Author: Staff Contributor

Starwood Hotels and Starwood Timeshares have just released a report stating that their fourth quarter profits fell by 46 percent. According to a statement released by Starwood, net income fell from $146 million (74 cents per share) to $79 million (43 cents per share), year-over-year. CEO Frits van Paasschen has authorized job cuts, the closing of Starwood timeshares sales centers, restaurant closings, and has suspended share buybacks. Forbes.com states that fourth quarter earnings at Starwood Hotels and Starwood timeshares was hurt by severance costs and a writedown for two vacation ownership projects.

“At the current time, given significant uncertainty in the global economy, it is very difficult to provide any definitive guidance looking out four quarters,” the Starwood statement read.

As bad as all this sounds, shares of Starwood stock rose following the release of the report, because share values were higher than predicted by analysts. At the same time Starwood stocks were gaining, Marriott International fell 1.3 percent; Choice Hotels was down .6 percent, and Wyndham Worldwide dropped by 7 percent. (source: http://uk.reuters.com)

Starwood Hotels and Starwood Timeshares to Receive Tax Refund

Starwood Hotel and Timeshare company is due for an income tax refund from the federal government – a $200 million refund. For several years, Starwood has been in negotiations with the IRS, regarding the tax treatment of the sale of World Directories in 1998. Starwood and the IRS have finally reached an agreement, and the refund, scheduled to be received later this year – couldn’t come at a better time.

No Reason for Starwood Timeshare Owners to Panic

Starwood, like so many other timeshare companies, is feeling significant pain from the decline in consumer spending and the tight credit market. But in the vein of “what doesn’t kill us, makes us stronger,” Starwood and other hoteliers and timeshare companies will likely emerge from the recession as stronger companies, with better internal checks and balances, fewer non-performing properties on their books, and a leaner, cleaner approach to doing business. Starwood is moving forward with expansion plans that include opening 100 new hotels this year; expanding its hotel network by more than 40 percent over the next five years; and reaching the significant milestone of opening its 100th resort later this year.

Westgate Timeshares is one of two companies that have agreed to settle in a Federal Trade Commission (FTC investigation into some of the timeshare companies’ marketing practices.

The FTC had brought charges against Westgate Resorts timeshare, and against Accumen Management Services, Inc, and its subsidiary All-in-One vacation Club, LLC for violating the National Do Not Call list. Westgate timeshares will pay $900,000 in the settlement while Accumen will pay $275,000.

Both companies were charged with making telemarketing calls to consumers who had completed entry forms for a sweepstakes. Consumers entering the sweepstakes believed they would be eligible to win a vacation package. Westgate, according to the Orlando Sentinel argued that people who give out their personal information, including their phone number, expect to be contacted. They also blamed a third-party lead provider for the violations, and pointed out that they no longer do business with that company.

Westgate Timeshare Asked for Leniency

Asking for financial leniency due to the nationwide recession and credit crisis, Michael Marder, attorney for Westgate timeshares, says they receive a “disappointing response”.

An Associated Press article, states that more than 167 million phone numbers have been placed on the Do Not Call registry and that the FTC has received thousands of complaints against Westgate timeshare over this matter.

This is a tough time for Westgate timeshares, (who has already laid off thousands of employees) to have to pay this kind of money. But there is always good news in a situation like this; any time the government sends a message like this, it helps keep unethical business practices in check, across the board. On top of that, the $1.2 million collected will go in the US Treasury – and in the end, that benefits all of us.

Other recent The Timeshare Authority blog posts about Westgate timeshare:

• Orlando Timeshare Workers Face More Cutbacks
• Further Layoffs at Westgate Timeshare
• The Other Side to the Westgate Timeshare Lawsuit Story
• More Bad News for Westgate Timeshares, Hit with $1 Million Judgment

As part of our aggressive growth plan, Sell My Timeshare NOW has hired Jay Bade as our new Executive Director of Business Development. Jay comes to Sell My Timeshare NOW as a timeshare industry veteran with 20 years experience in timeshares. Previously he was Vice President, Eastern Region for Trading Places International.

At Trading Places International, a respected timeshare exchange company, Jay was responsible for business development in the eastern US, Mexico, Canada, and the Caribbean. Before working for Trading Places International, Jay was the Director of Club Inventory Development for Bluegreen Resorts.

Starting in Timeshare Sales

Jay began at RCI on the call center sales floor. He advanced to key client management and business development for RCI Resort Services. Jay is an experienced timeshare executive with account management experience in working with resorts, exchange services, owners associations, and inventory acquisitions. He will play a key role in our growth and expansion at Sell My Timeshare NOW. Jay’s also an avid skier and we anticipate finding him on the slopes, when he is not on the job, hard at work.

Sell My Timeshare NOW welcomes Jay Bade!

Follow this link to read Sell Timeshare NOW’s official press announcement of the hiring of Jay Bade.

The Illinois Bureau of Tourism (IBT) has expanded its ongoing “Presidential Trails” campaign and launched a new component dedicated to the life of President Barack Obama. Stops for vacationers and tourists on the recently developed “Obama Trail” include the current Capitol in Springfield; the Old State Capitol; the University of Chicago Law School, where Obama taught constitutional law; and Grant Park in Chicago, where he gave his famous victory speech after the election.

The state of Illinois already has trails to honor Presidents Lincoln, Grant, and Reagan, each of which is considered to be typically a three-day getaway to explore and follow in the footsteps of history. But the US is not the only country planning to profit from vacation and timeshare travel linked to the life of President Obama.

Somak Holidays is one of several tour companies to have launched tours honoring Barack’s African heritage. Already since the election, Somak Holidays has seen an 8 percent increase in bookings to Kenya in December alone. But visiting Chicago and Kenya, isn’t enough if you are intent on visiting all the places connected to Barack Obama.

According to MSNBC, “… to see all the places connected to Obama’s life story, you’d have to visit three countries, six time zones, and six states. Obama grew up in Hawaii and Indonesia, has roots in Kansas and Kenya, and went to school in Los Angeles, New York, and Boston. He and his wife have raised their girls in Chicago, where tourists are already seeking out Obama haunts.”

So what about timeshare opportunities in all these places? Here are only a few of the possibilities:

• New York Timeshare resales and timeshare rentals
• South Africa Timeshare resales and timeshare rentals
• Honolulu Timeshare resales and timeshare rentals
• Illinois Timeshare resales and timeshare rentals