’ North and Central America regional ceremony, held on the warm, tropical evening of September 21, 2009.
The World Travel Awards (WTA), described as the Oscars of the global travel and tourism industry, acknowledge the “best of the best” out of more than 500 nominees. The event was held in partnership with Hacienda Tres Rios, Cancun Convention & Visitors Bureau, Yucatan Holidays, Yucatan Travel, RCI and Vive Mexico. Luminaries attending the event included Mexico Secretary of Tourism Sara Latife Ruiz Chavez,
who also serves as governor of the state of Quintana Roo. In a statement appearing in the printed guide to the award festivities, she acknowledged the WTA organizers and sponsors, thanking them for “bringing here this important event which consolidates the image of Mexico and Quintana Roo within the world tourism map.”
The host resort had been nominated for recognition in several categories and proved its world-class status, taking the top nod as Mexico & Central America’s Leading Green Hotel and Mexico and Central America’s
Leading All-Inclusive Resort. Opened in November 2008, Hacienda Tres Ríos is the first resort of five at Tres Ríos. Hacienda Tres Ríos Resort boasts 273 suites featuring native materials and offering breathtaking views of the turquoise Caribbean Sea.
The unique onsite Tres Ríos Nature Park is open exclusively for resort guests, who can enjoy guided nature tours through 326 acres of pristine tropical jungle criss-crossed by three fresh-water rivers, dotted by 10 cenotes and home to 90 species of fauna and 120 species of flora.
While it is easy to see why Hacienda Tres Rios was named top all-inclusive, the elements that make an exceptional green operation blend seamlessly into the guest experience, striking a delicate balance of luxury holidays and conservation. This eco-luxury resort, located in a nature preserve, was constructed as part of a master plan that included more than two years of comprehensive environmental studies. The architectural design was based on rigorous environmental criteria and the buildings were placed on areas of lower environmental value. What’s more, in 2006 the Mexican government recognized Hacienda Tres Rios as a “regional and national model for sustainable tourism development.”
“In less than one year since opening,” said Tres Rios CEO Orlando Arroyo Marroquín in the guide, his resort “has become internationally renowned as the first luxury sustainable tourism development in Mexico.”
This commitment to ecological conservation “has garnered the recognition of the Mexican government as well as the major travel industry events in England, Spain and Germany, where we have been invited to share our experience as a case study,” he continued. “With the support of the important international organizations such as Green Globe International, World Heritage Alliance of the United Nations, Sustainable Travel International and Rainforest Alliance, Hacienda Tres Rios is a clear example that Quintana Roo and Mexico are ever working towards improving tourism and a healthy environment.”
Area Well Represented
But Hacienda Tres Rios isn’t the only reason to visit the Yucatan Peninsula. The area was well represented on the awards platform, winning several other WTA honors. Among them were Selvatica Puerto Morelos as Mexico & Central America’s Leading Adventure Park; Tulum, Mexico as Mexico & Central America’s Leading Beach; Terminal Punta Langosta, Cozumel, Mexico as Mexico & Central America’s Leading Cruise Port; Chichen Itza, Yucatan as Mexico & Central America’s Leading Cultural Heritage Destination; and Cancun as Mexico & Central America’s Leading Destination.
In other awards, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts bagged four North American awards including Canada’s Leading Golf Resort, Canada’s Leading Ski Resort, Canada’s Leading Business Hotel and North America’s Leading
Golf Resort. The Leading Hotel Brand for North America went to Marriott Hotels & Resorts, and North America’s Leading Destination went to Miami.
WTA crowned American Airlines as North America’s Leading Airline and Mexicana Airlines as Mexico & Central America’s Leading Airline. Dallas Fort Worth International Airport and Benito Juarez International Airport in Mexico City were named North America’s and Mexico & Central America’s Leading Airports, with The Ritz-Carlton in Marina Del Rey (California) and Camino Real Aeropuerto (Mexico City) taking the honors for North America’s and Mexico & Central America’s Leading Airport Hotels.
The full list of winners for the World Travel Awards North and Central Americas can be found by logging on to www.worldtravelawards.com
How Winners Are Chosen
The World Travel Awards were launched in 1993 to acknowledge and recognize excellence in the world’s travel and tourism industry. Thousands of votes are cast by travel professionals from 183,000 travel agencies, tour and transport companies and tourism organizations in over 160 countries across the globe. Votes are cast globally by fellow industry professionals in 919 different categories. In 2009, WTA opened the voting to the traveling public as well.
The inherent principles under which all nominations are judged are:
• Consistent overall business performanceand success
• Understanding visitor needs and expectations for a supreme customer experience
• High levels of customer satisfaction
• Valuing personnel
• Excellent internal and external communications
• Enterprising product expansion and development
• Fostering innovation, creativity and enterprise
• Expansion and development, and
• Team work that helps a company to deliver longer-term corporate vision
In 2009, regional ceremonies have also taken place in Dubai (Middle East region) and Durban, South Africa (Africa region). The European Ceremony is scheduled for October 17 at Praia D’ El Rey Golf & Beach Resort,
north of Lisbon, Portugal. South America, Caribbean, Asia, Australasia and the Indian Ocean Ceremonies are slated for November 7 at the Grosvenor House, a JW Marriott Hotel in London.
The 2009 Grand Final of World Travel Awards is set for the following night in the same venue. “This year’s winners can display the official World Travel Awards symbol with pride on their sales and marketing literature,” explained Graham Cooke, president of the World Travel Awards, “offering travelers a cast-iron assurance that what they are buying is a guarantee of travel excellence.”
Travel excellence such as provided at Hacienda Tres Rios. “It seems fitting,” said Cooke, “to celebrate the North & Central Americas awards ceremony in this beautiful destination, which sets the bar for the global travel and tourism industry, and creates hope for many young travel professionals.”
Top 5 Facts About the World Travel Awards
1. 3,600 travel companies, destinations and organizations are nominated every year
2. An average of 167,000 travel agents and industry professionals record their votes every year
3. Ten awards categories are dedicated to sustainable tourism
4. World Travel Awards nominations are decided by an independent panel of industry experts
5. Judging criteria takes into account every aspect of the business including overall performance, product
development, innovation, creativity and customer satisfaction
Perspective Magazine – October 2009
October 16, 2009 by Perspective Magazine | Leisure Property | Fractional Ownership | Timeshare · Leave a Comment
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EDITION HIGHLIGHTS
View Digital Page-Turn Edition Online |
Our cover story, Time to Share Some Experience, offers tips for newer fractional developers gleaned from the timeshare industry’s trial and error over the years. Interval International’s David Gilbert, First National Trust Company’s Lisa Migani and The Registry Collection’s Nick Turner relate insights and give advice beginning on page 10.
We had a very interesting conversation with Pueblo Bonito Resorts’ Ernesto Coppel. He’s amicable, witty – and extremely knowledgeable about Mexico timesharing. You can read the transcript of our topical and timely talk as our A List interview beginning on page 34.
Midlan International’s Michael Butler gives five guidelines for lenders in the shared-ownership industry to
minimize risk and maximize asset value and return on investment. The guidelines are found in the article
titled Saving Troubled Properties, beginning on page 60.
Eden Rock Owners Society Private Residence Club
October 5, 2009 by susan · Leave a Comment
Eden Rock is unlike any other resort on the French island of St Barths – often referred to as the St. Tropez of the Caribbean. Situated on a rock high above the ocean and surrounded by turquoise waters and white sand, Eden Rock – St Barths provides the ultimate in service and quality and offers a quiet haven for uninterrupted
relaxation by guests, clients and friends.
It boasts a wide range of accommodation, from individually designed diamond suites to the brand new Villa Rockstar (which launched in January 2009) which is an ultra luxe 6 bedroom beachside villa.
Designed for luxury living, Villa Rockstar will rival any villa in the Caribbean; with 16,000 square feet spread
over three floors and boasting a range of amenities to suit all guides. Facilities will include a screening room, a private gym, a business office, dining facilities for 12 people, a pool table and sports area, lawns for croquet, two pools and a fully equipped recording studio. Guests will also have a dedicated butler service to
look after their every need and use of two house cars during their stay, choosing from either a Mini Cooper or a Land Rover.
Next door, the brand new Villa Nina is already available.
With just two suites to this residence the approximately 6,000 square feet provides incredible spaciousness and ultra luxury living and includes a private art gallery, two pools – and much more besides… Eden Rock – St Barths has an ongoing relationship with key figures in the music industry – the sound engineer partner of Villa Rockstar recording studio is the market leading Oceanway, Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood; the studio which recorded the ‘Thriller’ album for Michael Jackson and many others. Oceanway’s proprietor – Allen Sides – links the legendary work of Frank Sinatra with that of Paul McCartney…
At Eden Rock – St Barths music, art and food combine to be three creative sources joining perfect accommodation and friendly staff to create a uniquely world-class holiday resort.
French cuisine is brought to a new level at the two Eden Rock restaurants ‘On the Rocks’ and ‘The Sand Bar’.
On The Rocks has become a landmark destination offering first class service and perfectly executed
cuisine in a glorious setting high above the coral reef and the Caribbean ocean beyond. Since opening, the
restaurant has achieved a loyal following of guests, visitors, friends and celebrities.
The menu interprets timeless French favorites and includes new ones of delicate flavour devised by Head Chef Jean- Claude Dufour. The Sand Bar’s lunchtime approach to food offers healthy cuisine made from the most beautifully fresh and well chosen ingredients. For instance most of the fish is flown in ice (not frozen) from Paris… Jane’s Gallery and its art are another highlight and passion of Eden Rock – St Barths. Set on the beach next to the ocean Jane’s Gallery is the perfect place to exhibit art collections. The collections range from young scholarship artists participating in the Eden Rock ‘Artist in Residence Program’ – to exhibits from some of the most successful artists in the world today. Guests too are invited to paint… or perhaps arrange lessons for their children who are able then to combine art and the beach…
Now paradise has an address…
For St Barths frequent visitors and guests, Eden Rock also invites people to join its limited fractional ownership development – The Eden Rock Owners Society (EROS).
EROS offers the opportunity to purchase an equity share in any of five newly built houses absolutely perfectly situated on the lovely white sandy beaches at Eden Rock – St Barths.
A rare opportunity…
House building development on St Barths is becoming increasingly restricted and with a limited number
of houses available for sale on the island, it can be challenging to find the ideal vacation home. In particular,
beachfront property is rarely available for sale in St Barths.
EROS offers a choice of five newly built – and fully furnished and equipped – one, two or three bedroom
houses and all with spa pools. Two houses also have swimming pools and all have wonderful terraces
outdoors and sophisticated sound and vision systems indoors – plus much else besides.
These homes have been designed to capture the best views of the ocean and the facilities of the beaches,
yet are set back ever so slightly from the beach-front in order to provide maximum privacy and tranquility for Owners, when they are “at home”.
The Privileges…
This is the opportunity to own your own piece of paradise in St Barths without the headaches usually associated with managing and maintaining a home overseas, plus all the perks of premier hotel services are
available to EROS Owners, including:
- Housekeeping – morning and evening services throughout the EROS year
- 24 hour access to five-star hotel services – including room service drinks and meals provided by Eden
Rock’s renowned Sand Bar and On The Rocks restaurants. Plus gym, gardens, boutiques, art gallery,
boats, a full-on music recording studio – and much more besides…
- Cleaning and laundry services
- Full technical/ maintenance team
- Concierge service to smooth the way – in every way
- Organising of special parties, events, dinners
- Dedicated air conditioned storage for Owners’ possession boxes – in order to help EROS Owners avoid carrying luggage repeatedly to and from St Barths
- An option to earn rental income on any unused weeks
– with Owners receiving 70% of any rental income generated via the Eden Rock Reservations and Marketing Departments
The nitty-gritty…
Owners have the right to stay in their EROS vacation home for four or five weeks a year, for a period of 71
years. At the time of the sale, one of the five houses will be selected and one fixed high season week will be chosen. The remaining three weeks will be arranged together each year, via a system of rotating priority.
These remaining three weeks can change as preferred, each year. Owners are, of course, most welcome to buy more than one participation. There is a maximum of eleven Owners per house and an annual fee covers maintenance, insurance, utility costs, inventory replacement and much else besides. The maintenance fee is particularly tightly managed.
EROS Owners are in a position to turn their annual holiday cost into a St Barths property investment, by
paying up front for 71 years – but will achieve payback of outlay after circa 14 years – effectively after
which point they are holidaying free of accommodation costs for the next half century or so…
Owners also own a valuable tradable property interest in St Barths. The annual cash yield for Owners on the
investment generated by rental income, is working-out well for Owners. Please ask for details.
By buying into EROS, investors are purchasing property rights which ought to increase in value – and
which Owners are entitled to offer for sale at any time through ER’s Estates Office. Here a property partnership arrangement is in place with Sibarth Real Estate (SRE) whose company is arguably the leading
Realtor in St Barths.
For more information contact: Web: www.edenrockhotel.com Telephone: + 590 590 29 79 99
Time To Share Some Experience
October 2, 2009 by susan · Leave a Comment
With increased consumer interest and more and more exciting products coming on line, 2009 has been the year of the fractional. However, writes Sarah Lee, in developing the perfect product there’s much fractional
developers can learn from timeshare.
Many fractional developers would concur that when marketing their product they try to cut any associations with timeshare, believing there to be vast differences between the products in terms of structure, quality, buyer profile, legal requirements and their inherent nature. But for those prepared to accept such linkages there is much fractional developers could learn from up to 40 years of timeshare history.
Pezula Private Residence Club, Knysna, South Africa
It’s said that hindsight is a wonderful thing and many timeshare professionals with decades of experience
would agree that they would have done things differently – despite the fact that the industry that has matured to offer a popular global product.
From length of ownership to size of fraction, structure and target market, industry professionals offer their
suggestions for a bright fractional future.
A Small Matter of Size
A major area highlighted as proving challenging for timeshare is the length of ownership, with developers
finding that the in-perpetuity model has not been without its difficulties.
Lisa Migani, director of business development at First National Trustee Company (FNTC), says: “Early on
in timeshare’s history developers were persuaded to produce a product that would be there forever – in
perpetuity, something that consumers could pass on to their children.
“But time has taught us that this doesn’t work. Today, our consumer-driven society doesn’t want something that lasts forever, nor do they want to leave something to their children as children really don’t want to do the same thing as their parents.”
Nick Turner, vice president and head of new business, The Registry Collection, Europe, agrees: “Although a Spanish villa next to a championship golf course may appeal to many people, it’s unlikely that their 20-something children will want to visit it as well. Today young travelers are more likely to want to go backpacking around the world on a gap year.”
“You often find that timeshare properties that have been there for 30 years or more are really starting
to show their age and require an unfeasibly large investment to update them,” adds Migani, who also
spent ten years as Interval International’s account manager for Italy. “The in-perpetuity model works for
sales and marketing people as they believe it adds value on the sales decks and can help them shift
large volumes, but it can cause problems for the end user in the long run.”
According to information presented by Ragatz Associates at this year’s Fractional Summit, the most popular size of a fractional share is 1/6 to 1/4, and the average price per is US$162,000 or US$18,600 a week – suggesting that the highend, longer-term products have been the industry’s leading light.
But many professionals are now pointing to the fact that there is a burgeoning middle market that
fractional developers would benefit from aiming their product toward.
Amendoeira Golf Resort, Algarve, Portugal
“Today’s consumer wants high perceived value and low perceived entry-level costs, so it’s important that developers don’t only focus on high-income groups,” says Turner. “They need to strike a balance between the facilities and additional services they offer, such as a golf club, spa and global exchange partnership by backing this up with value. It is a fact that in today’s world debt is high and fractionals allow people to buy a second home without re-mortgaging. Fractionals that will appeal to consumers will offer a low entry level, low risk and low on-going costs.”
David Gilbert, Interval International’s executive vice president of resort sales and marketing for the
Americas, explains that affordability is becoming key to fraction size: “A lot of developers are going for
smaller increment sales – marketing eighth, 10th and 12th fractions to make their product more affordable.”
Migani however, believes fraction size could yet be transformed further: “Timeshare was built on the principle of a week’s ownership and fractional developers would do well to offer a shorter, twoweek, low entry level, mid-market product. They could really see some success in offering a midpriced property to families looking for somewhere to take their children each year.
“Though there are some people who can travel for up to three months of the year, this is quite a niche
group – the mainstream will only have two weeks a year for their main holiday so fraction sizes need to
be better tailored to reflect this.”
For Sale
Something that timeshare professionals put high on the list of priorities for fractional developers is offering owners an exit route – ensuring the property really does have a resale value.
While Gilbert suggests a fractional should be purchased as a holiday product and not with investment in mind; both Turner and Migani recommend developing products that will last for 15-20 years before being sold, with each owner gaining a share of the proceeds from the sale.
“From a north European perspective, it’s important for consumers to see a fractional as an alternative
to a second home so they need to feel like they own it but that they can also exit the investment,” says
Turner. “One of the strongest consumer pulls is the ability for the asset to be disposed of for them to receive a return on their investment and a share of the capital growth.
“With the second-home market floundering in many countries, consumer trends point to them wanting the
alternative to ownership that fractionals give them, but people can’t think beyond 25 years these days – so unlike timeshare, there must be an exit route.”
Migani, whose company offers developers a free consultation service, adds that “this is something
sorely lacking in timeshare – there has not really been a successful resales program. Successfully selling a fractional will be largely dependent on where it is, how much it costs and how the local property market is likely to grow,” she says.
“Another view strongly held by fractional developers and some consultants is that their product, unlike
timeshare, is based on a deeded interest while timeshare is not a real right,” Migani continues. “But timeshare has often been sold with a title deed in the U.S. and several European countries, for example Italy and Scandinavia, and many ran into difficulties due to unpaid maintenance fees.
“Critical to the success of a deeded development is having an efficient means of collecting annual maintenance fees. Consumers who own a title and don’t pay their dues could jeopardize the whole project, and taking them to court to retrieve the unpaid fees is a process that may take years. To avoid this situation a more flexible club structure could see owners’ struck off the membership if fees went unpaid.”
Adjusting the Focus
Gilbert, who has 22 years industry experience, highlights the fact that some timeshare developers have created unstable customer bases by stretching to make sales. “Many of them have sold biennial and triennial memberships or have taken smaller payments to stretch things for cash-strapped consumers,” he says. “For the long term stability of a project it is far better to have the right customer for the product than to stretch to make a sale.”
Gilbert also highlighted a problem that has been prevalent in the U.S. timeshare market and recommends fractional developers focus on the sale of their main product.
yooPhuket, Phuket, Thailand
“Over the years, developers kept building better and better products without worrying about selling them,
as they were making more money on the consumer credit agreements entered into by buyers than the product itself,” Gilbert says. “As the economic crisis has deepened, consumer credit has become difficult to obtain, and we’re now seeing timeshare developers with a renewed focus to ensure their products are profitable on sale.”
Timeshare developers are now less reliant onincome from ancillary products, instead viewing them as a bonus – a characteristic Gilbert advises fractional developers heed.
The overriding sense from professionals is that the fractional market is likely to go from strength to strength – and if developers take note of timeshare’s at-times rocky path, they will be well armed to make the fractional industry well respected and profitable.
