Be Careful What You Ask For!

Well the travel, resort and timeshare industry has survived another “first of its kind” crisis.  Although the Covid stuff did hurt, and hurt badly for some, most survived.  The public companies saw their stock values retreat 50% +.  PE and Hedge Fund owned resorts and developers saw balance sheet shrinkage, loss of top personnel and dwindling receivables while the smaller, independent franchisees and developers hid under their desks for 15 months.  OK-OK, that’s over.  Stock prices have rebound to previous highs, balance sheets are getting stronger and the independents are killing it.  VPGs are higher than before the shutdown.  Full down and cash sales are now common.  Upgrades, referrals and OPC bookings are easier than ever before.  People want to travel.

Yep, as discussed before, humans want to travel.  And now they have plenty of saved up money and desire to do so…and they will.  The low hanging fruit is being picked at a record pace this summer and our bet is that the fall brings more record breaking sales numbers.  According to Dos Mundos Developments, the “current pace of tour bookings and sales volume increases is starting to reach pre-2008 levels, which were records in their own right”.  For developers carrying notes, the much feared increase in defaults never materialized and in fact, more notes were paid in full during Covid that the previous 12 months.  So, be careful what you asked for a year ago.

You asked for it and here it is. Things have bounced back and bounced back fast (as we knew they would), but this has brought to the surface other issues.  The current environment is almost at panic stage for hiring quality people.  Management is stretched thin, sales teams are working over-time to keep up and good sales staff know they can leave any day and get hired twice at other resorts before the sun sets.    Marketing teams and contact centers struggle to find enough quality staff to keep the phones answered.  As government subsidized benefits, of all kinds, dissipate, your marketing and sales folks will be back…and they will be hungry…so get ready.  Our affiliate contact center at TCCS lost and could not replace more than half its agent positions over the last year.   Good timing though. New technology and processes were put in place that makes the booking, package sales and confirming process much more efficient and less “human” intensive.   The best is yet to come for travel, timeshare and resort sales teams.

For mor no-nonsense resort management stuff, contact Chris Bounds directly.