Botiga Elects To Delay Their Official Launch Property Acquisitions

By: Destination Club News
Date: December 2, 2008

First reported by our friends at SherpaReport, the luxury destination club Botiga has elected to delay the initial purchases of their property portfolio, in part to enjoy further reduced prices with real estate values dropping around the globe.

"With property prices continuing to soften, members have requested that Botiga delays the launch of the portfolio in order to take advantage of what they feel will be better pricing in 2009, and therefore maximise their returns," the club said in a statement to Sherpa.

"The club has supported this move."

"It is expected that properties will be secured in Spring 2009, to be available for member use from Autumn 2009."

"Membership sales continue to be strong and only a limited number of Founder Memberships remain available. Founder Members benefit from the lowest share price and two years of holidays with the club dues free. In addition Founder Members pay no performance fee, allowing them to benefit from 100% of the growth in their share price."

Created by Kit Harrison and Peter Scott, the Co-Founders of luxury ski chalet operator Descent International, Botiga plans to ultimately offer members a collection of 60 luxury properties around the globe, including destinations such as:

  • Whistler, British Columbia
  • Jackson Hole, Wyoming
  • New York, New York
  • Bequia, Grenadines
  • Marrakech, Morocco
  • Mauritius
  • Franschhoek, South Africa
  • Venice, Italy
  • Ibiza, Spain

Botiga plans on using a points based reservation system where the number of points required per stay is dependent upon the property selected and the season, with peak weeks requiring more points to access.

As mentioned by the club, they are still in their Founders Membership phase and plan to increase prices by 14% once they reach their sales goals.

While the club will enjoy preferential pricing in the future, the delay likely also can be attributed to slow sales throughout the destination club sector. High Country Club, who is currently restructuring their destination club, has been working for months to help their club survive, with CEO Christian Kirschner calling new memberships sales "next to impossible." Without an established property portfolio for members to immediately access, it is likely that Botiga is seeing the same sales numbers as many of their competitors. And with no dues coming in from the Founding Members as part of the benefits package, delaying the high costs of property ownership likely makes this a wise decision by the club.

Check back frequently for more news on Botiga and if they will keep to their Spring 2009 schedule.