Fractional Ownership News
Fractional Summit USA: Day two
Day two of Fractional Summit USA saw a packed programme of seminars touching on rentals, exchange and rental programmes, destination clubs and marketing among others.
The day kicked off with a key note address from Byrne Murphy of Kitebrook Partners (pictured), a man who has specialised in taking US business concepts, including retail outlet centres and data centres, and introducing them in Europe. His latest project was Palazzo Tornabuoni, a 15th Century Medici palazzo in Florence which includes an award-winning luxury private residence club.
Byrne spoke eloquently and amusingly on the need to adapt to local cultures and context when entering new markets, and his descriptions of various European countries' reactions to his plans had the audience in stitches.
In a seminar on rentals and exchange programmes, Jim Marmorstone of Tenstar Developments echoed a point made by several other speakers. He said that unlike the early days of fractional real estate in the late 1990s, when rental programmes were very much looked down on, in the current economic climate, around half of all buyers want the option to place unused weeks in a rental pool.
Amy Anderson of Timbers Resorts said that it is vital that rentals are managed well to ensure that other owners are not affected negatively: “It's important to ensure the member experience is constant, and that they get the same service years down the line that they got on day one.”
Peter Gust of LaTour Hotels and Resorts said: “Rentals can be a very effective low-cost lead generator for developers, as well as providing a supplemental cashflow. It's important to factor in a rental programme from the construction stage.”
In a thought-provoking presentation about running an effective sales team, Keith Marlow of Timbers Resorts emphasised the importance of staying positive despite the economic gloom and doom which dominates the media. “To some extent we need to ignore all the negative messages and try to have fun at work. There are still millions being spent on real estate every day and we need to figure out how to get our share.”
A panel discussion on the destination club sector highlighted the fact that it is the clubs which have constantly adapted the way they do business which are the ones that are still trading and in some cases thriving. Adam Wegner of Exclusive Resorts said: “We have become a more nimble company, constantly changing our business model to improve customer satisfaction levels.”
Philip Mekelburg of Equity Estates said that a face-to-face meeting with one of the company's three founders is a key element in recruiting new members, who are more thorough than ever in their due diligence.
Interestingly, Peter Kempf of Peter Kempf International said that destination clubs and PRCs are not in direct competition and can often be synergistic, citing several buyers at Palazzo Tornabuoni who also have destination club memberships. And Adam Wegner pointed out that destination clubs often buy significant numbers of fractions at residence clubs, providing high occupancy levels during low season periods.
Then came an industry first – a buyers' panel, allowing delegates to interact with buyers of fractional real estate and destination club members. A summary of this debate, along with the panel's answers to lots of supplementary questions which couldn't be answered on the day due to time restraints will be online at Fractional Life next week.
Two case studies of very different projects highlighted the variety of fractional real estate on offer. Joe Jorgensen of The Palms, Treasure Island, shared the story of a Florida condo development which was converted to fractions when the developer went bankrupt, while Brad Lincoln of Whitton Best introduced his company to a US audience and presented its Freedom Bay development in St Lucia.
A series of thought-provoking marketing seminars supplied some fascinating insights into the evolving use of the web and associated new and social media. Mark Roberge of HubSpot extolled the benefits of blogging, and urged the audience to “stop thinking like a marketer or advertiser and start thinking more like a publisher.”
The day, and the conference as a whole was rounded off with a final Q&A session hosted by Darla Zanini of ARDA, before Fractional Life founder Piers Brown thanked the delegates, sponsors and speakers for making the first Fractional Summit USA a resounding success.
To read about day one click here.
www.fractionalsummitusa.com
02/09/10
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