INTUITION, a business strategy agency for the vacation ownership industry specializing in sales, marketing, customer engagement and reputation management solutions recently conducted a survey on the impact of the Coronavirus Pandemic on the Vacation Ownership Industry – and the results are in.

With feedback from more than one-hundred companies around the globe that are active in the vacation ownership industry, the survey represented the economic impact on those businesses that represent more than 21,000 employees and service more than 8 .3 million members and guests.

Results can be viewed at https://reports.intuitionbrandmarketing.com/open-view/1263546000017630089.

Based on just over 100 companies that have participated in the survey so far, the results show that 63% of businesses are currently closed and others are seeing heavily reduced occupancy / transactions due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

This is costing those businesses collectively a staggering $17.6 million in lost revenue per week – with the majority claiming a loss of 75%-100% of typical weekly revenue – and most have been closed for at least 4 weeks so far.

When travel will begin to return is very difficult to predict at the moment, and will vary by destination, but most participants are bracing for a period of 3 to 6 months before most vacationers will be able to or are comfortable to return to their resorts. That represents a collective revenue loss for those companies of $211 – $422 million during that timeframe.

With that in mind, businesses are working hard to accommodate huge volumes of customers, with 37.1% providing full refunds, and a further 54.3% offering credit for future travel, with or without specific book by dates.

The Vacation Ownership industry however, is expected to rebound faster than traditional hotels due to their membership model that provides a loyal customer base that is already committed to future travel with the companies, and many timeshare resorts are easier to adapt for social distancing due to larger resort accommodations and spacious common areas. Some resorts that offer cottages, townhouses, beach houses, villas, lodges and campgrounds have remained open throughout the pandemic due to their unique resort living structure.

Participants in the survey also provided useful suggestions, recommendations and tips for surviving the crisis, which included references to increased communication with customers, moving to online and video-conferencing sales, focusing on drive-to and local marketing, selling to existing members and trying to keep staff employed on payroll or temporarily furloughed to be able to reopen quickly. Other comments focused on the opportunity to create the new future during this slow time, to evolve and innovate.

The study also provided segmented results for members of Cooperative Association for Resort Exchangers (C.A.R.E.) and Canadian Vacation Ownership Association (CVOA) for internal association use as they work to better serve their active members.

While the initial results have been reported, the survey is now is open again for additional participants including results updated hourly.

To take the survey visit https://intuitionbrandmarketing.com/covid

To view the results visit https://reports.intuitionbrandmarketing.com/open-view/1263546000017630089

About INTUITION

INTUITION offers business solutions for vacation ownership companies that help to increase performance and revenue in the areas of sales, marketing, product development, branding, customer engagement and reputation management. For more information visit https://intuitionbrandmarketing.com