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| RTK Resort Group - Principals Links to Principals Bios:
John R.
Kazanjian, Managing Director
Two companies, The World’s Finest Resorts (WFR) and RCI-partnered Abercrombie & Kent Registry, competed for the luxury tier second home fractional exchange market place. WFR emerged as the frontrunner. In March 2005, WFR was acquired by Cendant/RCI. "We looked at them and saw that they had done many things right. They built up some nice brand equity; they had a broad geographic distribution, quality locations, and had built up good affiliate relationships. Plus, they had the resorts." – David Bansmer, Managing Director for RCI’s The Registry Collection
In February 2001, John Kazanjian and Carl Berry co-founded The World’s Finest Resorts for the Americas, joining Russell Bragg, Managing Director of Premier Resorts UK and its WFR UK division. The mission of The World’s Finest Resorts was to provide brand identity and accelerated sales to an affiliated project. By affiliating with The World’s Finest Resorts, resort development entities dramatically increased the benefits for their owners to own a ‘luxury’ vacation property at their resort, while individual WFR Members could utilize their asset in a more efficient manner thereby alleviating some of the burden of owning vacation property.
At the time of the acquisition, the marketability of fractional exchange and whether any fractional exchange company could attain critical mass were both open to question. The fractional universe was relatively limited in terms of the number of resorts and owners. Two companies, WFR and RCI-partnered Abercrombie & Kent Registry, competed for the market place with WFR emerging as the undisputed leader in the industry.
“The Abercrombie & Kent Registry later became the Global Registry and then in late 2004, The Registry Collection. Though reaching 20 affiliated resorts and over 700 members up to the point of the WFR acquisition, Bansmer acknowledged that the RCI- and then Cendant-owned fractional exchange entities ‘never really took hold - we didn't achieve critical mass’.”
“WFR, on the other hand, was twice as large in terms of affiliated resorts (40) and five times as large in terms of members (3,500). Cendant and RCI top executives – notably chairman and CEO Ken May and RCI North America president and CEO David Pontius - had reached agreement that market leadership in high-end fractional/PRC exchange was a desired outcome. Purchasing WFR seemed the most obvious and expedient means to get there. It also fit in with the larger scheme for The Registry Collection. Becoming the market leader in the high-end fractional/ PRC product space achieved the objective in one registry, and set the precedent and laid the groundwork for establishing the other registries.”
“Headquartered in the UK and Scottsdale, AZ, WFR described itself as ‘a collection of distinctive resorts, hotels, services, and benefits designed for owners of fractional, luxury timeshare, wholly-owned condominiums, villas and homes in the most desirable destination resorts and urban environments.’ WFR members had the ability to exchange stays at their project for other resorts in the system. They could also purchase luxury travel packages, like a cruise with Crystal or a safari in Kenya, at significant discounts.”
“WFR also offered a menu of developer and affiliate services, spanning product design, planning, business plan development, marketing programs, sales recruitment and training, and hospitality services. It is important to note that the purchase of WFR by The Registry Collection involves WFR's former resort affiliates and its resort and member servicing, not its developer services, which are now being offered by the Star Resort Group.”
The acquisition of World’s Finest Resorts by The Registry Collection was a first step to a much broader plan for RCI. It includes not only upscale fractionals and private residence clubs (PRCs), but also condo hotels, Private Destination Clubs (PDCs), full ownership real estate in resort settings, traditional fractionals and high-end timesharing, and affinity clubs. The idea is to create a variety of different registries, grouped according to product type, together composing the Registry Collection.
Mobile: 480.262.2682 Email: JKazanjian@RTKresorts.com
John Kazanjian's Resort Development Background Real Estate Advisory Clients and Assignments John Kazanjian's Project Marketing and Sales Management Piazza San Lorenzo, San Antonio, TX The Cliff Club at Snowbird, Snowbird, UT The Ridge Tahoe, Stateline, NV Lawrence Welk Resort Villas, North San Diego County, CA Gaslamp Plaza Suites, San Diego, CA
For a Printer-friendly version of John Kazanjian's Background, Click Here
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