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RESORTDEVELOPER.COM vacation industry review
JANUARY – MARCH 2016
The club expects to end 2015 with a 29-percent year-over-year
growth, and is busy vetting fresh markets in Japan and the Philippines,
according to Martin Tolan, chief operating officer of Anantara Vacation
Club. But, he’s not taking that head start for granted.
Doubling Down on Discipline
At this juncture, the focus is on creating an airtight organization built for
solid, long-term growth. A veteran in the shared ownership industry,
Tolan served in key senior leadership positions with Starwood Vacation
Ownership for 15 years before joining Anantara Vacation Club as senior
vice president of sales and marketing. In his new role, Tolan has been
collaborating with chief financial officer Howard Leigh to implement
new processes and make improvements designed to ensure the con-
tinued satisfaction of owners, employees, and shareholders.
“We make a good team,” Tolan says. “Instead of racing at 100
miles per hour, we’re really contemplating how to make things work
and drive shareholder value at the same time.”
In the space of 18 months, the pair transformed Anantara Vacation
Club from a startup division into a key corporate asset of the Minor
Hotel Group. Founded by William (Bill) Heinecke, who was named Real
Estate Personality of the Decade at the Thailand Property Awards 2015,
is one of the largest luxury hotel owners and opera-
tors based in Asia, with a portfolio of 126 properties in 19 countries.
“Our parent company has really started to grasp the opportunity in
the space and how it fits with the overall Minor Hotel Group,” Tolan
says. “Now we’re part of the story, more than ever. They see the unique
value that the vacation ownership club brings to the overall brand from
a profitability perspective.”
Grounded Experiences, Global Options
Indeed, vacation ownership adds an elegant synergy to the mixed-use
developments at the heart of the Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas
brand. Anantara Vacation Club resorts are developed alongside hotel
properties, giving owners access to world-class facilities and ameni-
ties. Club properties, ranging from secluded beach enclaves to urban
high-rises, reflect the brand’s Asian ethos through its “grounded
hospitality” — weaving in authentic cultural experiences that would
be difficult for globally recognized brands to replicate.
Owners may also use their points to travel beyond club properties
to 29 Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas in Asia, the Indian Ocean, the
Middle East, and Africa through the Club Escapes program. Affiliation
with Interval International adds global choice, making shared owner-
ship irresistible to the Asia/Pacific region’s ballooning middle-class
market, projected to add 100 million consumers each year through
ANANTARA
VACATION CLUB
By Joyce Hadley Copeland ANANTARA VACATION CLUB PHUKET MAI KHAO
In 2010, Bangkok, Thailand–based made a splash by launching its
branded vacation club. Since then, has been swimming hard, with six luxury
urban and pool villa resorts in Thailand, Indonesia, China, and New Zealand, and another resort set to
debut in early 2016 adjacent to Anantara Chiang Mai Resort, in Thailand.
Disciplined Growth, Dynamic
Results for Asia Vacation Club