Just four years ago, in 2004, Sol Meliá Vacation Club (SMVC) started by promptly developing 3 international properties. Today, the internationally branded membership club, which is part of Spain-based Sol Meliá Hotels & Resorts, has 13 international locations in Europe, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central America with more than 20,000 members worldwide. In 2009, the company prepares to open 2 more resort locations in Europe, the Caribbean and Mexico. SMVC continues to focus on its vision to be a pre-eminent global provider of exceptional leisure lifestyle experiences for its members, while moving to the next stage of its development with SMVC by Sol Meliá.
Impressive Numbers
Solid financial results have built a strong foundation for SMVC. According to Denis Ebrill, Executive Vice President of Sol Meliá Vacation Club and Leisure Real Estate Division, the company consistently achieves record sales and some of the highest operating margins within the vacation ownership industry. “We have been profitable since our first quarter of business from vacation SMVC sales, member and network operations, rental and SMVC portfolio,” he explained.
The tremendous success is owed, in part, to widespread success of new projects in Mexico, Puerto Rico, Spain, the Dominican Republic and Central America, and the launch of a new deluxe 4-bedroom villa product which is marketed and sold as a multiple weeks product. In 2007, SMVC opened new projects at ME by Meliá in Cancun, Gran Meliá in Puerto Rico, the Paradisus Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic and Meliá Gorriones in Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, Spain. Additional successful satellite preview centers were also opened in Europe and the Americas.
A Strong Start
Ebrill attributes the widespread success for SMVC and the Leisure Real Estate Division, to the fact that they have been conducting business on a truly international level from day one. “We had the right leadership in place to build teams locally, internationally and corporately with a focus on multi-cultural and multi-lingual business points,” Ebrill said. “We focused on the well-being of the customer, setting high service levels and creating a product with flexibility and appeal.”
SMVC offers exotic destinations, designer-appointed luxury accommodations, exclusive services and unforgettable amenities. The leisure lifestyle concept is designed to provide members with an entire lifetime of leisure experiences to meet their ever changing needs. All members have access through SMVC to stay at all Sol Meliá’s Hotels and resorts worldwide, including those in destinations such as Paris, London, Madrid, Rome, Mexico City, Buenos Aires and more.
The variety of vacation experiences provide ongoing flexibility and lifestyle choices such as catered and planned reunions or weddings, incountry SMVC facilities and events, concierge, butler and chef services, airfare, cruises, car rental, etc.
A Powerful Network
Another key component to SMVC’s success story, according to Ebrill, is a well-thought-through and well executed business model that provides close synergies with all aspects of Sol Meliá Hotels & Resorts.
“All SMVC projects are fully integrated with Sol Meliá Hotels & Resorts projects. Together, we benefit from synergies in marketing, sales, products, operations, financial strengths, customer loyalty and brand recognition,” he said. “The success of SMVC, together with Sol Meliá Hotels, is based on having one culture, one goal and a great understanding of each other’s business, as well as and understanding of consumer expectations.”
SMVC was built with the quality assets of Sol Meliá Hotels & Resorts and with the understanding that the platform for a loyalty program had to be a two-way street.
Global Speak
SMVC is rapidly growing its portfolio of international resort locations and is a strengthening force of Sol Meliá’s overall leisure real estate focus. New projects are slated to open this year in Europe, Mexico and the Caribbean. This includes the start of sales in 2009 at the new Gran Meliá Resort in Tenerife, the Canary Islands, Spain; and at a new Gran Meliá and Paradisus Resort being built in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. Expansions at existing SMVC resort locations in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic are also now underway.
The focus is on a unique, customized international experience, whether that’s exploring archaeological ruins in Mexico, enjoying virgin beaches in the Dominican Republic, walking through Old San Juan in Puerto Rico, or getting to know century’s old cities in Spain, France or England. SMVC is set up to cater to Member needs.
SMVC’s objectives are clearly globally focused in becoming a world-wide leader within the fast growing leisure real estate business, as it achieves further success in brand penetration and expansion, as well as maximization of occupancy levels. “Our mission is to build a Global SMVC that will be a leader in its field for brand quality, customer satisfaction and employee pride; which will be delivered through customer focus, ethic, integrity, teamwork, communication and continuous improvement,” Ebrill summarized.
Sol Meliá Hotels & Resorts is a 50-year-old international hospitality company with 350 hotels in 30 countries on 5 continents. Members have more vacation lifestyle options through global luxury accommodations in a variety of unique resort and urban destinations around the world as well as the flexibility to choose the length of stay, season and size of unit. In addition, Members can save their vacation time from one year to the next if needed; borrow from future vacation years to create a special experience that could include airfare or a spectacular cruise; divide their vacation time into shorter getaway or nightly stays; or stay at any Sol Meliá Hotel or affiliated resort worldwide.
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