Timeshare Exchange

The Custom Content Council awarded RCI with six Pearl Awards for their Endless Vacation and RCI Ventures publications.

The Pearl Awards are provided by the Custom Content Council to recognize the leaders in content media. In 2013, over 600 entries were submitted by companies and agencies all over the world. Popular brands such as Walmart, BMW, Coca-Cola, and Ford all submitted content for consideration.
RCI was honored to receive not one, but six awards at the prestigious event.

VP of Marketing for RCI, Brian Bruno said, “Each year we work tirelessly to create invaluable resources for two of our key audiences, members and affiliates. The Pearl Awards recognize two of these resources for exceptional content. We are very proud to take home these awards, which represent our commitment to creating and providing useful, engaging materials for our industry and members.”

This year’s awards ceremony took place at the Highline Ballroom in NYC. Representatives from 13 countries traveled to Manhattan ballroom for the 10th annual event. Awards were recognized in over 50 categories — with a Gold, Silver, and Bronze award in each.

The Endless Vacation magazine received the most recognition, taking home four Pearl Awards. The publication received a Silver Award for Best Feature Article and Bronze Awards for Best Regular Department, Best Distribution Strategy, and Best Tablet Content. RCI’s Endless Vacation magazine is provided to all of RCI’s timeshare exchange members around the world.

RCI’s Ventures magazine provides valuable news to timeshare industry members and affiliated resort developers. This year the magazine received a Gold Award for Most Improved Publication for Editorial and a Silver Award for Most Improved Publication for Design.

The award-winning content was created with the help of RCI’s marketing team and Story Worldwide, a marketing and communications company based in New York. For more information please visit www.EndlessVacation.com and www.RCIVentures.com.

RCI Ventures

Ventures is the timeshare exchange company’s premiere news source, providing the latest news to the industry. This publication covers topics such as RCI developments, updates on affiliated brands, and its associated company The Registry Collection.
The Ventures magazine is released in four markets: Asia, Latin America, US and Canada, and Europe, Middle East, Africa, and India. Four unique copies are provided to each market. RCI’sEndless Vacation magazine is provided to all RCI members worldwide.

RCI’s Endless Vacation

Endless Vacation magazine is provided to over two million RCI members worldwide. The magazine offers travel tips, vacation stories, destination-based content, and affiliated resort information. With its enormous circulation, RCI’s Endless Vacation is one of the most read travel publications in the world. The timeshare exchange company’s seasonal publication is also offered online and through tablets.

In a press release, RCI announced in their third quarter that they will add 57 new affiliated resorts to their global exchange network. These resorts will join their existing network of over 4,000 destinations.

A variety of resorts will be added from around the globe including resorts in North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia.

President of RCI Gordon Gurnik said, “This was a fantastic quarter of affiliations for RCI, adding many beautiful properties across several of our global regions. […]These new additions further expand our members’ quality vacation choices, and we are proud to count each of these 57 new properties as part of the RCI® exchange network.”

One of the newly added resorts includes the Grand Palladium Bavaro Resort & Spa in the Dominican Republic. This all- inclusive resort is located right on the beautiful beaches of Punta Cana. The resort features many activities including eight restaurants, five buffet-style dining options, bars, four pools, and a top-rated spa and wellness center. The resort is part of a larger hospitality group, the Palladium Hotel Group, which also owns a casino nearby.

Listening to their customer’s changing travel needs, RCI has also added 8 new properties in China through the Empark Grand Hotel Group. Travel to China has steadily increased in recent years, increasing the demand for trade options within the network. New RCI destinations in China include the ChHaohu Lake, the Gui’aqn Hot Spring Resort area, Kunming and Xi’an.

Eight resorts were also added to RCI’s The Registry Collection, a luxury exchange program. These resorts include the current resorts available from the Orascom developer group. Creating a unique travel experience, Orascom develops entire towns for travelers to visit to eat, sleep, and play. While each destination varies, many offer hotels, vacation homes, timeshare condos, and multiple activity areas. Each resort offers activities ranging from relaxing spas to high-energy sporting events. For example, RCI members will be able to ski at their latest development, Andermatt in the Swiss Alps.

With the addition of these resorts, so far RCI has added 117 resorts this year. RCI added 150 new resorts in 2012, leaving room for a few more in the fourth quarter of 2013.

RCI, the largest vacation exchange company in the world, announced that its RCI Green Awards program is now accepting applications for 2013.

RCI has collaborated with Green Key Global, a forerunner in eco-certification to present awards to three RCI affiliated resorts with outstanding commitment to eco- friendly initiatives. This will be the third year that RCI will present the annual awards.

Gordon Gurnik, President of RCI says, “Going green is not a trend; it is a commitment to doing the right thing for the earth, and preserving it for future generations of travelers. So many of our affiliated resorts are doing wonderful things on the property level and these efforts are also valued by RCI members. We want to make sure their hard work is recognized with the RCI Green Awards.”

In recent years, many resorts affiliated with RCI have created eco-friendly programs to reduce waste and increase environmental awareness. Ratings are specifically based upon practices such as energy preservation, land use, indoor air quality, and operational regions. It is anticipated that many timeshare resorts will apply, but only three resorts will receive the honor of the RCI Green Award. The three RCI resorts will be awarded a Platinum, Gold, or Silver Award.

Past winners of the award have set the bar high with last year’s winners including:

• Platinum – Grand Pacific Palisades Resort
• Gold – Carlsbad Seapointe Resort
• Silver – Hilton Grand Vacations Club at MarBrisa

To apply for the RCI Green Award, applicants must also apply for a Green Key Eco-Rating making them also eligible for Green Key certification. This certification can benefit the resort through potential financial savings and recognition as a Green Key resort by popular online travel resources.

The application deadline is January 15, 2014.

This year’s US Content Marketing Awards saw one leader in the timeshare vacation exchange industry take home a whopping 12 Content Marketing awards. The honors go to timeshare vacation exchange leader RCI.

Each year, the Content Marketing Awards recognize “what real communication professionals do to make media that have a strategic impact.” Content Marketing Institute and McMurry/TMG specialize in particular content or design areas. Entries are judged on criteria specific to each category, including informational and entertainment value, quality of writing and display copy, creative use of imagery and typography, and consistency of color palette and stale. There were more than 800 entries this year. Congratulations RCI!

Six awards—yes 6—went to RCI’s Endless Vacations quarterly travel magazine.

The RCI Directory, which is RCI’s bi-annual guide to each of the vacation ownership resorts that are affiliates of the RCI vacation network, earned five awards. “Scoring in Brazil” also won as the Honorable Mention as Best Feature Article, appearing in the First Quarter 2013 RCI Ventures Magazine.

The directory is available to all RCI members (approximate 3 million) both in print and online as a downloadable PDF.

You can also download the complete list of 2013 US Content Marketing Awards winners here.