From time to time and from our perspective as a timeshare resort consultant, what goes on in South America is worth paying attention to here at our North America vacation and timeshare hotels and resorts. After all, it is the American continent and shares many parallels. For example, one operator there is leading the way in hotel like amenities for the vacation rental industry as reported in Hotel Interactive: “Just ask Oasis Collections, Co-Founder and CEO Parker Stanberry, who has assembled a group of about 500 design-conscious properties in South America with hotel-like amenities. The idea is to cherry-pick the best elements of traditional hotel lodging and layer them on the individuality and privacy of a single house or apartment. While a typical vacation rental may involve handing off the keys and a daytime phone number for emergencies, Oasis – where many of the company’s top executives with hospitality backgrounds – is introducing amenities and service to compete with hotels.” Investors, owners and their timeshare resort consultant can read the full story here. On a separate note about how the vacation rental industry has performed this past summer in North America, an excerpt in the same hospitality trade publication reported: “Summer stays in professionally managed vacation rental homes, condos and villas across North America are up nine percent from their 2010 levels, according to Analytics data by the Vacation Rental Managers Association (VRMA) and NAVIS Research LLC – a big boost for an already fast-growing market.” Resort management and advisors can read the full summary here. Are you working with resort experts to add some component of a vacation rental program to your hotel or resort? Another good resource for a hotel resort management consultant is the American Resort Development Association (ARDA). Currently, the vacation rental industry has struggled during the Great Recession in the USA, even though these reports suggest it is beginning to turnaround. What as an investor, operator, owner or timeshare resort consultant do you see is happening in the industry right now? Is it on the rebound, hindered by the lack of financing or a hotel resort product that as stabilized and is now the time for investment?
