The Hideaways Club Honored As 2010 International Destination Club of the Year

By: Destination Club News
Date: January 20, 2011

Many destination clubs within the United States faced a difficult year in 2010, punctuated by Ultimate Escapes filing for bankruptcy. Those in the international ranks enjoyed a more fruitful year, making for a close competition for our International Destination Club of the Year award. Banyan Tree Private Collection established partnerships with The Hideaways Club and Habitat for Humanity and added several new properties to its portfolio. Rocksure Property reached the first closing of their Capital Fund and announced a partnership with Quintessentially. Despite these successes, we have selected The Hideaways Club as our International Destination Club of the Year, the second time we have recognized the club for this distinction in as many years.

During 2010, The Hideaways Club saw a 60% increase in membership sales and now have 200 members in total, an outgrowth of their continued expansion. "During 2010 we launched the company to the Middle East market in Dubai and Abu Dhabi with very positive feedback," the club told us. "We also further expanded our Asian operations out of Hong Kong with an additional property in Thailand. Lastly, we launched the company's second fund, the City Collection, a group of ultimately 120 luxurious city apartments in some of the world's most exciting and vibrant cities."

This global expansion has been married to a continual focus on catering to each new demographic. In June, the club created a custom membership offer for travelers in the United Arab Emirates and forged a partnership with Etihad Airways to give these members better access to their property portfolio. Expecting 30% of their future growth to come from Asia in coming years, more than 20 new residences in destinations such as Japan, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, and Cambodia are planned.

"The fractional model, more so today than ever suits these uncertain economic times where the sharing of lesser used assets is a more financially astute method of ownership," The Hideaways Club Chairman Mike Balfour told us. "Therefore to some degree this type of investment should work anywhere and we anticipate very considerable growth in this market over the next few years."

The considerable growth that Balfour mentions echoes the club's plan for the coming years, as The Hideaways Club has announced that they plan to triple in size over the next 48 months. In our continuing series about the various goals for 2011, we will profile the new year's outlook for The Hideaways Club soon. In the interim, continue to check out the rest of our 2010 recap articles about all of the industry's leading players.