Summer Bay Resorts and RCI, the global leader in vacation exchange and part of the Wyndham Worldwide (NYSE: WYN) family of brands, recently announced a multi-year renewal of their affiliation agreement. With the renewal of this agreement, Summer Bay Resorts’ high-quality group of properties continues to be a part of the RCI^® network of affiliated resorts.

“We have enjoyed a long-standing and successful relationship with Summer Bay Resorts, and are pleased to be continuing that relationship,” said Gordon Gurnik, president, RCI. “We are also glad to continue offering these quality properties to our 3.7 million subscribing members, many of whom have enjoyed memorable vacations in Florida, Tennessee and Missouri at these world-class resorts.”

The affiliated resorts that are a part of this agreement are: Summer Bay Resort, Villas at Summer Bay Resort and Houses at Summer Bay Resort of Orlando, Fla.; Gatlinburg Town Square and Gatlinburg Town Village of Gatlinburg, Tenn.; Mountain Meadows Resort of Pigeon Forge, Tenn.; Crown Pointe Links of Farmington, Mo.; and Vacation Villas at the Summit of Clarksville, Mo.

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Tarzen International, a specialist at providing creative hospitality solutions to the timeshare and hospitality industries, has recently completed the renovation of kitchens, master and guest bathrooms for the Cypress Pointe vacation ownership resort in Orlando, Florida.

During the past year and a half, Tarzen International refurbished more than 120 units at the popular property, with most work done while the resort was operating at 98% occupancy. An additional 36 units will be completed at the first of next year.

Added Miki Todd, President of Tarzen International (www.TarzenInternational.com), “During the last phase of this work, which was finished within 50 days, all materials had to be stored offsite and brought into the property on a daily basis. This was a challenge, but we are all about working within each client’s specific guidelines.”

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Interval International, a prominent worldwide provider of vacation services and an operating business of Interval Leisure Group (Nasdaq: IILG), will host the 13th annual Shared Ownership Investment Conference from October 17 through19 at The Peabody Orlando. This forum will offer a thorough overview of shared ownership to real estate and hospitality professionals that are considering entering the business or converting an existing asset.

On the conference agenda are sessions led by top industry experts that will explore the business models of traditional timesharing, fractional development, and private residence clubs. Featured speaker Jeffrey Ma, who co-founded Citizen Sports, a visionary sports media company, will explain how Web 2.0 is changing business and revolutionizing branding. Attendees will also hear from Peter C. Yesawich, Ph.D., the widely quoted marketing strategist and trend-spotter, who will present findings from his agency’s 2011 Portrait of American Travelers^tm.

Among the hundreds registered for next week’s investment gathering are representatives of several large national financial institutions that are involved in shared ownership or have recently entered the business, as well as financiers evaluating the industry.

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Western Reserve Partners LLC (“Western Reserve”) announced that it represented Island One, Inc. (“Island One” or the “Company”) in its reorganization by Timeshare Acquisitions LLC. Island One, based in Orlando, Florida, is one of the largest privately-held timeshare developers in the United States. Founded in 1981, the Company has grown from a single site to an organization that has successfully acquired, developed and re-developed nine properties in Florida and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Island One’s affiliate, Club Navigo, allows customers to gain access to a larger network of 29 affiliate resorts. Timeshare Acquisitions LLC is a holding company owned and formed by a hedge fund to acquire the reorganized equity interest in Island One.

Island One filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy case in September 2010, and its plan of reorganization was confirmed and became effective in May 2011. The reorganized company will retain operation of its eight resorts in Florida and divest of certain other inventory and assets. The Company’s executive team remains intact, with Deborah Linden, Board Co-Chair, focusing on business development and strategic planning, Sterling Stoudenmire IV assuming the role of Chief Executive Officer of Island One and Sulyn Stumbras assuming the role of Chief Executive Officer of Island One’s management company.

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Island One Resorts has successfully emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy after a U.S. Bankruptcy Court approved a reorganization plan that also included its Island One Resorts Management Corp. affiliate.

According to a report in the Orlando Business Journal, the restructured company will retain operation of its eight resorts in Florida and the company’s executive team remains intact. Board co-chair Deborah Linden will focus on business development and strategic planning while chief operating officer Sterling Stoudenmire will take over as CEO of Island One Resorts.

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It was an awkward moment. One that I had a feeling would be on the horizon when I accepted the assignment to cover the Women In The Industry (WIN) Florida Regional Conference last weekend for perspectivemagazine.com.

The conference, held at the Marriott Cypress Harbour Resort in Orlando, Florida, brought together some of the timeshare industry’s leading professional women to discuss issues pertaining to their unique roles within the industry. They could not have been more welcoming and gracious, even though there were a few quizzical looks as some of the attendees tried to process why a guy would spend his Saturday morning at such a venue.

Matt McDaniel, Editor of Perspective Magazine North America, and I covered the event for the company and, as the only two guys in the audience of about 100 women, we had a feeling that there would be some good-natured teasing going on. The first hint would be during the first break between sessions when the ladies stood sentry in front of the men’s restroom to commandeer the facilities. As you would expect, their numbers were a little unbalanced regarding their own facilities. Oh well, what’s a few more minutes of waiting…..

Lani Kane-Hanan, Senior Vice President for Resort Planning and Development for Marriott Vacation Club, hosted the event on behalf of WIN. Explaining the mission, she spoke of the group’s desire to advocate, educate and provide personal and professional growth through networking, education, research and philanthropy. In 2010, WIN was involved in activities such as assisting with college scholarships and fundraising activities for the purchase of breast cancer screening equipment for the women of Abaco Island in the Bahamas. In all, WIN raised $20,000 for projects during the course of the year.

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Timeshare owners always seem to be looking for more information about how the industry operates and there was plenty of information to go around at the Dial An Exchange Timeshare Owners Seminar last Friday at the Florida Hotel in Orlando, Florida.

While Dial An Exchange was the host of the event, the evening centered on presentations by Fermin Cruz of DAE as well as resale advertiser Jason Tremblay of SellMyTimeshareNow and consumer advocates Ed Hastry of the National Timeshare Owners Association and Lisa Ann Schreier, author of “Timeshare Vacations For Dummies”.

The four touched on different segments of the industry and provided information that can be difficult to find according to Cruz, who is the Vice President of North American Business for DAE.

“It’s just getting information to the consumer that they can’t typically find, or is not proactively being pushed at them.  They all have additional questions, they’re looking for options, they’re looking for solutions and they don’t know where to go,” said Cruz. “Consumer advocacy is a big deal in timeshare so, I think, over the next couple of years you’ll see more and more of (these events), making it easier for the consumer to transact business and making it easier for the consumer to actually enjoy the fruits of their purchase.”

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Timeshare and fractional ownership publisher Perspective International will be a media sponsor of the Dial An Exchange Timeshare Owners Seminar, to be held later this week in Orlando, Florida.

“We love putting on these Vacation Education Seminars. They keep us well connected to the consumer. We truly appreciate the support we have received from key partners like Perspective and we are also looking forward to sponsoring their GNEX 2011 event in May as well.,” said Fermin Cruz, Vice President of North American Business, Dial An Exchange.

The Seminar is designed to provide timeshare owners with information that will enable them to become more knowledgeable about their purchase, the timeshare industry and their owner benefits. Owners will be able to ask questions of industry veterans ranging from how maintenance fees are spent to how owners can rent weeks out to the public. The event is scheduled for this Friday, January 28^th, beginning at 6:00pm at the Florida Hotel and Conference Center at the Florida Mall.

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Jeff Forrest, President of Winter Park Construction

Winter Park Construction (WPC), one of the nation’s most respected general contractors, (www.wpc.com) has announced that the company completed over $7 million in timeshare resort renovations during the past year.

Says Jeff Forrest, President of WPC, “In spite of the economy, our firm stayed very busy throughout the entire year handling large and small renovation projects for the timeshare industry’s major developers. Our clients included Starwood Vacation Ownership, Hilton Grand Vacations Company, Orange Lake County Club, The Berkley Group and Wyndham Vacation Ownership. Their resorts were located in Orlando, Kissimmee and Plantation, Florida, as well as in Myrtle Beach, SC; Newport, RI; Lake Geneva, WI and Cancun, Mexico.”

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Timeshare and fractional ownership magazine publisher Perspective International increases its presence in North America with the appointment of Rosanne Luba as director of sales for the region.

Luba, who is based in Orlando, Florida, will directly contribute to the ongoing growth of the company throughout the United States, Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean. Perspective International Ltd has seen rapid growth over the past few years, most notably through Perspective Magazine and Owners Perspective Magazine.

“I am very excited to be joining such a successful organization. Perspective Magazine has been an information leader in the timeshare industry for a number of years and the credibility, integrity and innovation of people such as Paul and Sharon Mattimoe are what attracted me to this position. The expansion plans for this year will position Perspective North America as the must-read source of information for vacation ownership and I can’t wait to get started .“ Said Rosanne Luba.

Prior to joining Perspective International, Luba was sales training and T.O. director for Sell My Timeshare Now. She began her tenure as a sales representative in SMTN’s Florida office in October 2003 and was promoted to sales manager in 2004. She was then promoted to director of sales following her relocation to the New Hampshire office, a position she held from 2006 through 2009.

Prior to working with SMTN, Luba worked as an advertising sales consultant for a newspaper in her native Australia following a successful 17-year career as a sales and marketing tour manager for Holland America cruise line. She has had an extensive career in achieving and exceeding sales targets, public speaking, advertising and marketing, creating and developing marketing materials and developing motivational sales strategies.

“Since launching the dedicated North America version of Perspective Magazine and with a similar move planned for our consumer publication imminent we are seeing our goals for the region being achieved and so we are delighted to welcome Rosanne to the team, who will be establishing our Orlando based sales and marketing team.” Said Paul Mattimoe, CEO of Perspective International.

Perspective Magazine – which comprises of two editions: Perspective Magazine North America and Perspective Magazine International – has become the most read independent trade publication globally for the shared ownership industry and become media sponsor of 19 major industry events around the world.

Owners Perspective Magazine is the only independent consumer publication that specializes in promoting the benefits of buying shared ownership products to be made available to the general public via a variety of high-profile distribution channels through major brands, including, but not limited to, more than 150 first class airport lounges worldwide with over a dozen airlines such as British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Emirates, Singapore Airlines, American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta and more, as well as in luxury hotels, resorts, spas and golf clubs. Through each of these outlets, Owners Perspective Magazine positively exposes consumers to timeshare and fractional vacation products, as well as destination and private residence clubs.

For more information on advertising and editorial opportunities call Rosanne Luba on 407-362-1540 or visit http://www.perspectiverates.com