Timeshare Traveler Episode 41… What happened to the Vistana / Marriott Merger?

[Clifbell]

Originally announced in May of 2018, The Marriott Vacation Club purchase of Vistana promised a vision of a high end and extensive network of quality timeshares. As an owner of both Vistana and Marriott Vacation Club, I was excited about the proposed merger. I even went so far as to upgrade my memberships in both groups in anticipation of status within the combined entities (and Platinum for life in Bonvoy).

Well... Here we are in 2022 and still no merger. I have had a short email exchange with the customer service who gave me a Bonvoy Platinum upgrade for 2022/2023 because the sales person promised it. And that person says there is still no announcement of a merger. I am beginning to wonder if there ever will be a merger. This compares to Wyndham and Hilton Grand Vacations doing mergers and actually following though on the combined offerings (Hilton is making changes but no official program yet). It has taken some of the luster off the programs offered by Marriott at least for me.

Timeshare Traveler Episode 41… What happened to the Vistana / Marriott Merger?

Map of all my timeshare reviews

 

[Dean]

Originally announced in May of 2018, The Marriott Vacation Club purchase of Vistana promised a vision of a high end and extensive network of quality timeshares. As an owner of both Vistana and Marriott Vacation Club, I was excited about the proposed merger. I even went so far as to upgrade my memberships in both groups in anticipation of status within the combined entities (and Platinum for life in Bonvoy).

Well... Here we are in 2022 and still no merger. I have had a short email exchange with the customer service who gave me a Bonvoy Platinum upgrade for 2022/2023 because the sales person promised it. And that person says there is still no announcement of a merger. I am beginning to wonder if there ever will be a merger. This compares to Wyndham and Hilton Grand Vacations doing mergers and actually following though on the combined offerings (Hilton is making changes but no official program yet). It has taken some of the luster off the programs offered by Marriott at least for me.

Timeshare Traveler Episode 41… What happened to the Vistana / Marriott Merger?

Map of all my timeshare reviews

Multiple sources, including an employee I have confidence in, says an announcement will come the second quarter of 2022. They are due for training soon, he may have actually gone to it. I'm sure he won't be at liberty to say much more until it's formally announced. What shape it will take is unknown but it looks very likely to be a several year process to move from a crossover program to a truly unified program, if that ever happens.

 

[Clifbell]

Multiple sources, including an employee I have confidence in, says an announcement will come the second quarter of 2022. They are due for training soon, he may have actually gone to it. I'm sure he won't be at liberty to say much more until it's formally announced. What shape it will take is unknown but it looks very likely to be a several year process to move from a crossover program to a truly unified program, if that ever happens.

Thank you for your comment.... I really am wanting to get back to the place of hope I was at a few years ago.

 

[JIMinNC]

Marriott Vacations Worldwide is hosting their 4Q 2021 earnings conference call at 8:30am EST tomorrow, Feb 24. Given that they have said in previous quarterly calls that a common product is coming in the first half of 2022, it is possible (though not guaranteed) that the subject will come up either in the opening comments from CEO Steve Weisz or in the questions from Wall Street analysts.

 

[rthib]

From the Q3 earning call. This is what they told investors "And we're making good progress linking our Marriott Westin and Sheraton brands into a single point based product, greatly improving owner access across our Marriott branded portfolio products in the first half of next year. "

And this picture was part of presentation

They also talked about Hyatt and Welk Integration (with each other not with Marriott Branded products, plan is still to keep them seperate)

 

[Dean]

Thank you for your comment.... I really am wanting to get back to the place of hope I was at a few years ago.

I did reach out to my contact who says integration is still on for the second quarter of this year but there is no additional information that's been formally shared from corporate.

 

[goaliedave]

Originally announced in May of 2018, The Marriott Vacation Club purchase of Vistana promised a vision of a high end and extensive network of quality timeshares. As an owner of both Vistana and Marriott Vacation Club, I was excited about the proposed merger. I even went so far as to upgrade my memberships in both groups in anticipation of status within the combined entities (and Platinum for life in Bonvoy).

Well... Here we are in 2022 and still no merger. I have had a short email exchange with the customer service who gave me a Bonvoy Platinum upgrade for 2022/2023 because the sales person promised it. And that person says there is still no announcement of a merger. I am beginning to wonder if there ever will be a merger. This compares to Wyndham and Hilton Grand Vacations doing mergers and actually following though on the combined offerings (Hilton is making changes but no official program yet). It has taken some of the luster off the programs offered by Marriott at least for me.

Timeshare Traveler Episode 41… What happened to the Vistana / Marriott Merger?

Map of all my timeshare reviews

Why would you expect a merger in 2018? Multi national corporations take years to integrate operations.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

I have stopped thinking about it because it will be likely an expensive money grab. We will use what we own, rent it out or trade unless they make an offer we cannot refuse (highly unlikely).

We also own Hilton which will be rolling out their money maker offer, HGV Max, by April. If that is more than a nominal amount, we will simply use what we have or buy another resale mandatory Vistana or Hilton property or rent what we need without the annual MF.

I am glad this took so long because it gave us time to think this through. IMHO, the people who benefitted the most with timeshares are those that stuck with their original Marriott or Vistana or Hilton deeded Weeks and avoided trust points and expensive enrollment offers.

 

[cbyrne1174]

Does this mean that in the future Marriott, Westin and Sheraton will have the same owner priority in Interval International?

 

[JIMinNC]

Does this mean that in the future Marriott, Westin and Sheraton will have the same owner priority in Interval International?

The upcoming integration will be an integration of the current points systems across the various Marriott-controlled brands and will not directly impact the old weeks-based trading systems.

 

[alexadeparis]

Does this mean that in the future Marriott, Westin and Sheraton will have the same owner priority in Interval International?

Functionally, I believe that is what already happens now, it's been a few years now that the old Marriott window is extended to Vistana units, if memory serves.

 

[JIMinNC]

Listening to Marriott Vacations Worldwide conference call right now. CEO Steve Weisz said during his opening comments, when he was discussing 2022 initiatives, that (paraphrasing) they will be combining their Marriott, Westin, and Sheraton product into one consolidated product offering in the months ahead. So, nothing specific yet, but a clear indication it's coming soon, or it would not have been mentioned at an investor presentation. He did also mention that Welk would be converted to the Hyatt points system in second quarter, as well as put into the Hyatt Hotels reservation system, and that full rebranding of Welk to Hyatt would occur later in 2022. The Hyatt/Welk consolidation, of course, would not impact us in the Marriott/Westin/Sheraton world, but I do find it interesting that he was much more specific about what the plans are there, but still provided little detail on the Marriott/Westin/Sheraton consolidation process.

He also said they will be holding an Investor Conference on June 17 where they will share more about their strategic plans.

Once the recording of the call is posted online, I will re-listen and transcribe the exact quotes and repost if someone else doesn't beat me to it.

 

[Dean]

Listening to Marriott Vacations Worldwide conference call right now. CEO Steve Weisz said during his opening comments, when he was discussing 2022 initiatives, that (paraphrasing) they will be combining their Marriott, Westin, and Sheraton product into one consolidated product offering in the months ahead. So, nothing specific yet, but a clear indication it's coming soon, or it would not have been mentioned at an investor presentation. He did also mention that Welk would be converted to the Hyatt points system in second quarter, as well as put into the Hyatt Hotels reservation system, and that full rebranding of Welk to Hyatt would occur later in 2022. The Hyatt/Welk consolidation, of course, would not impact us in the Marriott/Westin/Sheraton world, but I do find it interesting that he was much more specific about what the plans are there, but still provided little detail on the Marriott/Westin/Sheraton consolidation process.

He also said they will be holding an Investor Conference on June 17 where they will share more about their strategic plans.

Once the recording of the call is posted online, I will re-listen and transcribe the exact quotes and repost if someone else doesn't beat me to it.

Thanks Jim, this is an invaluable service that you provide for us. It is much appreciated.

 

[CPNY]

Listening to Marriott Vacations Worldwide conference call right now. CEO Steve Weisz said during his opening comments, when he was discussing 2022 initiatives, that (paraphrasing) they will be combining their Marriott, Westin, and Sheraton product into one consolidated product offering in the months ahead. So, nothing specific yet, but a clear indication it's coming soon, or it would not have been mentioned at an investor presentation. He did also mention that Welk would be converted to the Hyatt points system in second quarter, as well as put into the Hyatt Hotels reservation system, and that full rebranding of Welk to Hyatt would occur later in 2022. The Hyatt/Welk consolidation, of course, would not impact us in the Marriott/Westin/Sheraton world, but I do find it interesting that he was much more specific about what the plans are there, but still provided little detail on the Marriott/Westin/Sheraton consolidation process.

He also said they will be holding an Investor Conference on June 17 where they will share more about their strategic plans.

Once the recording of the call is posted online, I will re-listen and transcribe the exact quotes and repost if someone else doesn't beat me to it.

Thank you!

it’s interesting how Hyatt/Welk can be integrated rather quickly, yet Vistana/Marriott is taking much longer. I wonder if June 17th is the announcement of the combined program or just a conference outlining their actual strategic plans. I feel like it’s crunch time and the band aid Will finally be ripped off.

 

[JIMinNC]

OK...here is the exact quote from CEO Steve Weisz this morning:

"We also have a lot of new things we've been working on to grow our business long term, which we will discuss in more detail during our June 17 Investor Day. From launching a new unified product combining our Westin, Marriott, and Sheraton branded products into one new offering, to investing to provide more personalized experiences for our customer, to using data analytics in new and exciting ways to further enhance our business, we are in a great position to grow our company this year, and for many years to come."

I wonder if June 17th is the announcement of the combined program or just a conference outlining their actual strategic plans.

June 17 is their next Investor Day conference where they present an overview of their corporate strategic direction for Wall Street and the investor community. The last time they did that was in October 2019 at an event held at the New York Stock Exchange. Below is a link to the presentation deck from that day to give you an idea of the kind of information they discuss.

October 2019 Investor Day

So, June 17 is much more than a new product announcement day. The actual announcement of the new unified offering could come before, during, or even after that presentation, but they keep talking about it in their earnings calls, so it is coming, and it would seem to be coming fairly soon, since they have alluded to it in their last two earnings calls. If we don't have an announcement before the June 17 event, I would suspect we would learn a lot more during that event, since they have now teased it.

 

[CPNY]

OK...here is the exact quote from CEO Steve Weisz this morning:

"We also have a lot of new things we've been working on to grow our business long term, which we will discuss in more detail during our June 17 Investor Day. From launching a new unified product combining our Westin, Marriott, and Sheraton branded products into one new offering, to investing to provide more personalized experiences for our customer, to using data analytics in new and exciting ways to further enhance our business, we are in a great position to grow our company this year, and for many years to come."



June 17 is their next Investor Day conference where they present an overview of their corporate strategic direction for Wall Street and the investor community. The last time they did that was in October 2019 at an event held at the New York Stock Exchange. Below is a link to the presentation deck from that day to give you an idea of the kind of information they discuss.

October 2019 Investor Day

So, June 17 is much more than a new product announcement day. The actual announcement of the new unified offering could come before, during, or even after that presentation, but they keep talking about it in their earnings calls, so it is coming, and it would seem to be coming fairly soon, since they have alluded to it in their last two earnings calls. If we don't have an announcement before the June 17 event, I would suspect we would learn a lot more during that event, since they have now teased it.

As always your posts are so in depth and helpful! Thank you!!

 

[dioxide45]

Why would you expect a merger in 2018? Multi national corporations take years to integrate operations.

Well, it seems that Hilton can move much faster. So why not MVC?

 

[JIMinNC]

Well, it seems that Hilton can move much faster. So why not MVC?

Remember that MVC’s integration project was put on hold for an extended period after the pandemic hit. They slashed expenses while waiting for resorts to reopen and sales to return. So that stretched it out at least six to nine months if not longer. Hilton didn’t announce the DRI acquisition until things were already opening up.

It’s also possible that technical or program design differences made the HGVC integration more straightforward than MVC’s. Once we see how each program rolls out, we may get more insight into whether one was a more difficult implementation than the other.

 

[dioxide45]

Remember that MVC’s integration project was put on hold for an extended period after the pandemic hit. They slashed expenses while waiting for resorts to reopen and sales to return. So that stretched it out at least six to nine months if not longer. Hilton didn’t announce the DRI acquisition until things were already opening up.

It’s also possible that technical or program design differences made the HGVC integration more straightforward than MVC’s. Once we see how each program rolls out, we may get more insight into whether one was a more difficult implementation than the other.

I have come to the conclusion that Marriott is trying to over engineer the program. Given the amount of extra time the pandemic afforded them, they shouldn't still be working on a program. Everything should be in place with only a drop date to be announced. That isn't the impression I am getting.

 

[JIMinNC]

I have come to the conclusion that Marriott is trying to over engineer the program.

That would not be surprising if you look at how much more complex the existing MVC points system is than the HGVC system.

 

[JIMinNC]

Given the amount of extra time the pandemic afforded them, they shouldn't still be working on a program. Everything should be in place with only a drop date to be announced. That isn't the impression I am getting.

I'm pretty sure I recall from some statements made by Steve Weisz early in the pandemic that they furloughed or laid off a lot of the software development people. They kept the staff to manage and maintain existing systems, but they stopped work on all new development projects for some period of time. They were in hard cost cutting mode and all senior/executive managers also took significant pay reductions as well.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

I'm pretty sure I recall from some statements made by Steve Weisz early in the pandemic that they furloughed or laid off a lot of the software development people. They kept the staff to manage and maintain existing systems, but they stopped work on all new development projects for some period of time. They were in hard cost cutting mode and all senior/executive managers also took significant pay reductions as well.

Wouldn't HGV also be affected similarly?

 

[JIMinNC]

Wouldn't HGV also be affected similarly?

HGV didn't buy DRI until last year, after things were opened up and revenue and staffing returned. MVC had already begin the integration process in 2019 and had to shut it down in March 2020 for quite a few months.

 

[dioxide45]

HGV didn't buy DRI until last year, after things were opened up and revenue and staffing returned. MVC had already begin the integration process in 2019 and had to shut it down in March 2020 for quite a few months.

Most reports seem to indicate a HGV/DRI integration in second quarter 2022. HGV completed its purchase of DRI in August 2021. That would only be 10 months to at least an announceable product offering. VAC bought ILG in September 2018 and even by February 2020 (18 months later) had nothing except vague statements. We are almost a year into the recovery of the industry and we still have nothing. It isn't development that should have been put on hold, only a rollout date. After 18 months, they should have a program pretty much developed and ready to go. Point being, Marriott is slow to the game here.

 

[JIMinNC]

Most reports seem to indicate a HGV/DRI integration in second quarter 2022. HGV completed its purchase of DRI in August 2021. That would only be 10 months to at least an announceable product offering. VAC bought ILG in September 2018 and even by February 2020 (18 months later) had nothing except vague statements. We are almost a year into the recovery of the industry and we still have nothing. It isn't development that should have been put on hold, only a rollout date. After 18 months, they should have a program pretty much developed and ready to go. Point being, Marriott is slow to the game here.

Hard to argue with that logic, but until we see what each company actually rolls out, I think it's hard to evaluate/grade them accurately. HGV is certainly moving much quicker and deliberately than MVC, and even the initial HGV/DRI merger announcement included acknowledgement that they would be bringing DRI into the HGV umbrella under the HGV program. By contrast, the MVC/ILG announcement was silent on the customer-facing issues and focused mainly on corporate/back-office cost savings. So, clearly from Day 1, HGV communicated a clearer vision of what the endgame would be. It wasn't until the October 2019 Investor Day that MVW first alluded to a first phase "common points currency" migrating to a phase 2 "common points product."

Perhaps one factor in HGV's favor is their system has been set up as a points system from the start as I recall, whereas both MVC and Vistana were points overlays on top of legacy weeks systems that, at least to me, have always seemed more complex in structure than HGV's program. I know early in the MVC/ILG merger we all discussed whether they would ever truly be able to integrate the mish-mash of trusts, weeks, different reservation windows, etc. Maybe the MVC integration is more challenging and messy for that reason. Maybe MVC is trying to build a more complete integrated product than HGV. Maybe MVC's product/project/software development team is less nimble and efficient than HGV's and/or they are over-engineering it as you suggest. It could be any or all of those things that has slowed MVW down. I don't think we really know right now how the two projects may be different, and how those differences may impact the speed to market.

One interesting thing that MAY be a clue though, is pre-pandemic MVW management referred to the two-phase project I mentioned above - a "common points currency" migrating to a "common points product." Most recently, they have dropped mention of "common points currency" in their comments and are only talking about a "common product" or "unified product." It's possible that with the disruption caused by the pandemic they opted to combine the two phases into one, and that's what has dragged things out. Just guessing by reading between the lines, but "product" has definitely replaced "currency" in their recent statements.