VOASA Conference, South Africa
July 29, 2009 by Perspective Magazine | Timeshare & Fractional Reviews
- Deon Viljeon, Director of Operations, Southern Sun & Chairman of VOASA
The Vacation Ownership Association of Southern Africa (VOASA) held its first conference in South Africa on 24th May and 26th May 2009. Once known as the Time Share Institute of South Africa (TISA), this convention saw the official launch of VOASA’s new name, logo and identity, signalling a re-invention and dramatic change for the industry body and enabling it to grow with changing marketplace to incorporate fractional ownership and other shared ownership product types.
The conference opened with a presentation by keynote speaker Mr. Howard Nusbaum, President of the American Resort Development Association, reviewing the shared vacation ownership industry in the USA and highlighting the effects of the global credit crisis.
Toni Anderson who is a Certified Assessor described the benefits of star grading. The Tourism Grading STAR System assesses, monitors and brands South African Tourism products. She explained the process involved for a resort to receive a star grading and went on to tell us that it will contribute toward the sustainable tourism growth in South Africa.
Brendan Hughes, who is a Senior Consultant at Michalsons Attorneys, spoke about the significant impact that the new Consumer Protection Act will have. “The Act will have a significant practical impact on the nature of contractual warranties provided to consumers, refund policies and the general formulation of contractual terms and conditions, particularly standard form contracts and the way in which those contracts must be interpreted by courts,” He carried on to say ‘Although the Act puts up several new legal hurdles for businesses to clear, it also offers businesses the opportunity to promote confidence and certainty in their offerings to consumers, and this will ultimately help drive consumer purchasing decisions,’ said Brendan.
Professor Piet Delport of the University of Pretoria gave a very informative presentation concerning the interaction between the Share Blocks Control Act 1980 and the new Companies Act. Highlighting the duties and liability of directors, corporate governance and the enforcement of duties and rights of shareholders, Professor Delport also covered transitional arrangements with regards to the implementation of the Act.
The shared vacation ownership industry has taken on its responsibility of implementing ways to help decrease global warming, and as such the VOASA conference attracted delegates like Greg McManus of the Heritage Environmental Management Company and Barney Beukes of SIRAC to address the audience of resort developers. Greg discussed environmental rating and management systems for responsible tourism whilst Barney presented to delegates SIRAC’s energy-saving heat pumps. ‘Hot water is the major consumer of power in a home,’ said Barney. ‘By utilising a SIRAC heating pump you can save 65 per cent of your water-heating costs by employing the free solar energy that is available. The SIRAC heating pump is ozone-and globalwarming- neutral and it has been accepted by the Montreal Protocol.’
Henry Greyling from Seef Fractional talked about the growth of Fractional ownership in South Africa and gave us an insight into the regions where fractional sales are predominant which include Exclusive Golf Estates, especially those with spas for the ladies. Other leisure developments including bush lodges are particularly popular as well. The most popular regions in South Africa are currently Kwasi Zulu Natal and Cape Town.
Deon Robbertza from Zoom Advertising which is the first advertising company in South Africa to be 100 per cent carbon neutral discussed the subject of ‘Adapt or Die – The Conscious Brand’. ‘It’s about single-planet living and offering consumers an ethically correct choice, ’Deon said. ‘It’s about leaving our environment in a better state than we found it for our children but also sustaining realistic business growth. “There is no point waiting for consumers to demand this choice – we should be offering it as a matter of principle”.
Dirk Wilson from Fractional Advertising simplified the often confusing subject of internet advertising. He ran through 11 fundamentals of internet marketing success. Some advice he gave was – optimise each page, add Google Analytics to your website and always use quality images & banner adverts which will motivate viewers to click. Dirk explained the growth in internet use in South Africa to highlight to importance of the internet to your business. “With a rapidly growing internet user base – combined with faster & larger bandwidth allocation, South Africans are only on the tip of the iceberg in terms of market penetration. By 2010 an estimated 30+ million South Africans have fast internet access on their mobile phones alone.”
VOASA went on to recognise pioneers in the industry with an awards ceremony. Award categories, and winners, included: Industry Team of the Year (Kwa Maritane Bush Lodge); Industry Performer of the Year (Judy Pousson of The Holiday Club). A Lifetime Achievement Award went to Brian Stocks of Sun International Vacation Club, and Service Excellence to Dirk Wilson of FractionalOwnership.co.za. Dirk commented
“We are delighted to be acknowledged and rewarded by the industry for our hard work and efforts, particularly over the past year or so, it’s a team effort so thanks to our team for going the extra mile on many occasions as well as our clients for all their support”.
All the delegates at the conference also signed a FIFA soccer ball to demonstrate their dedication to, and support of, the 2010 World Cup festivities which will play a major part in boosting South Africa’s tourism next year. More on this subject will follow in a later issue.
In between sessions delegates were treated to refreshments and lunch, plus wine and chocolate tasting, South African dancers and a luxurious gala dinner, with free flowing drinks, several course meal and
entertainment making for a very successful and well organised business and social gathering of key industry players.
VOASA stands for ‘Vacation Ownership Association of Southern Africa’. It was previously known as TISA (Timeshare Institute of Southern Africa).
The name change was necessary in order for TISA (now VOASA) to evolve with the everchanging industry, an industry that is constantly introducing innovative new products and propositions – products such as Points Clubs, Fractional Ownership and Destination or Private Residence Clubs, which fall within the shared
vacation ownership category set out in the Property Timesharing Control Act No. 75 of 1983 and / or Share Blocks Control Act No. 59 of 1980. Though these new products are considered to be different from standard shared vacation ownership, they still require representation by an industry body.
Each prospective member’s application and documentation will be vetted, not only for legal compliance, but also for consumer protection. All members of VOASA are required to adhere to the industry Code of Conduct. VOASA is committed to strong ethical standards. This is essential to promote the long-term interest of the shared vacation ownership industry in Southern Africa.
For more information visit www.voasa.co.za or call +27 (0)21 914 9693
VOASA Golf Tournament
The VOASA event kicked off with a golf event which was held at the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club and sponsored by RCI.
Royal Johannesburg & Kensington Golf Club is one of the most prestigious golf clubs in South Africa. In its almost 130 years of existence, it has hosted 7 South African Opens and numerous other major tournaments. Royal is home to the biggest annual professional golf event in Africa, the Joburg Open, inaugurated in 2007, and has hosted the International Final Qualifier (Africa) for the Open Championship for three years in succession.
It was a fine day with 5 teams battling it out for first place, but in the end the winners were Connie Harding, Allan Roberts, Albie Roux and Phil Engelbrecht who each won a golf cart.
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