Exclusive Resorts 2009 Year In Review

By: Destination Club News
Date: February 23, 2010

Exclusive Resorts, the world's largest and longest tenured destination club, has reported on the happenings of 2009, a difficult year for the destination club sector, and where the club is heading early in 2010.

"No question, 2009 was a challenging year," the club began. "Together we navigated a very tough economy and took the actions necessary to make us a better and stronger Club. We needed to move to one common dues level, and we thank you for providing important feedback and working with us to develop the final dues alignment plan to help create a stable foundation for the future. We needed to be more efficient, and we successfully reduced costs $25 million, without diminishing the member experience. We needed to prudently scale back real estate acquisition given slower member growth, and we accomplished that while still opening 49 new residences and expanding our Once-in-a-Lifetime program. We needed to refinance our bank debt, and we favorably extended it until 2014 despite a very difficult lending environment, an endorsement by our lender of the Club’s long-term prospects. To top off the year, we announced renewed support from the company shareholders, with an additional $20 million equity investment and Steve Case stepping in as Chairman."

As mentioned, change is in the air at Exclusive Resorts as the club continues to respond to the current market climate and to ensure that the club will be stable in both boom and bust environments. Steve Case appeared on CNBC to outline the club's plan to remain sustainable in the coming years. "We recently restructured the way (annual) dues work so that in 2011 (Exclusive Resorts) will be break even without assuming any real estate sales and any new membership sales." said Case. "We are moving everyone to a common dues structure which is the way most country clubs work. I think there is a fairness to it and I do think for all the members it is also important to provide a sense of financial stability and security in terms of the core platform. We need to make sure the dues cover all the operating costs, even if we don't sell new memberships and even if we never make money on real estate. We think we will sell memberships and will make money on real estate, so there is probably more upside, but we want to protect the downside for not just ourselves, but also more importantly, for our members."

While the club is working towards giving member more financial security, membership satisfaction has never been in question. For the seventh consecutive year, Exclusive Resorts posted satisfactions scores from members greater than 90%, a metric that speaks volumes as the club delivered over 24,000 vacations and 100,000 total vacation days to members last year. While the historic trip did not take place until early 2010, Exclusive Resorts also passed the 100,000 vacation mark, a threshold that no other destination club will approach for years to come.

"The future is bright for Exclusive Resorts," writes the club. "We are focusing on doing everything we can to make the Club the very best it can be for you and your family. This includes more communication, increased transparency, and enhanced member engagement, including the new member-elected Member Advisory Committee. We value the ideas, passion, and intellect so many of you bring to bear as we work together to build Exclusive Resorts, and we hope you continue to enthusiastically recommend the Club to your friends and colleagues."

If you or one of your friends or colleagues are considering membership with Exclusive Resorts or any other destination club, request a free copy of our Destination Club Guide for more information about the benefits and risks of joining a destination club and a list of suggested due diligence questions to ask when speaking with a club. Check back soon as we report on statistics from 2009 for Exclusive Resorts and additional plans the club has to grow their club in the years to come.