Rags to Riches for Grand 90 year old lady

Accor Vacation Club celebrated the 90th Birthday of the Grand Mercure Melbourne, Flinders Lane building by recently completing a multi-million dollar makeover of the hotel. The project is the most ambitious in the history of owners, Accor Vacation Club, who have spent $4.3 million to bring the property back to its glamorous glory, so well known by stars of stage and screen over the past two decades.

The building, which is located at 321 Flinders Lane, was built in 1921 on the former Dr. Jaeger’s Sanitary Woollen System Co. Ltd site, the company later evolving in to the internationally renowned Jaeger fashion House. The building was first tenanted in 1923 and housed various textile and fashion retailers including Wallace Buck & Goodes Pty Ltd, the founder of Henry Bucks & Co Pty Ltd.

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Accor Vacation Club, based in Robina on the Gold Coast has announced a Senior Executive appointment with CRAIG WOOD being appointed as CEO, effective immediately.

Craig Wood, has served as Chief Operating Officer at Accor Vacation Club for close to 2 years and has over 20 years in the holiday ownership industry.

“The Club has seen substantial growth in acquisitions, introducing new locations and apartments into the Club’s property portfolio in the past few years, and now with Member numbers sitting just under 27,000, we look forward to building on that in 2010,” said Craig on his appointment.

“We have re-branded from ‘Accor Premiere Vacation Club’ to the more streamlined ‘Accor Vacation Club’ and have made great advances in technology – with the newly redesigned Member Website scheduled for launch later this month,” he added.

Craig will continue to grow the business by introducing new, innovative ideas and exploring synergistic opportunities within the Accor group to take the Club into 2010.

He has an impressive history in the hotel branded Vacation Club Industry with his immediate past role as GM and Regional Director of Marriott Ownership Resorts in the Middle East.

About Accor Vacation Club
Accor Vacation Club is part of the Accor Hospitality Group, the largest and fastest growing hotel management group in the Pacific Region with operations across 16 countries, covering a full spectrum of locations and hotel styles, from luxury to budget. The Club has over 27,000 Member families who enjoy holidays at 21 Club Properties.

About Accor
Accor, a major global group and the European leader in hotels, as well as the global leader in services to corporate clients and public institutions, operates in nearly 100 countries with 150,000 employees. It offers to its clients over 40 years of expertise in two core businesses:

- Hotels, with the Sofitel, Pullman, MGallery, Novotel, Mercure, Suitehotel, Ibis, All Seasons, Etap Hotel, Formule 1 and Motel 6 brands, representing 4,000 hotels and nearly 500,000 rooms in 90 countries, as well as strategically related activities, such as Lenôtre;

- Services, with 30 million people in 40 countries benefiting from Accor Services products in employee and public benefits, rewards and loyalty, and expense management.

Operating Mantra – “Performance, Not Plans”

Two of the timeshare and lodging industry’s most respected senior level operating executives have collaborated to launch a new business management organization, created to aide companies in need of highly specialized operational expertise and management services.

Utilizing their four decades of combined operations management expertise, Managing Partners James (Jimmy) Danz RRP and William (Bill) Tsao, founded Trident Business Management, an implementation-based business solutions group, based in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Trident Business Management was created to provide management services for companies in need of corporate, financial, or operational improvement. This includes short-term crisis management, longer-term stabilization, repositioning and growth management.

William "Bill" Tsao

Explains Bill Tsao, “We recognize that the timeshare industry is in the midst of an evolutionary phase. The sudden vanishing of capital can be both destructive and cathartic. After hundreds of hours of discussions with top developers, lenders, strategists, lawyers, and respected industry-operating executives, we have identified a huge void in terms of a solid solution to the crisis. We formed Trident Business Management to help bring positive change to our industry at this critical time. Our past experiences, our contacts and strategic resources have positioned us well to participate in some much-needed change to the outdated and under-performing 30-year-old business model of timeshare.”

How will this be accomplished? “Instead of just focusing on cost containment and expense renegotiation,” adds Jimmy Danz, “we provide the operational experience and intimate understanding of a business that is critical in knowing how to open new revenue channels from existing assets that have not been properly leveraged. For some consulting companies or global rescue firms, it’s all about business plans. For us, it’s all about execution and differentiation from past practices. We back this philosophy by scaling our compensation toward performance and execution … without the cost of global overhead. While many companies espouse theory, at Trident, we believe in the principal of performance, not plans and stake the majority of our compensation on a success model with performance-based success fees instead of guaranteed fees with no guarantee of success.”

Trident Business Management is an operationally centric “all-inclusive” business solution company that has assembled a best-in-class group of professionals (the Trident Advisory Partners) who are widely respected authorities in their areas of expertise within the lodging and timeshare sectors of the leisure industry. Since every client has a unique set of challenges, these Advisory Partners will work with Trident leadership as a collaborative team to customize solutions, matching the right experts and specific talent to each client’s needs.

The two managing partners have spent their careers as senior operating executives, not as consultants, and have a solid reputation for integrity, ethics and sound business practices. In their previous executive positions as senior strategists and tacticians, the programming and implementation guidance provided by Danz and Tsao were key drivers in the procurement of nearly $1.5 billion dollars in net sales volume for some of the country’s largest vacation ownership companies.

James "Jimmy" Danz

Danz is internationally recognized as an expert in partnering corporate alliances with enterprise strategies, initiatives and objectives. His professional experience has also included equity partnerships, senior-level executive and consultancy roles for Diamond Resorts International®, Princeton Resorts Group, Starwood Hotels, Conrad Hilton International, Vistana Resorts, ACCOR Vacation Club and Success Marketing. The five-time Gold ARDY winner has held Board of Director seats for the American Resort Development Association (ARDA) and is the current Chairman of the ARDA Meetings Council and the ARDA Sales and Marketing Forum. He also sits on the Board of the American Tele-Services Association (ATA) and is the current Chairman of the ATA Political Action Committee.

Bill Tsao is a results-driven executive with a broad range of senior-level experience encompassing both domestic and international business operations. His background features a successful track record in driving revenue growth and winning market share, primarily in turnaround, start-up and high growth situations. His 18-year industry experience includes equity partnerships, senior-level executive and consultancy roles for Casablanca Express, Sunterra Resorts, Pacific Resorts International Inc., International Cruise & Excursions, Vacation Marketing Systems Inc., Raintree Resorts International and Diamond Resorts International®. Tsao has a proven career track record in driving multi-national and multi-site projects. He has been a frequent guest speaker at the ARDA National Convention and is a past board member for the Arizona Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) Annual Golf Tournament, which was the largest MDA Golf Tournament in the nation.

About Trident Business Management
Trident Business Management is a leading business solutions firm focused on serving the lodging and timeshare sectors of the leisure industry. The firm’s expertise is in its industry-specific and operationally-centric knowledge and experience.  The Scottsdale, Arizona-based company is led by Managing Partners Jim Danz and Bill Tsao, who bring more than 40 combined years of senior management experience to the aid of their clients.  The firm specializes in delivering results in these critical disciplines:  restructuring and turnarounds, asset management, merger & acquisition advisory, financial advisory, and performance improvement.   Trident is highly differentiated from consultant and advisory companies by its implementation and performance-based orientation.  For more information, visit www.TridentBusinessManagement.com

Accor’s shining stars came out last night at the Awards night, which was the gala finale to the Australian Timeshare Holiday Ownership Council’s (ATHOC) annual conference 2009, held on the beautiful Gold Coast Queensland.

Netting two of the four awards, was Marnie Jess, awarded as ‘Outstanding New Professional’ and Mike Winlaw who won a ‘Recognition Award’ for his services over the last 5 years to the industry.

Marnie’s award recognised her fresh approach, professional skills and integrity in her role as Sales marketing and Production Manager, vital in traffic control, sales and marketing collateral and internal communications – a part of the busy Corporate Communications department.

Mike’s recognition was substantially for his work with Accor Vacation Club’s Corporate Uni training scheme, and his benchmarked USA training visit.

John Osborne, CEO said “Our staff are our strength, and their commitment to quality and integrity is vital to our development and growth, and this pair set a fine example for others too.”

Recognition for star employees at Timeshare Industry’s “Night of Stars”

The Timeshare Industry held its 18th Annual National Industry Awards last night, at a gala function to recognise its star employees and Accor Vacation Club was a stellar performer, taking four of the night’s major awards for Sales and Service.

“After a challenging year for the industry, the presentation of these awards are a testament to the dedication of all our teams, and truly show the spirit of Accor Vacation Club’s employees, which then reflects back positively to our 26,000+ Members in so many ways on an everyday level,” said John Osborne, CEO Accor Vacation Club.

“Congratulations from all our Management and staff to these stars of Accor Vacation Club,” John concluded.

And the winners are…

AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN SERVICE: DEBBIE BLATCH
This nominee demonstrates a consistent and positive attitude towards service. This star performer demonstrates excellent knowledge of the resort, the industry and it’s products and services. This performer achieves beyond expectation results based on consistent use of these skills.

AWARD FOR CORPORATE PERFORMER OF THE YEAR: MARNIE JESS
This award is for an individual in a non-management position employed in administrative department.

AWARD FOR SALES TEAM OF THE YEAR: ACCOR VACATION CLUB COFFS HARBOUR
This award is for a team involved in the sales operations of a single resort/sales site or for multiple projects. Team members may include project director and sales, marketing and administrative management and staff.

AWARD FOR SALES MANAGER OF THE YEAR: PETER COLE – NOVOTEL TWIN WATERS
This award is for an individual Manager responsible for the sales functions at a single sales site, single resort site, or multiple sales sites. They will have consistently exceeded sales targets with their superior management skills whilst maintaining excellent client service levels. This nominee must be a consistent performer with evidence of their management skills whilst ensuring an emphasis on quality assurance and compliance with the Industry Code of Practice.

Photo Credit: AA Xposé Media

Recognition for star employees at Timeshare Industry’s “Night of Stars”

The Timeshare Industry held its 18th Annual National Industry Awards, at a gala function to recognise its star employees and Accor Vacation Club was a stellar performer, taking four of the night’s major awards for Sales and Service.

“After a challenging year for the industry,  the presentation of these awards are a testament to the dedication of all our teams, and truly show the spirit of Accor Vacation Club’s employees, which then reflects back positively to our 26,000+ Members in so many ways on an everyday level,” said John Osborne, CEO Accor Vacation Club.

“Congratulations from all our Management and staff to these stars of Accor Vacation Club,” John concluded.

And the winners are…

AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN SERVICE
DEBBIE BLATCH
This nominee demonstrates a consistent and positive attitude towards service.  This star performer demonstrate excellent knowledge of the resort, the industry and it’s products and services.  This performer achieves beyond expectation results based on consistent use of these skills.

AWARD FOR CORPORATE PERFORMER OF THE YEAR
MARNIE JESS
This award is for an individual in a non-management position employed in administrative department

AWARD FOR SALES TEAM OF THE YEAR
ACCOR VACATION CLUB COFFS HARBOUR
This award is for a team involved in the sales operations of a single resort/sales site or for multiple projects. Team members may include project director and sales, marketing and administrative management and staff.

AWARD FOR SALES MANAGER OF THE YEAR
PETER COLE – NOVOTEL TWIN WATERS
This award is for an individual Manager responsible for the sales functions at a single sales site, single resort site, or multiple sales sites. They will have consistently exceeded sales targets with their superior management skills whilst maintaining excellent client service levels.  This nominee must be a consistent performer with evidence of their management skills whilst ensuring an emphasis on quality assurance and compliance with the Industry Code of Practice.

About Accor Vacation Club
We are an exciting, innovative and flexible holiday ownership club providing Members with the opportunity for a lifetime of great holidays worldwide. The Club’s operator is part of the Accor Hospitality Group, the largest and fastest growing hotel management group in the Pacific Region. Accor Vacation Club is Australia’s first hotel branded holiday ownership club commencing operations in 2000.

Accor Hospitality
Accor, a major global group and the European leader in hotels, as well as the global leader in services to corporate clients and public institutions, operates in nearly 100 countries with 150,000 employees. It offers to its clients over 40 years of expertise in two core businesses:
- Hotels, with the Sofitel, Pullman, MGallery, Novotel, Mercure, Suitehotel, Ibis, all seasons, Etap Hotel, Formule 1 and Motel 6 brands, representing 4,000 hotels and nearly 500,000 rooms in 90 countries, as well as strategically related activities, such as Lenôtre;
- Services, with 30 million people in 40 countries benefiting from Accor Services products in employee and public benefits, rewards and loyalty, and expense management.

Photo/s by AA Xposé Media; www.aaxpose.com

Accor Vacation Club has affiliated Grand Mercure Apartments Heritage Park with Interval International, a leading global provider of vacation services. The resort is in Bowral, situated in a valley at the foot of Mt. Gibraltar in New South Wales, Australia, and is only an hour’s drive from the city of Sydney. This becomes the 21st property in the Club to be affiliated with Interval.

Visitors may enjoy outings to historic buildings, boutiques, and restaurants, as well as to the many nearby attractions that include the Moreton National Park, Fitzroy Falls, and the spectacular Wombeyan Caves, known as “one of the natural wonders of the world.”

“This resort is located in the picturesque Southern Highlands,” says Joe Hickman, Interval International’s executive director for Asia Pacific, “Owners and guests at the resort can take a break from the city life of Sydney and relax in the healthy climate and scenery reminiscent of rural England.”

“The area offers many excellent wines and fresh produce, which can be sampled at various local restaurants and farmers markets,” says Tracie Sakrzewski, Accor Vacation Club’s executive director of Member and Resort Services. “Members are not to miss the annual Tulip Time festival, while taking in the scenic lookouts and native bushwalking trails in the Gibbergunyah Forest.”

Grand Mercure Apartments Heritage Park, Bowral is located on 10 acres of landscaped gardens. Amenities at the resort include an indoor swimming pool, tennis and squash courts, and a gymnasium.
 
About Accor Vacation Club

Accor Vacation Club is an exciting, innovative, and flexible holiday ownership club providing Members with the opportunity for a lifetime of great holidays worldwide. It is Australia’s first hotel branded holiday ownership club and commenced operations in 2000. The Club’s operator is part of the Accor Hospitality Group, the largest and fastest growing hotel management group in the Pacific Region with operations across 16 countries, covering a full spectrum of locations and hotel styles, from luxury to budget and employing over 24,000 people.
 
About Interval International

Interval International operates membership programmes for vacation owners and provides value-added services to its developer clients worldwide. Based in Miami, Florida, the company has been a pioneer and innovator in serving the vacation ownership market for more than 30 years. Today, Interval has a network of over 2,400 resorts in excess of 75 countries and offers its resort clients and nearly 2 million member families high-quality products and programs through 25 offices in 16 countries. Interval is an operating segment of Interval Leisure Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:IILG), a leading global provider of membership and leisure services to the vacation industry.
 
For more information contact:
Michael Myers, Group Director of Marketing and Travel, Interval International
Phone: +44 (0) 20 8336 9515
E-mail: michael.myers@intervalintl.com