Raising Resort Revenue: Shared Moments with Capital Vacations COO, Travis Bary

In the blink of a moment, one company sped from 0-68 resorts in seven years, making noise with a major acquisition every year and providing strength and longevity to independent resorts. The importance of moments is what Capital Vacations is all about. The management, development, and vacation club sales company creates a foundation of quality services for resorts, with the guests reaping the benefits and enjoying the experiences.

Capital Vacations is a family-owned management company with more than 40 years’ experience in the timeshare industry with 68 locations throughout the United States and the Caribbean. The organization has combined all the best practices and industry knowledge from four well-known companies: Capital Resorts Group, Defender Resorts, Summerwinds Resorts, and SPM Resorts. Even with a long legacy of brands and experience, it is the modern and advanced hospitality management and offerings from Capital Vacations that provides independent vacation ownership resorts with strong full-service solutions for their operating needs.

Today’s timeshare resorts face well-known realities: rising costs, aging owners, turbulent times, and the changing travel trends of generations. Capital Vacations has real answers and full-circle solutions that emphasize raising revenue. Rightly so, but how do they do it? We asked Chief Operating Officer, Travis Bary, a 25-year veteran of timeshare management and sales, to take a few moments for questions and reveal the “Capital Advantage” of raising resort revenue. Travis comes from many years of success as a senior executive in our industry before Joining Capital Vacations as COO in 2018.

Getting right to the core, we asked Travis “what are the top five things that help raise resort revenue?”

1. Sales & Marketing
   A resort must have viable sales and marketing solutions that sell intervals across all seasons. This ensures continued revenue and sustainability for the resort. Many resorts choose to partner with Capital Vacations to fill this need. Their inventory is sold into Capital Vacations Club and the Club accepts all responsibility for the annual dues for that inventory. These “perpetual dues” ensure the trust pays the maintenance fee every year in perpetuity. Our creative sales solutions are responsible for adding 6-20% to partnered resorts’ annual budgets.
2. Provide a Rental Guarantee
   A rental program is essential for any resort, maximizing utilization of unused inventory to raise revenue. By partnering with Capital Vacations, HOAs are able to transfer the financial risk of unused inventory to Capital and increase rental revenues via an agreed-upon monthly payment from our company to the HOA. In the event of excess rental revenues – 15% of the year-end up-side goes back to the HOA (5% to reserves and 10% to operations). Plus, Capital Vacations reimburses the HOA for any additional cleans that are required from rental stays.
3. CapX International Exchange
   Owners like to have the ability to travel to new places and an exchange program gives them that opportunity. “CapX” is an international exchange platform that provides exchange options for resorts managed by Capital Vacations. The HOAs receive a portion of the exchange fees. Owners are happy because they are given this new benefit, which increases engagement, decreases churn, and reduces maintenance fee delinquency.
4. Capital Collections & Recovery Services
   Ensuring revenue is the lifeblood of any resort. In addition to normal collections, Capital Vacations goes further. When collections are unsuccessful, Capital Vacations Collections and Recovery Services provide a revenue stream for the HOA through deed-in-lieu and settlement programs. Active sales of previously delinquent unit weeks create new dues-paying owners.
5. Owner Services
   Engaged and informed owners are happy owners. They vacation more, pay on time, are more familiar with booking (requiring less troubleshooting support), and provide more referrals. Capital Vacations resort management solutions include providing an owner communications strategy and website support, allowing resorts to make upgrades with the goal of increasing owner engagement, rentals, and online payments.

What can be done to counter rising costs?

Independent resorts face the hardship of securing contracts with numerous vendors for products and services used across the resort. These contracts can be costly and must be reviewed annually. Two key things can help rising costs.

Strategic partnerships

With Capital Vacations as a management provider, independent resorts have the benefit of utilizing the strategic partnerships we’ve established. We’ve gathered top vendors to create efficiencies, securing high-quality, vetted products and lower costs. In addition, we provide our resorts access to our Group Insurance Plan. A geographic spread of our resorts that participate allows for reduced premiums and deductibles.

Financial Services

Although we start with the active engagement of owners, we provide a thorough, accurate and timely reporting of the association’s financials – determining where costs can be reduced.

How can the right brand and communications efforts help raise revenue?

In today’s environment, the ability to effectively communicate with owners, HOA boards, and prospective clients is of the utmost importance. A resort must have the pulse of the ever-changing needs of those respective groups and be able to provide the needed tools to succeed. By increasing communications, resorts can increase owner affinity and reduce churn, therefore raising revenue. But that is not always a simple task. Maintaining communications channels such as the resort’s website, newsletters and social media channels take a significant amount of manpower and energy. This is another example where a partnership with a professional management company can help. At Capital Vacations, we help our partners with their communications needs. We have the expertise in place to provide direction and support so that our partnered resorts can focus on what they do best – provide great vacations to their owners and guests.

How does technology play a role in good management, owner experience, controlling costs, and increasing revenue?

Technology plays a major role in owner experience. Today’s timeshare owners expect to have access to their information 24/7 and generally on a mobile device so they can make reservations, check their weeks or points balances, and make payments. It’s critical that resorts provide this type of access to their owners in a consistent and nimble way. Giving owners access to their information through technology significantly cuts down on the amount of time for customer support. Capital Vacations realized this early on and has invested heavily in our technology systems and personnel. Our websites, as well as those of the clients we manage, are modern and mobile-friendly.

Capital Vacations proves the value of “in-house teams.” What areas make the most sense for in-house and why does it work for your resorts?
Being an all-solutions provider means just that – we believe in and practice an all-inclusive management solution. Having in-house teams to support the various areas of the business is critical. This includes legal, technology, human resources, risk assessment, quality assurance, governance, brand and communications, and financial services. By having all areas in house, everyone is more likely to be on the same page and have access to the same information, ultimately providing better service to owners and guests. As a resort management solutions provider, we can bring all these teams to the table to work for our clients, allowing their focus to remain on serving the customer.

With a certain pent-up demand for travel coming soon, what should resorts be doing to be ready?

I believe there is going to be a significant demand for travel in the marketplace once the pandemic has been controlled. Owners and guests are ready to travel, as many have been unable to do so for nearly a year. At Capital Vacations, we are anticipating that occupancy rates from late spring to the end of 2021 will be well above any previous standards. This is great news for the industry. To prepare, resorts should focus on pulling forward any maintenance projects as soon as possible to allow for more units to be ready and available when the increase in travel resumes. It’s also a great time to review any standard operating procedures currently in place to see if they need to be updated or replaced. These occupancy levels will call for tremendous teamwork from every department. Also, it’s critical that resorts are focusing on increasing their health and safety standards. While the pandemic may be significantly managed, travelers will still be looking to visit locations that have elevated their cleaning routines and operating standards to feel safe from the potential new spread.

Congratulations on 25 years in timeshare Travis! What have been your greatest joys working in this industry and now with Capital Vacations?

The greatest joy has been and will continue to be, the people I’ve been lucky enough to work with and the owners that I’ve been able to serve over the last 25 years. These individuals and families have made a significant impact on my life and I’m grateful that I work in an industry that I am passionate about. Vacations played a significant role in my life growing up and I’m thankful for the memories I have from this uninterrupted time with my family. These memories motivate me to play a part in providing amazing vacation experiences for other families, and even 25 years later, I am as passionate about this goal as I was in year one.

Finally, what will be some innovative ways resorts can raise revenue and ensure their strength and longevity?

Innovation is key; growth is key. By continuing to grow and develop, resorts can continue to strengthen their position in the market and ensure longevity. However, that is not always easy to do alone. The right management partner can play an influential role in honoring a resort’s past, while preparing for the future. At Capital Vacations, we strive each day to help our clients and their resorts raise revenue, build an engaged and satisfied owner base, and implement innovative business solutions to create a strong foundation for many more years of successful operations. Being stagnant in this market is not an option – we want to help our clients grow and prosper.

Moments

Capital Vacations knows the importance of moments, moments for guests to create adventures, bonds, stories, and memories. A solid foundation of good management and always improving revenue practices keeps that experience of the highest quality possible.
Hey, what’s that sound? Yes, you heard right, it is another resort joining the Capital Vacations family. https://capitalvacations.com/

John Locher, RRP is founder of Locher & Associates, a consulting services firm specializing in business development, marketing, the secondary market, and technology solutions. john@johnlocher.com