Has It Been An Annus Horribilis?
For those not latin scholars - and I include myself in this category (though not our youngest who got a B in his A2 Latin – should have been an A but that’s another story), this was the really bad year referred to by Queen Elizabeth 11nd, when she referred to 1992, the year three of her children were either divorced and/or separated ,including Princess Diana and Prince Charles and Windsor Castle had a serious fire. Not sure our own industry’s year has been quite such an annus horribilis, but I am referring here principally to the three Supreme Court rulings...
United We Stand, Divided We Fall…….
The full quote is “United we stand, divided we fall” and surprisingly it is originally attributed to Aesop of the fables fame in his fable “The four oxen and the lion” written in the 6th Century BC. I hit on this title today as I was walking our retriever (Falco – named after a Roman Detective whose books are set by Lindsey Davis in the time of the Emperor Vespasian), he doesn’t have Falco’s intelligence needless to say – well he wouldn’t being a retriever – “an intelligent retriever” is an oxymoron after all. I hit upon this title gazing...
Are We Becoming Today’s Thief Takers?
It is no secret that RDO has been battling with the on-line fraudsters over the past few years – fraudsters who damage the reputation of the industry, leave consumers cheated out of their money and legitimate developers losing valued owners who are poached/tempted by offers that never come to fruition. Before the solicitors representing some of these organisations start reaching for their writs in contemplation of issuing defamation proceedings, let me make it clear that I have no intention here of naming any individual organization at this stage. Not for fear of being sued – RDO has amassed ample evidence against...
Direct Marketing Commission recommends that Hollywood Marketing’s membership of the Direct Marketing Association is terminated
As a result of complaints made by Kwikchex, which runs the Timeshare Task Force on behalf of RDO, an investigation by the DMC (Direct Marketing Commission) into Hollywood Marketing, which runs sellmytimeshare.tv and monster.travel.com has resulted in a recommendation that Hollywood Marketing's membership of the DMA (Direct Marketing Association) is terminated. DMC reported that sellmytimeshare.tv provides an initial valuation of a timeshare and invites consumers to a meeting at one of its advice centres. During the meeting, consumers are introduced to Monster Credits as part of the trade-in deal. These credits are presented as a discount on travel and accommodation. Consumer vulnerability...
From Aha to Kerching!
The title of Guy Browning’s presentation on Day 2 of RDO6 at the Don Carlos Hotel in Marbella, Spain, somehow sums up this year’s conference - more on that presentation later. This year I think those of us on the Conference working group were seriously concerned as to whether we could produce an event that exceeded the standard reached in London last year at RDO5. We need not have been so worried. From Michael Jackson’s (the other one) opening, which so accurately reflected the theme for this year of “Embracing Change” and taught us how not to over-complicate things, to resist the...
RDO6 2015 Conference – What Is On The Agenda?
With just over a week to go to this year's Conference RDO6 “Embracing Change” in Marbella, it hardly seems possible that a whole year has flown by since we all gathered for 2014's "must not miss" European timeshare conference of the year. Moderated by Robin Mills, Chairman of RDO’s Communications Council, the RDO6 business sessions will cover a diversity of topics from the growth of the “sharing economy” and the changing needs of the 21st century traveller to the aftermath of the Spanish Supreme Court ruling on the ANFI case. Following the introduction of special rates this year to attract younger employees of...
The Games Afoot……
As Sherlock Holmes was fond of telling Watson before embarking on his next adventure. The summer break is over for most of us and here in the UK we have had our last bank holiday before Christmas – where does the year go! It’s a time for renewal – stiffening the sinews and all that (and in our case recovering from a 5 hour traffic jam on the A6 in France – all due to the fact they had failed to take in some cones once they had knocked off from work at 5 pm!) – queue a mad rush...
Countdown to 2015 Conference RDO6: Meet the Keynote & Guest Speakers
A number of highly regarded business speakers have been secured for this year's conference RDO6, including top business motivator Michael Jackson who will be giving a thought-provoking presentation, “Embracing Change: 20:20 Vision for the Road Ahead”. Michael, who has worked with Richard Branson and Bill Gates, has advised many of the world’s foremost brands across broad sectors, from Microsoft and HP to Qatar Airways. Guy Browning, who’s been dubbed the “David Attenborough of the business jungle” will show us how to tap into our intelligence, initiative and imagination to tackle key business issues in fresh, creative and much more effective ways. Richard Newman,...
Countdown to RDO6 2015 Conference
With the countdown to this year’s RDO6 2015 Conference “Embracing Change” in Marbella well and truly on, it hardly seems possible that a whole year has flown by since we all gathered for 2014's "must not miss" European timeshare conference of the year. Over these past twelve months, one thing is for sure. Changes have impacted our businesses (as well as our lives) and it is change itself – the fertilizer of new beginnings and the launch pad of success – which we’ll be exploring this year. To fuel our always interesting panel discussions, debates and to whisk up plenty of food...
Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life…..
So the song goes, and when we heard last week of the second ruling of the Spanish Supreme Court against Anfi Sales, it is fair to say there was a degree of disappointment, but after some initial reflection and review, the Python’s song title comes to mind and we need to move forward. The first ruling against Anfi Sales baffled most lawyers in the industry, as it appeared to fly in the face of the transitional provisions that the domestic Spanish legislation put in place back in 1998 to allow for existing timeshare schemes that were for more than 50 years....