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BAY GARDENS BEACH RESORT
NEW ENTRANTS
but there’s someone to call if there’s an issue in the middle of the
night. You don’t get that with Airbnb.”
The Right Stuff
Still, not every resort or developer is a candidate for vacation ownership
success. “First and foremost, vacation ownership is a sales and marketing
business,” Kolton says. “You need to have some sort of situation that
provides you with a steady flow of qualified prospective buyers.”
Since 2005, staySky Hotels & Resorts has been providing full-service
resort and property management to resort condominiums and hotels.
“We manage condominium resorts, working with unit owners and
developers that have excess inventory,” Gordon explains. “Our prop-
erties run above-average occupancy, and we have marketing built into
our existing business. The people who were already visiting were
perfect prospects for ownership.”
Another new entrant with a head start in marketing was Royal
Westmoreland, a Preferred ResidencesSM resort in Barbados. “We have
about 230 homes on a resort with a vibrant, repeat short-term rental
market,” explains Kim Goddard, director of sales. “It’s a significant commit-
ment to purchase a full-time second home in Barbados. Shared ownership
was a natural bridge to create between renting and full ownership.”
For those who don’t have access to a customer base, Kolton says
there are still ways to be successful. “If you have an amazing resort but
don’t have a way to generate tour flow, that’s where the fee-for-service
deals come in,” he says. “It may make sense to partner with a brand or
a larger developer in that situation.”
Location is always an important consideration. “There are still many
highly demanded destinations — both domestic and international — that
have few timeshare properties,” Kolton says. “They’re definitely under-
served.” In the Caribbean, good beachfront locations are scarce. “This is
when it can make sense for a small independent developer to do a project.”
For existing resorts, condominium or villa-style properties are more
likely to be successful, although some developers at all-inclusive resorts
have had great success with vacation club programs. “I still think, in
general, that’s what differentiates timeshare from hotel,” Kolton says.
“It’s more comfortable; you have a full kitchen and privacy for multiple
occupants. That is what’s been the cornerstone of our industry, and
consumers are very attracted to that type of experience.”
Royal Westmoreland constructed units specifically for its new
shared ownership product, keeping in mind the standards for Preferred
Residences resorts. “The process of qualifying as a Preferred Residences
resort took a commitment in time and effort,” Goddard says. “At the
sales table, the credibility and enhanced flexibility it adds to the product
has enabled us to achieve higher-priced interval sales.”
Plaza Vacation Club, developed by Plaza Hotéis in Brazil, began with
existing inventory at resort hotels. With initial success, that’s changing.
“We’re planning to construct new buildings specifically for our time-
share owners,” explains Roberto Rotter, executive director.
At Seven Mile Beach Vacation Club on Grand Cayman in the Cayman
Islands, developer Ferdinand Berksoy obtained 20 units within the Regal
Beach Club, with shared ownership prices ranging from US$30,000 to
US$90,000 per week for the right to use over a 20-year term. In a desti-
nation where whole ownership condominiums sell between US$1.2 million
and US$1.9 million, that’s a good comparative value.
Assembling the Puzzle
Once a developer decides to enter the shared ownership industry,
that’s the first of many decisions to come. “I like to say that to get
someone in the industry, we are putting together a jigsaw puzzle,” says
Marcos Agostini, Interval’s executive vice president of global sales and
business development. “They may have the resort or hotel, but then
they have to understand all the moving parts and build their operation.”
That’s where Interval representatives can help. “Interval reps are
highly specialized in each market,” Kolton says. “They know what will
work in those markets, what the competition is, and what the success
formula could be. As a developer makes these decisions, we can be
there and provide feedback, as well as connections to partners and
personnel they’ll need to build their team.”
It takes time to make necessary choices and put the framework
in place. “It has been a long road,” Gordon says. “From the time we
started exploring the idea to selling our first unit, it was about four-and-
a-half years. It’s a complex industry, so there will always be unexpected
delays, but we methodically walked through each step so that we could
ensure we were aligned for success.”
Among the partners that developers may need are attorneys, sales
and marketing professionals (in-house or contract), and expertise in
title services, financing, receivables, and property management.
A Forum for Sharing Knowledge
There’s one place where developers looking to enter shared ownership
have traditionallymademany of those contacts: the International Shared
Ownership Investment Conference, which has been sponsored by
Interval International since 1998. “Within the conference, developers can
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SEVEN MILE BEACH VACATION CLUB
ROYAL WESTMORELAND
ROYAL WESTMORELAND
OCTOBER – DECEMBER 2017 VACATION INDUSTRY REVIEW