Breaking Travel News

Wyndham to rebrand timeshare biz

Wyndham has announced that it will rebrand its timeshare
properties—Fairfield Resorts, Trendwest North America and
Trendwest South Pacific—under the Wyndham name.“Adopting the Wyndham name within our timeshare business is a
significant leap forward in our global brand strategy and sets the stage
for further development of mixed-use hotel and timeshare properties
throughout our system,” said Stephen P. Holmes, Wyndham Worldwide chairman,
president and chief executive officer.
  “Associating the Wyndham brand with our world-class vacation ownership
resorts dramatically broadens the presence of our flagship brand throughout
the marketplace, both in the United States and abroad,” he said. “It also
signifies a major evolution for the Wyndham brand as it now extends to
include upscale timeshare products consumers can own and enjoy for life.”
  The rebranding process will begin with the Fairfield Resorts transition
to Wyndham Vacation Resorts, effective immediately. Trendwest South Pacific
will become Wyndham Vacation Resorts-Asia Pacific later this year, followed
by Trendwest North America, which will transition its WorldMark by
Trendwest brand to WorldMark by Wyndham in early 2007.
  Collectively, these brands will continue to operate as Wyndham Vacation
Ownership, one of three business units that comprise Wyndham Worldwide.
  The Wyndham brand will begin to appear on timeshare resorts as well as
Wyndham Vacation Ownership’s sales, marketing and service centers around
the world in concurrent stages over a 12-month period. By the end of the
year, 15 to 18 high quality resorts in key markets will prominently carry
the Wyndham flag. When completed, more than 140 timeshare resorts
throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and South
Pacific will be associated with the Wyndham brand.
  “We’re excited to begin introducing our products to consumers under the
highly regarded Wyndham banner,” said Franz S. Hanning, Wyndham Vacation
Ownership president and chief executive officer.
  “For more than 40 years, we’ve built our success on the quality of our
resorts, the flexibility of our vacation ownership programs and the talent
and dedication of our more than 14,000 employees,” he said. “Matching these
strengths with a world-class brand presents us with substantial growth
opportunities as we begin to reach new consumers through a name they know
and trust.”
  In conjunction with the reflagging of its timeshare properties, Wyndham
Vacation Ownership will launch comprehensive marketing campaigns in
national broadcast and print media as well as direct-mail and e-commerce
applications in support of its Wyndham-branded vacation ownership products.
The company also will develop additional cross-marketing programs designed
to introduce its full spectrum of Wyndham-branded products to timeshare
owners and hotel guests.
——-