Week of Nov. 19 - 25, 2004
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Street Talk International Archives |
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| Street Talk is a compendium of tips, facts, gossip, rumors, speculation and editorial comment provided by The Timeshare Beat as an outlet for the free expression of its readers
and for their entertainment. The Timeshare Beat makes no assertion as to the veracity of the items contained herein.
If erroneous information is inadvertently
included and a correction to this information is subsequently sent to The Timeshare Beat, the correction will be
prominently published. Opinions published within Street
Talk are the opinions of the authors thereof and are not necessarily the opinions of The Timeshare Beat. |
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" The theory of a free press is that truth will emerge from free discussion, not that it will be presented perfectly and instantly in any one account." -- Walter Lippmann Street Talk is a compendium of tips, facts, gossip, rumors, speculation
and editorial comment.
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VIETNAM: Names like Da Nang and Nha Trang still reverberate with emotion in the USA, but as Vietnam's tourism industry continues to grow do not be surprised to see timeshare arise there and elsewhere in country (assuming the right licensing is developed). Those two cities in central Vietnam are considerably closer to Hong Kong than Thailand and Bali are, to say nothing of the country's 2,000-kilometer coastline, ripe for development and fringed with pristine beaches that rival anything Phuket and Samui have to offer. Given the burgeoning interest from foreign companies in building hotels/resorts and with a growing Chinese market looking for beach vacations, Vietnam may be poised for a major tourism boom. Keep your eye on it.
VICTORIA: Aviawest's new urban fractional resort, the Parkside Victoria Resort & Spa, sold over 17 million dollars in fee simple Quarter Ownership Real Estate, configured as one & two bedroom homes, in under five hours on Nov. 13. Following this successful start, ground breaking will quickly follow with building to start within the next few weeks and completion expected in 2006. Aviawest Resorts is a family operation, with 5 members of the Pearson family actively involved in concept, development, marketing, sales and management of vacation properties. They've got four vacation club locations on the West Coast of Canada plus the Parkside, which is Canada's first urban fractional property. Jim Pearson is the main guy in charge. E-mail street@thetimesharebeat.com
ST. MAARTEN: ST. THOMAS: The St. Maarten Timeshare Association (SMTA) President Jules James recently told the Daily Herald that the timeshare industry, “the bedrock of our stay-over tourism,” was suffering and that, according to recent estimates, the island was actually losing ground with a loss of some US $10 million of economic activity annually. He said while there was a slight increase in sales, the escalating cost of maintenance, the high fares for flights to the island and the direct tax on timeshare visitors were causing a downward slide in occupancy figures. He also pointed a finger at the local power company, saying that the cost of electricity is the largest item in resorts’ budgets after payroll and that a large part of that cost is a ficticious fuel surcharge. The power company (GEBE), controlled by the Central Government, vigorously denied the charge. Timeshare is indeed the bedrock of tourism in St. Maarten. Is it in trouble? E-mail street@thetimesharebeat.com
DUBAI: IFA is involved in developments across the whole of the trunk
on The Palm, Jumeirah.
Their investments on the trunk include a 1,200 room luxury resort which will include the Five-star Palm Hotel &
Resort, with 300 rooms, the 460 suite Palm Vacation Club, and Palm Residence with 246 shoreline apartments. All of the major hospitality companies are gaining a presence in places like Dubai and Qatar. Watch for more timeshare there.
RIVIERA MAYA: The word on the street in Mexico is that the Viva Vacation Club (Viva Wyndham Resorts), headquartered in the Dominican Republic, is about to change its sales and marketing strategy by forming an alliance with the infamous Royal Holiday Club. Back in April of 2003, Viva Vacation Club President Rafael Blanco Canto pushed for the appointment of Jorge Bravo as general director for the Viva Vacation Club, replacing Canadian Gilbert Sirois. Prior to his appointment with the Viva Vacation Club, Bravo was the general director of Grupo Costamex’s Royal Holiday Vacation Club, based in the Dominican Republic. He is said to have used his move to Viva to provide employment for his friends from Royal (not an unusual thing) and it was rumored that his working relationship with Royal Holiday never really ended. This suspicion now seems to be a reality as the Viva Vacation Club is allegedly being ordered to sell ROYAL points as of December 1st, 2004. True? Not? The Viva Maya Sales Director, Enrico Dozza and his Sales Manager Carlos de Alba Margain are said to be scrambling to keep their salesroom together, as anti ROYAL Holiday sales people are jumping ship and heading to the competition next door, Allegro Resorts. The latest casualities include long time Viva sales reps Swen Kessler and Sergio Gonzalez. More casualities are expected as the Allegro Group has recently hired former Viva director Gilbert Sirois to oversee their Mexican operations. Looks like Viva sales people looking for the good old days now have another ship to sail on and being directed by a Commander in Chief they have worked with before. Meanwhile, back at the Viva ranch house...??? COZUMEL: Cozumel has really blossomed in the timeshare department in recent years. We hear that companies currently in active sales on the island are both Allegros, the Reef Club, El Presidente, Park Royal (formerly the Sol Caribe), El Cid La Cieba and the Coral Princess. Soon to be in active sales are Palace Resorts (formerly Plaza las Glorias) and the Sunset Club. Doing heavy marketing are Sunset Club for their Fishermans resort in Playa del Carmen and Mayan Palace for their Cancun resort (actually in Puerto Morelos). The El Presidente is new in the biz there they only started selling in Cancun 3 or 4 months ago, and started on Cozumel about a month ago. What kind of program are they selling, and who's in charge of sales? Did we miss anyone? He made particular mention of the many " sad cases" where tourists from other countries declared they'd never visit Puerto Vallarta again due to the frauds that these people subjected them to. This is not good... The poll was conducted at the Airport by the Municipal, State and Federal Tourism Offices together with the Municipality of Cabo Corrientes and the Universities of Guadalajara and the Universidad Autó noma of Nayarit. E-mail street@thetimesharebeat.com
ISLE OF WIGHT: Hazel Green Village (aka Wootton Creek Village), located in the village of Wootton, closed as a timeshare resort on Nov. 13. A Special General Meeting has been called for November 26 with a resolution to wind up the Club. We are told that things started unraveling last summer, with Hazel Green Village Properties Ltd overdue with its annual return, Hazel Green Village Management Ltd being dissolved for failing to deliver accounts, Hazel Green Village Enterprises Ltd dissolved for failing to deliver accounts and Wootton Creek Owners Ltd (previously Hazel Green Village Owners Ltd) overdue with its accounts. We don't have all the details yet what really happened, and what becomes of their owners? Was this like the Lanzarote Beach Club deal: Keep jacking up the fees until the owners walk away from their investment, leaving the property to the developer? One source speculates that RCI may jump in with a rescue plan --some kind of offer for a number of points for free, or something like that. So? Who would like to enlighten us all about this apparent mess? E-mail street@thetimesharebeat.com
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| Street Talk is a compendium of tips, facts, gossip, rumors, speculation and editorial comment
provided by The Timeshare Beat as an outlet for the free expression of its readers and for their entertainment.
The Timeshare Beat makes no assertion as to the veracity of the items contained herein. If erroneous information is inadvertently included and a correction to this information
is subsequently sent to The Timeshare Beat, the correction will be prominently published. Opinions published within Street Talk are the opinions of the authors thereof and are
not necessarily the opinions of The Timeshare Beat. THIS COLUMN CONTAINS OPINIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS, STATEMENTS AND INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THIRD PARTIES. THE TIMESHARE BEAT DOES NOT REPRESENT, ENDORSE OR GUARANTEE THE TRUTHFULNESS, ACCURACY OR RELIABILITY OF ANY OF SUCH CONTENT POSTED BY SUCH THIRD PARTIES, OR ENDORSE ANY OPINIONS OR RECOMMENDATIONS EXPRESSED BY SUCH THIRD PARTIES. ANY RELIANCE ON CONTENT POSTED BY THIRD PARTIES WILL BE AT YOUR OWN RISK. CHANGES ARE PERIODICALLY MADE TO THIS COLUMN AND MAY BE MADE AT ANY TIME. See our Terms and Conditions |
