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OCTOBER – DECEMBER 2017 VACATION INDUSTRY REVIEW
7
IN BRIEF
6
Names in the News
Michael Marder, co-managing director
of Greenspoon Marder — a firm focused
on timeshare and resort law — has been
recognized by the Orlando Business
Journal as a 2017 CEO of the Year. Just
22 honorees were selected from hundreds
of nominations, based on demonstration
of significant career achievements, strong
record of innovation, outstanding perfor-
mance in their work, and involvement in
the community. For more than 30 years, Marder has represented
the interests of the largest privately held timeshare and vacation
ownership company in the U.S., as well as
numerous other hospitality clients.
Ed Skapinok has been named senior vice
president of sales, marketing, and revenue
for Aqua-Aston Hospitality. Previously,
Skapinok spent six years as vice pres-
ident of sales and marketing at Hostmark
Hospitality Group in Schaumburg, Illinois.
Before that, he was vice president of
national sales for Larkspur Hotels &
Restaurants. In addition, he has held senior positions at Sheraton
Hotels and InterContinental Hotels Group. He earned a Master of
Business Administration from the University of California, Davis.
Skapinok is chairman of the sales advisory board for Hospitality
Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI).
Ximena Villegas has been promoted
to director of resort sales and service for
Mexico for Interval International. Based
in Cancún, she leads sales and business
development initiatives and oversees
the team that manages resort client
relationships. Villegas joined Interval
nearly 10 years ago. She is active in the
Mexican Resort Development Association
(AMDETUR) and the Quintana Roo Vacation
Club Association (ACLUVAQ). She holds a bachelor’s degree in
business administration, with a specialty in finance, from the
Universidad de las Americas – Puebla in Mexico.
New Business
Vacation Ownership Sales,
a Bellevue, Washington–based
timeshare sales company affili-
ated with Vacation Internationale (VI), has selected Equiant
of Scottsdale, Arizona, to manage its mortgage-loan receivables.
“With Equiant’s Platform as a Service (PaaS) servicing model, we
now have access to the industry’s most advanced and secure tech-
nology,” says John Kehoe, chief financial officer. “Equiant’s intuitive
user interfaces represent a significant improvement for our owners
and staff. Even better, we’re saving money, too.”
“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Vacation
Ownership Sales and Vacation Internationale as they deliver best-in-
class service to owners and members,” says Peter Moody, Equiant’s
vice president of business development. “Together, we can make
timeshare membership hassle free, too.”
Giving Back
Milestones
Hyatt Carmel Highlands, originally opened as the Highlands Inn
100 years ago, kicked off its centennial celebration in July, with the
Local Legends event featuring the Monterey area’s acclaimed wines
and cuisine. In conjunction with the milestone, the historic resort
overlooking the Big Sur Coast in northern California, completed
one of the most exciting transformations in its history with a ren-
ovated lobby and redesigned guest rooms, restaurant, and lounge.
Legislation and Regulation
The ARDA-Resort Owners’ Coalition (ARDA-ROC), was instru-
mental in developing and encouraging legislation that supports
sustainable tools for legacy resorts and their owners in Florida.
The new law, signed by the governor in May, allows timeshare
homeowners’ associations (HOAs) to effectively manage terminated
resorts, provide reasonable processes for older resorts to continue
to thrive, and clarify the property rights of timeshare owners. (See
related article on page 10 of this issue.) Dozens of legacy resorts
in Florida, and a corresponding estimated 300,000 owners, have
timeshare plans that are set to expire within the next few years.
ARDA-ROC played a key role in bringing about greater protections
for timeshare owners in South Carolina. House Bill 3647
addresses the deceptive business practices of fraudulent
companies in the timeshare secondary market and providing
consumers with greater protections during the process of sell-
ing their timeshares, and was signed into law in May.
ARDA-ROC has filed a lawsuit in the District Court of
the Virgin Islands against the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) govern-
ment to challenge the constitutionality of the new Environmental/
Infrastructure Impact Fee on timeshares. The fee imposes a US$25
fee for each night an owner occupies his or her timeshare unit. The
organization has collaborated with the Chamber of Commerce of
St. Thomas-St. John, the Chamber of Commerce of St. Croix, the
USVI Hotel and Tourism Association, and owners to work with the
USVI Legislature on a solution that will support the growth of the
local tourism industry.
Giving Back
The second annual Rob Millisor Heart Health Walk in
Breckenridge, Colorado, brought more than 700 participants to
walk in memory of one of the founders and owners of Breckenridge
Grand Vacations. The effort generated more than US$150,000
to support heart health programs, education, and research. Interval
International was a sponsor of the event, as well as the Breckenridge
Grand Vacations Golf Tournament, held the same weekend. To
contribute to the Rob Millisor Heart Health Fund, visit .
Good to Know
Expectations are high that in 2017 consumer interest in vacation own-
ership will be stronger or equal to that of the past year. That’s
according to 94 percent of vacation ownership professionals surveyed
by Capital One at the ARDAWorld 2017 Convention & Expo.
Respondents also weighed in on the biggest challenges facing the
industry: 41 percent cited attracting millennials; 26 percent pointed
to competition from home-sharing services such as Airbnb; and 9
percent indicated rising sales and marketing costs.
Good news: After almost two decades of leaving increasing amounts
of paid time off on the table, American workers may be changing
their vacation habits. In 2016, they took an average of 16.8 days of
vacation, according to Project: Time Off, an initiative to change
attitudes about the value of vacations. Since 2000, Americans had
given up nearly a week of vacation, with the average number of
days dropping from 20.3 to 16.2 by 2015. With some US$223 billion
lost in direct spending due to lost vacation time, a turnaround
would be a welcome shift for the travel and hospitality sectors.
Ximena Villegas
Michael Marder
Ed Skapinok
222
MILLION
OF THESES DAYS
ARE FORFEITED
658
MILLION
UNUSED DAYS
WHAT DOESTHIS
MEAN FOR THE
ECONOMY? 1.6 MILLION
JOBS LOST
US$223 BILLION
LOST IN DIRECT SPENDING
WHENVACATIONS GO MISSING
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