Week of Oct. 15 - Oct. 21, 2004
|
Street Talk International Archives |
 |
| 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. |
|
" 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.
|
|
What is RCI's long term strategy? During last May's ARDA
Conference in Las
Vegas, RCI released a white paper which answered the
question (at least, the version for public consumption).
Some rumors won't die. We speak of the rumor that Cendant is buying Sol Melia. Well, it's true that Cendant and Sol Melia have a strategic alliance for marketing and distribution (Sol Melia Vacation Club is affiliated with RCI), but we don't think that translates into a purchase. (An alternate rumor that won't die is that Cendant is buying Sunterra and/or Hapimag, but we won't get into that right now.) Most recently the Melia rumor has changed to something going on between Melia and Hard Rock. Yes, there is something going on there, too, but it's hard to say just how far it goes. In June last year Hard Rock Cafe International entered into a 50:50 joint venture agreement with Sol Meliá SA to exclusively develop, manage and franchise Hard Rock Hotel properties worldwide. The new company they formed for that purpose is called Lifestar Hotels LLC. The first 3 hotels for the venture are in Chicago, New York and San Diego (set to open in 2006). We don't see that this necessarily translates into a timeshare deal, but who knows. ANYwaaay... Sol Melia Vacation Club is running an ad in The Beat for project directors, sales managers, marketing directors, etc., in Mexico. They currently have seven resorts throughout Mexico, Latin America, and the Caribbean and are looking to accelerate growth, adding more resorts in the near future. Rumors that a whole lot of shaking has been going on seem to be true: they appear to be doing some major house cleaning at their resorts, and folks in the biz in Mexico who saw that ad are trying to figure out just what it all means. Is there new powerful upper managment in the company? Is it true that the new big boss was with RCI and Cendant prior to taking the job with Melia Vacation Club?? Are there massive changes about to happen in that company? Is a very big broom coming? And more important, will Sol Melia ever get it through their
corporate heads that issuing a little publicity about their timeshare arm would not be a bad thing?
Trendwest South Pacific is expanding into New Zealand, with the purchase of apartments within Marama Resort, Rotorua. The apartments will be known as WorldMark Rotorua. WorldMark Rotorua is the 12th WorldMark resort location in the South Pacific, following the opening of the purpose-built WorldMark Flynns Beach in Port Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia. The waterfront resort borders Lake Rotorua and the Ohau Channel, with individual jetties and berths extending into the man-made canals. It features a mix of two and three-bedroom fully self-contained lodges and chalets, sprinkled throughout 10 acres of resort grounds. Amenities include a tennis court, gym, swimming pool, spa, barbecue and picnic areas, kayak and jet-ski hire, tourist information and booking service. E-mail street@thetimesharebeat.com
NASSAU: We've been hearing that the timeshare sales office at The Guanahani Village Resort closed its doors after failing to make payroll. Sources say the staff sold off computers and furniture the marketing company left behind in order to recoup some of their pay. This was a Coastal Resorts Limited deal, run by Phil Slezak, and reports insist he gave neither the resort nor employees any advance warning. As of Oct. 14, former staff alleged that they were still unpaid for commissions earned and Slezak hasn't been seen or heard from. Said one former sales rep, " I doubt he will return as the labor laws are very `employee oriented' and he would be retained by the authorities." We asked Mr. Slezak about these allegations, and he replied thus:
He said she said. Stay tuned?
E-mail street@thetimesharebeat.com
UK: RCI is overhauling its customer management programme as part of a £ 3m brand revamp. A mail pack, which is being sent to RCI's 500,000 UK and European members, represents a shift in the company's focus from marketing the location of resorts toward promoting the range of activities and lifestyle opportunities on offer. The pack will target consumers on three fronts. A member profile form will encourage customers to list their pursuits and interests to enable RCI to target them with tailor-made holiday options. An upgraded holiday-planner service will allow members to choose from a wider range of short- and long-haul options across RCI's 3,700-strong resort network. And last, the mailing will aim to raise awareness of the full travel agency services RCI offers, which include flight, hotel and car-rental bookings. The long-term goal is to boost revenue from non-core operations. The mailing, created by WWAV Rapp Collins, will be sent out later this month, before being rolled out to Europe in the next few months. AND: The top ten long-haul
Christmas destinations for Brits this year are: Barbados,
Dubai, Orlando, Goa, Tenerife, Sydney, Miami, New York, Antigua and Maldives.
We don't know what that means for you, we just thought we'd toss it out there for your informational pleasure. BALLOCH: Villagers in Balloch are concerned about the tranformation about to take place if the new regeneration project presented by Scottish Enterprise Dunbartonshire (SED) comes about. SED wants to develop old industrial sites, presenting their plan as the gateway to the new Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, but preliminary plans for a swathe of housing on the banks of the Leven (much of it earmarked for timeshare) has raised worries. The land – from the Maid of the Loch to Sweeney's boatyard – is priceless in the eyes of the community. Were it to disappear under such massive development there is a feeling that locals could become strangers in their own town. It isn't that the community is against progress, but they want to have a say in what kind of progress and how much. And they don't want to lose the open land or the intimacy of their lives in the small town. It's a very sensitive situation that is in the beginning stages
of major protest. Will SED get it built? Stay tuned.
KUWAIT: The luxury resort property will consist of an internationally
operated hotel, villas, townhouses and a golf course. The resort will be one of the leading new resorts on the
island that allows foreigners to purchase land and property in Mauritius. It will include:
IFA Hotels & Resorts aims to link the resort in Mauritius
with its resorts in Palm Jumeriah Dubai, Zimbali Coastal
Resort, South Africa, Zanzibar Hotel & Resort, its
planned resort in Lebanon
and the existing hotel and resort in Portugal, the Sheraton
Algarve and Pine Cliffs Resort, which is owned by one
of the companies in the IFA consortium, United Investments Portugal thereby offering tourists in Europe, Middle
East & Africa a unique network linking IFA's respective hotels, resorts and vacation club destinations.
Sectur, the federal ministry of tourism, has compiled information from 62,452 visitors in 12 resort areas in an attempt to measure the satisfaction level of foreign tourists visiting Mexico. The questionnaire included 55 questions concerning a variety of things such as hospitality, safety, cleanliness, lodging, restaurants, etc. The overall level of satisfaction was 82.1 points-- not bad. The resorts and cities studied were Guadalajara, Monterrey, Cancun, Acapulco, Cabo, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, Merida, Ixtapa, Cozumel and Manzanillo. The overall satisfaction was 8.2 for visitors to beach areas, compared to 8.0 to visitors of Mexico's major cities. The highest average score was 8.4 for Puerto Vallarta while the lowest score was 7.9 for Mexico City. Of those polled, 37 percent stayed in hotels, 18% (!) stayed in all-inclusive resorts, 14% stayed in timeshare resorts and 5% spent their vacation in private condos or homes. Seems like there's a whole lot of room for movement in the condo rental and timeshare sectors... If you can read Spanish, you can find the whole 44-page report at http://www.sectur.gob.mx NUEVO VALLARTA: Paradise Village Beach Resort & Spa
hosted the Paradise Village Nations Cup at El Tigre Golf
Course, a world cup-qualifying event, from September
29 to October 3. Eighteen countries from around the world vied for three spots at the $4 million dollar World Golf
Championships-World Cup, to be played in Seville, Spain in November of this year.
GO TO Street Talk USA |
||||||||
|
|
“This
is our third Nations Cup and each year the competition gets stronger. We are delighted to see so many teams from
beyond our own region participating and we particularly welcome developing golf nations such as Serbia and Slovenia
to our Nations Cup challenge,” said Tour Commissioner Henrique Lavie. “We have a wonderful venue at Paradise Village
and our Mexican partners provided their usual unforgettable hospitality. This is a great opportunity for us to
put Latin American golf on display for the entire world.”| 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 |
