Wyndham Destinations President & Managing Director, International Operations, Barry Robinson catches up with Travel Monitor for a chat about the industry in Talking Travel this week.
What does your job involve?
I serve as President and Managing Director of International Operations for Wyndham Vacation Clubs, overseeing operations of the company’s timeshare business outside of North America. I lead the international growth strategy for the company. We have six vacation clubs: Club Wyndham, WorldMark by Wyndham, Club Wyndham Asia, WorldMark South Pacific Club, Shell Vacations Club and Margaritaville Vacation Club by Wyndham.
As the world’s largest vacation ownership and exchange company, we proudly serve nearly four million member and owner families globally who enjoy the quality, flexibility, and value Wyndham Destinations delivers. Our spacious accommodations, resort facilities and outstanding service offer everyday travellers trusted comfort in every destination.
Our guests continuously discover new adventures, whether getting away together at our 220 Wyndham Vacation Club resorts, exchanging for a new view among RCI’s 4,300 affiliated resorts, or living like a local at nearly 10,000 professionally-managed Wyndham Vacation Rentals properties across North America.
With offices in Australia, Singapore, China and the Philippines, Wyndham Destinations Asia Pacific is also a development partner of choice in the Asia Pacific region. Our management subsidiaries oversee a collection of 46 hotel and resort properties, some of which are mixed-use developments where we hold an owning interest. Our managed and club properties extend across Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Thailand, Indonesia, the United States and Europe.
What do you enjoy most about your profession?
The vacation club business has many facets and that keeps it really interesting. We are a tourism business and we are a resort management business, but we also operate a consumer finance portfolio, our own travel agency, tour business and a property development team. We are also a real estate business and specialise in the development and management of mixed-use properties. Our core competencies include resort operations, sales, marketing and PR, legal and compliance, procurement, finance and IT, customer experience, human resources and business development. We are headed in very exciting directions, in particular our expansion into Asia. I am proud to be part of that change and growth.
What are the biggest challenges for you in your profession?
Asia is our biggest growth market, yet Asia is incredibly diverse with multiple cultures, demographics and languages along with key differences in terms of legislation. The complexities of this can be challenging. Recruiting and training can also have its difficulties with an ever-increasing need for team members to speak multiple languages.
What do you think are the biggest challenges the industry faces?
The travel economy is booming, but the concerning side of our industry’s success is ‘over tourism.’ Some places are simply getting too crowded. Disruptive technologies are adding to the pressure. Uber is increasing traffic in some places; Airbnb can hike up property prices and drive out the locals (as we have seen in Barcelona); Instagram is encouraging people to take selfies in their dream destinations, so much so that some places have had to impose limitations. Kyoto is now promoting lesser-known districts and attractions are needing to open earlier to handle the crowds. Venice is limiting certain areas to card-carrying residents and large cruise ships are being rerouted to ports outside the city. Iceland has set a limit on Airbnb rentals to 90 days per year and Croatia has had to restrict the numbers of cruise passengers visiting Dubrovnik. We need to ensure we conserve and protect the world’s tourism destinations and adapt through adopting more efficient infrastructure. Australia for instance desperately needs high speed rail plus multi-lingual signage to help tourists get around more efficiently and reduce the gridlock in our cities.
What do you think will be the biggest game changer in the travel industry in the next 12 months’?
The digital shared ownership space is changing the outlook of consumers. They are more open to the concept of owning time in something rather than owning a commodity outright. We are now commonly seeing time sharing in cars, boats, scooters and pushbikes. Timeshare, of course, was the original disruptor, and nowadays offers travellers shared time in a large collection of resort apartments as an alternative to the burden of owning a holiday home. The concept as offered by Wyndham Vacation Clubs has continued to evolve, and the club experiences just get better and better. If we are talking game changers in the vacation ownership space, I believe we will start to see shorter club terms, as well as clubs with an array of lifestyle benefits integrated into club experience.
Expectations of travellers are evolving. From digital check-in, personalised in-room preferences to robot concierges and automatic translators, all resort operators need to be smart in the way we take our experiences to the next level by taking advantage of advances in digital technology. Importantly, anything automated must truly enhance experiences rather than take away from authentic, personalised and friendly service.
At Wyndham Destinations, we’re always innovating. We’ve seen the landscape of vacation ownership change and we’re looking ahead to be at the forefront of what’s to come in the travel industry.
Currently, we are working on some digital innovations including improving our online and mobile experience for owners, allowing prospective owners to book mini vacations to experience our resorts online and employing virtual reality technology in our sales centres so guests can see and experience our resorts firsthand.
Who inspires you most and why?
I had a lot of respect for my grandfather’s and my father’s work ethic and their focus on service culture. They were both very successful businessmen and seeing them succeed in their businesses helped me believe that I could follow my ambitions.
My parents ran a hotel in New Zealand and, when I was a kid I watched my parents work hard. It was all hands on deck for us kids, making beds and learning how to serve, cook and wash dishes. So it was a steep learning curve about customer service, working hard and long hours, so that’s probably where a love for hospitality got ingrained in me.
I have had some great business mentors along the way too. I can’t name just one person. I have learned many things from a lot of people. Three business leaders that continue to inspire me are Warren Buffet, Sir Richard Branson and Steve Jobs.
Who would you invite on your next holiday if you could choose anyone and where would you go?
My wife and I would love to invite a group of people, with our special guest being Sir Richard Branson, to visit two very different destinations. We would start out somewhere relaxed with a festive atmosphere like a private lodge in Mykonos for some time in the sun. Then we would head to Africa for a safari to the Masai Mara. It is a really special space in the way it grounds you. It reminds you of the power of nature and commands respect from all who experience its wonders. My reason for choosing Richard Branson is because I have a great deal of admiration and interest in what he has accomplished. I particularly admire the way he has achieved the perfect balance between business and fun. I like to have a lot of fun and surround myself with inspiring people who have a sense of humour and a positive, upbeat outlook.
