Demeure Prepares For Ultimate Escapes Transition Webinar

By: Destination Club News
Date: October 26, 2010

For months, Ultimate Escapes members have largely been kept in the dark. In June, the club was unable to make their monthly interest payment to lender CapitalSource, putting them in default of their loan agreement. The same happened in July. Then August. And September. Despite the dire financial position of the world's second largest destination club, members wouldn't be updated until September when President and CEO Jim Tousignant announced "We are in crisis." Ultimate Escapes would file for bankruptcy, shaking the confidence of members not only in the club's executive team, but in the destination club model itself. Demeure has since been named the successful bidder for Ultimate Escapes and will tonight strive to answer all of the questions members may have about their club, the benefits of their unique structure, and the special offer available to Ultimate Escapes members all while demonstrating just how fundamentally different they are from the club they are looking to acquire.

Hosted by CEO Peter Schwartz, the Ultimate Escapes/Demeure Transition Webinar will take place from 7:00 PM until 9:00 PM Eastern and will include prepared remarks from the club and time for questions from Ultimate Escapes members.

Demeure is seeking $12 million in membership dues from Ultimate Escapes members, requiring roughly 67% of members to convert to Demeure. The club's "dues only" structure doesn't demand any membership deposits or transfer fees but a five year membership commitment where members will pre-pay annually into a trust account allocated explicitly to cover the cost of the members' travel for the year.

Each day, Demeure has answered questions posed by Ultimate Escapes members on their website and Schwartz has told us that he is happy to speak personally to any Ultimate Escapes members to provide them greater comfort about potential Demeure membership as time permits.

Ultimate Escapes members have many options at present. Some have already joined other destination clubs or are conducting due diligence on the countless custom options available to them. Others will forever leave the destination club model behind and move forward with other vacation alternatives. The vast majority find themselves in the middle, enjoying the destination club experience but needing more information and assurances to move forward. We advocate attending tonight's webinar and listening to Demeure's message. A chief problem with Ultimate Escapes was a lack of disclosure, leaving members with little recourse when the crisis announcement was made. This history isn't lost on Schwartz and Demeure, who have pledged full disclosure for their destination club. We are planning on sitting in on the webinar ourselves and look forward to learning more with you.

If interested in joining in on the webinar, sign in here.