Wyndham Vacation Ownership Timeshare Acquires Shell Vacations
Saturday, September 15, 2012
This week Wyndham Vacation Ownership (Wyndham timeshare), a publically traded company, announced the acquisition of the privately held timeshare vacation company, Shell Vacations LLC and its subsidiaries. Established in 1978, Shell Vacations Club truly is part of the history of timeshares and vacation ownership, a fact Wyndham Vacation Ownership President and CEO, Franz Hanning paid tribute to in saying, “With a history that spans more than four decades, Shell Vacations is both a pioneer and a respected leader within the hospitality industry. We look forward to building upon Shell’s achievements and continuing the growth of its highly successful vacation club by pursuing the same formula of providing outstanding quality, value and customer care.”
Wyndham Vacation Ownership, a Worldwide Presence
Shell Vacations Club has some 115,000 members and 19 managed resorts. In contrast, Wyndham Exchange & Rentals has approximately 3.7 million members and access to nearly 100,000 vacation properties located in 100 countries worldwide. But to many in the industry and many vacationing families, Shell Vacations Club feels like a cornerstone, with few in timesharing today who can even remember a time when Shell wasn’t around. Change, regardless of whether it is beneficial change for those involved, is inevitably unsettling for those who are touched by it.
Shelly Ginsburg, Chairman and CEO Shell Vacations, says, “We’re excited to leverage the significant scale and expertise of WVO. We believe our strong commitment to owner and guest satisfaction is complemented by WVO’s demonstrated strength in managing one of the most extensive and diversified timeshare resort portfolios.”
Changing Times
Author Peter Drucker wrote in his book Management Challenges for the 21st Century, “Everybody has accepted by now that change is unavoidable. But that still implies that change is like death and taxes — it should be postponed as long as possible and no change would be vastly preferable. But in a period of upheaval, such as the one we are living in, change is the norm.”
For timeshare, change probably is the norm, but let’s never forget the hard work, creativity, and innovation of so many who created so much that is positive and rewarding about vacation ownership today.
