A couple of lessons to take away from all of this.
One, the constant advice by many on TUG to buy only where you want to vacation most of the time turns out to be good advice . . . Two, it's clear that Marriott is acting in it's own interest. I don't know why they call this a club . . . It's also clear that they are only interested in new customers. Along with it it's obvious they're out to punish resale buyers. . .
Well said
kjd.
I'm a little fearful on this one as it's anyone's guess as to how this "new" VC Club is going to do. Marriott has obviously put it's cards on the table and shown what they would
like to do with the program. Afterall, it gives them the inventory control they so desire and the trust takes owners who enroll out of the equation as they cede their votes to Marriott. Once I got off my butt and started reading, it did not take long to see that this program is a dog for any owner who occupies their weeks with regularlity.
But my worry is what is going to happen over time as Marriott gets to pitch this VC program to new purchasers. These folks are afterall more likely to be averse to the old stoic TS model and in the heat of the sale can be convinced ( conned is a better word
) into joining the new program. I fear the momentum that this new program could build over time as presently Marriott has lots of inventory to shuffle around between both programs. But if the economy improves and Marriott can build a small but steady stream of sales directed into the new program, it's a matter of time before transparancy becomes an issue as group interests compete for inventory ( did I just say I distrust Marriott ?
-- well, yes I did, but then again, I've had some dealings on the resale side which are definitely not of the Marriott ethos that we woudl expect ).
I could see Oceana Palms where we own becoming a bastion of the botique crowd which wants momentary stays and then it's off to another resort a few months later. Ocean Pointe is the other end of the spectrum, at least in the platinum season where around 80% lock off and spend the winter -- they obviously ain't going buy into the new program. I tend to ignore the preview folks who come on to our properties. I think we might all have to get engaged and at least educate these folks about the true dynamic lest they get entangled in the smiling sales piitch which will definitely sound great when you're still in that clueless early stage of TS ownership. This ain't quite Obamacare, but it sure does smell the same.
Dioxide Thanks for the link which clarifies this trust thing. I'm guessing that if one follows those statements in the future, we will be able to ascertain how many folks have joined the program at those 11 resorts -- at least an indirect way to gauge the water level.
Interesting times indeed. I'm heading to Spain in a week and I wasn't planning on spending a lot of time here educating myself about the new program, but my eyes are wide open now and I'll have a lot of questions for my GM and the sales team out there.
Barry
PS -- One last thought. Might we be at an "evolution" in the MVC ownership cycle? Afterall, there's lots of long term owners who have referred about all of the new purchasers that they could before the economy crashed. Some of the elders in these groups are either gonna turn their weeks over to kids/grandkids ( who might not be as MVC savvy ) or they're gonna sell their weeks. At a resort like Ocean Pointe, this could mean a gradual decrease in the winter demographic which locks off and spends weeks on resort & a chance for Marriott to alter the usage pattern via the new program.
