Vacation club eyes expansion

The Anantara Vacation Club, a subsidiary of the Thailand-based hotel group Minor International, is aiming for a 20-percent annual growth in membership over the next five years, said the company's chief operating officer.

"The timeshare and point-based Anantara Vacation Club has attracted around 3,000 members in China and nearly 7,000 globally since its establishment five years ago. We expect Chinese members to account for half of total membership in the next five years," said Martin Tolan, the company's COO.

Currently, 38 percent of the club's members are affluent Chinese above the age of 45.

The club has resorts in Sanya, Hainan province, as well as in Phuket, Koh Samui, Bangkok, Bali and New Zealand, with plans to open a new resort in Chiang Mai in the first half of this year. Its parent group, the 40-year-old Minor International, has more than 120 hotels and 1,700 restaurants worldwide.

The system of timeshare, which usually involves resort condominium units, allows a number of people to use a property, with each person allotted a certain period of time of usage. Anantara Vacation Club's researchers said it is one of the fastest-growing sectors of the hospitality industry, with 5,300 resorts worldwide.

Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide and Hyatt Hotels Corp all have vacation clubs.

Tolan believes the market in China is "enormously big" and plans to expand the company's presence from its current Sanya resort to many destinations in China, including Shanghai, Lijiang in Yunnan province, and Guilin in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. He said he has been in close talks with high-end resorts in China.

Eyeing the 2022 Winter Olympics in Zhangjiakou and Beijing, Tolan would like to find a picturesque resort near the Chinese capital, although he said he is aware of the challenges in the company's bid to boost its presence in China.

"I expect we could provide the best value to our customers, and we will increase customer education and awareness in China through a number of projects," he said.

"Since the timeshare club concept is in its infant stage in China, we need the optimized legislation in the field."

Owners that buy club points can transfer their points to friends and relatives. The points could offset inflated prices in the tourism industry, Tolan said.

The average price per ownership is $25,000 to $30,000, which can be used in 3,000 global resorts that are not exclusively owned by the Anantara Vacation Club and Minor Hotel Group. The owners are required to pay maintenance fees to the resorts.

yangcheng@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 02/20/2016 page10)