For the seventh year in a row, IDG’s Computerworld has selected Marriott International, Inc., as one of the “Best Places to Work in IT”.

Marriott’s media release quoted Scot Finnie, editor in chief of Computerworld, as saying, “The organizations that made this year’s Best Places to Work list sustain a dynamic work environment in which IT professionals keep their hands on the latest technologies and work on projects that are business critical. In the months and years ahead, IT is going to become a key accelerator of business growth.”

Award of the honor is based on numerous factors including company benefits, career development, training, diversity, and retention. This is the second time this week the Marriott Corporation has made an announcement regarding the receipt of an award honoring Marriott as an outstanding work environment.

Congratulations Marriott on another noteworthy workplace award; your contributions to the hospitality and timeshare industries are enormous.

The Royal LePage 2009 Recreational Property Report was released this week revealing some interesting trends and vacation ownership preferences among Canadians.

According to the report, the dream of many Canadians to own recreational property has not diminished, despite the downturn economy. A media release from Royal LePage Real Estate Services showed that Canadians see vacation property ownership as both an investment and as a source of vacation enjoyment. The feeling is so strong, they are willing to make a variety of different sacrifices in order to own a cottage, cabin, or chalet.

Phil Soper, president and CEO of Royal LePage Real Estate notes that increasing traffic, overcrowding, and congestion in cities seems to be driving the intense desire of many Canadians to own recreational property, particularly lakeside property, for which the survey respondents showed a 68 percent preference above all other vacation destinations.

Among the survey respondents living in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, while fifty percent would prefer to individually own a cottage on a lake as their first choice, twenty-two percent would like to buy Canada timeshare.

The Attraction of Canada Timeshare and Why Timeshare Makes So Much Sense

Globally, many people must share the feelings of these Canadians. Work environments grow more hectic and pressured. The daily commute is increasingly stressful and time consuming. We are worried about our jobs, our futures, and our families, and at a time many people feel they can least afford a vacation; they actually need it the most.

Canada timeshares are some of the more outstanding in the world offering lakeside retreats, spectacular ski resorts, and to the surprise of many, some of the best golf destinations in North America. While owning a cabin in the Canadian woods may seem ideal for many people, once they have fully considered their responsibilities that go with property ownership, they realize that to buy Canada timeshare affords them all the pleasures of vacation ownership, without the hassle of handling maintenance and upkeep themselves. Canada timeshares are an ideal solution to pay for only the days and nights you actual use your vacation property.

Popular Canada Timeshare Resales

• WorldMark The Canadian Timeshare
• WorldMark Sundance Timeshare
• WorldMark Cascade Lodge Timeshare
• Whistler Resort & Club Timeshare
• Shell Vacations Club At Mountainside Lodge Timeshare
• Shell Vacations Club At Carriage Hills Resort Timeshare

The May issue of Perspective Magazine, carries an excellent article about Orange Lake Timeshares, pointing out that it is a steadily growing resort company despite the economy. This Orlando timeshare is located near Walt Disney World on roughly 2000 scenic acres that include four golf courses (good golf courses!), restaurants, pools, and retail shops.

What is particularly interesting about Orange Lake Country Club timeshare is their financial solidity. Don’t try to tell the management of this successful Orlando timeshare that there’s a recession going on. Not only are they not laying off timeshare employees, but Orange Lake timeshares has been hiring. Since 2004, Orange Lake timeshare’s staff has doubled to 2400 employees. In 2007, Orange Lake experienced a 20 percent increase in sales; in 2008, an additional 20 percent increase. Impressively, sales in the first two months of 2009 have outperformed sales during the same two months of 2008.

This Orlando Timeshare Has the Right Idea

But where does this kind of rock-solid business positioning come from? Here’s how President and CEO Don Harrill explains it, “To date, we’ve not been impacted by the credit freeze. Four years ago, (with) none of us knowing the credit squeeze was going to be at our door; part of the plan at the time was to engage our bankers.”

In a long-term plan that involved extensive due diligence; developing a technology platform; creating the legal structure; recruiting professionals with club experience; and expanding the resort network; Orange Lake Country Club timeshare resort mapped out their plan for growth and acquisition. It was a carefully laid plan with apparently the right balance of conservatism and aggressiveness.

“We laid out the performance metrics in excruciating detail and developed very strong local relationships with SunTrust and Wachovia. Our bankers have been on this journey with us for these four years, and they have seen played out everything we said we were going to do in managing and growing our business,” says Harrill. He adds that their bankers have celebrated with them in their successes and year-over-year increases.

But perhaps one of the most striking statements by Orange Lake Country Club timeshare’s head man is this, “We’re not a huge, billion-dollar company, but we operate in a sweet spot that is financeable by regional bankers.”

In a time when a great deal of public sentiment regarding businesses and corporations in America has shifted from support to suspicion, from respect to resentment, Orange Lake timeshares are sending a timeless business message. They aren’t in trouble now and they haven’t felt the bite of the tight economy simply because they didn’t try to overgrow their business or their market. They did the research and then carefully moved forward—basic business fundamentals that too many companies seem to have forgotten.

Congratulations Orange Lake timeshares on your growth and success! You represent the timeshare industry proudly and serve as a great example of what good business is really supposed to mean in this country.

We’ve looked at only a tiny part of Orange Lake timeshare’s impressive story, including their new branding alliance with Holiday Inn Hotels & Resorts, which we have discussed several times this past year, here on The Timeshare Authority.

Recent The Timeshare Authority blog posts about Orange Lake Country Club.

• Timeshare Resales and Timeshare Rentals that Make the 2009 HOT 100 List
• Orange Lake Timeshare’s Alliance with Holiday Inn Timeshares is Good for the Economy in Many Ways
• Holiday Inn Timeshares Not Slowing Down in this Economy
• More Timeshare Resort Destinations for Holiday Inn Vacation Club Timeshares
• More Orange Lake Timeshare Resorts Join the Holiday Inn Club Vacations Brand

The Utah Department of Workforce Services has recognized Marriott Vacation Club International Owners Services (Marriott Timeshare) as a 2009 winner of the “Utah’s Best Places to Work™ Work/Life Award.

Good Job Marriott Vacation Club International

This high recognition as one of Utah’s best places to work tells you, as a vacation property owner, that Marriott Vacation Club International values the people on the ‘front lines’ who provide timeshare owners with customer service, reservations, and Marriott Rewards assistance. When you interact with the staff and employees at Marriott Vacation Club, you are dealing with people who have lots of reasons to like their jobs. A positive, supportive workplace environment translates to workers who feel valued and respected, feelings they then share by being friendly, patient, and respectful with the nearly 395,000 Marriott timeshare owners they serve.

Ron Essig, vice president, global owner products and services for Marriott Vacation Club International, was quoted by The FINANCIAL as saying, “Being recognized as one of Utah’s “Best Places to Work” is a great honor for our division and continued affirmation of our outstanding Owner Services Associates. The foundation of Marriott Vacation Club International’s corporate culture and success is and always will be people first.”

The intent of the Utah Work/Life Award is to recognize and honor companies that create exceptional workplaces and businesses while effectively addressing employee work and life needs, and creating and maintaining a workplace culture of equity and opportunity.

Sell My Timeshare NOW, and The Timeshare Authority blog congratulate Marriott Vacation Club International for its exemplary efforts to maintain a great work environment for timeshare owner services employees. And we say “thank you Marriott timeshare” for all you have always done throughout the years to enhance and improve timesharing for timeshare owners, and everyone who is a part of the timeshare industry. Marriott timeshare employs over 450 people worldwide in Owner Services. Sell My Timeshare NOW, and The Timeshare Authority blog congratulate Marriott Vacation Club International for its exemplary efforts to maintain a great work environment for timeshare owner services employees. And we say “thank you Marriott timeshare” for all you have always done throughout the years to enhance and improve timesharing for timeshare owners, and everyone who is a part of the timeshare industry.