Hall of Fame Winner for 2016 – Joe Hickman – Interval International

Joe Hickman has held the position of executive director at Interval International Asia-Pacific for over seven years and has been enormously instrumental in growing its Asia Pacific region network, not least in Australia and New Zealand.

Based in Singapore, Joe Hickman has responsibility for implementing business development activities across Asia-Pacific, including affiliating resorts with Preferred Residences (a strategic alliance between Interval International and Preferred Hotel Group) and Interval International’s global network. He develops and directs all sales and resort marketing strategies, as well as managing developer client relationships.

Joe has spent his entire professional career in the hospitality and timeshare industries, with more than twenty two years specifically in Asia Pacific timeshare, amassing experience in a broad range of areas including sales and marketing, finance, resort services, business development and call centre operations.

Prior to his tenure at Interval International, Joe was Executive Director for Resort Condominiums International (RCI) Asia Pacific, a division of Cendant Corporation.

He was responsible for marketing, public relations, member and resort services, business development, IT, human resources, as well as day-to-day office and call centre operations for RCI throughout Asia and Australia.

Earlier, he held senior positions with Westin, Shangri-La, and Hilton Hotels’ Conrad division and was responsible for the successful marketing of Hilton Grand Vacations Club in Las Vegas, the city’s first purpose-built timeshare resort. He also served as Corporate Director for Vacation Ownership at Hilton Hotels and was an integral part of the team that pioneered Hilton’s early entry into the timeshare industry.

He has served and continues to serve on a variety of industry boards including the timeshare associations of both Thailand and Singapore, the Malaysian Timeshare Federation, the Australian Timeshare and Holiday Ownership Council (ATHOC), Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) and numerous other trade related bodies.

Joe’s experience in all aspects of shared ownership, his hospitality industry background and his extensive understanding of regional cultures makes him a standout in the timeshare industry.

Joe has long been considered an industry expert. His extensive knowledge, outgoing personality, professionalism and unfailing capacity to follow through have made him a favourite of both clients and prospects. He is tireless in his efforts to assist newcomers to the industry and to helping existing industry players expand their business.

Joe’s immense contribution to the growth and success of the timeshare industry in Australia and New Zealand cannot be overstated. While widely acknowledged as one of the most powerful influences in the business, it is high time Joe received an important industry accolade for his exceptional endeavours and overall pursuit of excellence.

Joe has always focused on providing the highest quality service to developers, marketers, prospects, owners and members. He has also demonstrated a tremendous commitment to industry education of media, government and consumers in general.

His involvement in Interval International’s sponsored Shared Ownership Investment Conferences has proven invaluable to the exchange network’s efforts to create a vibrant platform for long term sustainable growth of the shared ownership industry throughout the world.

He has consistently sat on the board of directors for numerous shared ownership industry trade bodies, spoken at regional and global conferences, and worked with governments, media and consumer groups to provide reliable information and advice and to resolve issues that may well have had a negative impact on the sustainable growth of our industry.

Joe Hickman is considered a great resource for all regional information and industry data, and he knows all the key players in both the hospitality and shared ownership industries throughout the entire region. He continues to work with governments and with developers for the creation and maintenance of well balanced legislation that benefits all stakeholders. His background in timeshare marketing has proven extremely useful to newcomers, largely because the most challenging part of the shared ownership business is the generation of sufficient numbers of qualified prospects at an affordable cost.

Congratulations Joe – Well Deserved.