Travel
+ Leisure executive gives an update on SI Resorts after new conversion projects
were announced this summer for Chicago and Nashville.
NATIONAL REPORT — While Travel +
Leisure’s Sports Illustrated Resorts concept is working to introduce its new
brand in a lot of college markets, an executive said he isn’t worried about
developing in what is becoming an increasingly competitive space.
“From my perspective, everything
is competitive, whether we were looking in college towns or we were looking
[elsewhere],” said Geoff Richards, chief operating officer — vacation ownership
for Orlando-based Travel + Leisure. “At many of these universities, proper
hospitality doesn’t really exist in a lot of these towns and we want to bring
that to as many of the college locations as we possibly can.”
Sports Illustrated Resorts is
developing a new resort in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, which is set to begin
construction early next year. Richards said college development is often unique
because the schools themselves are the land owners. However, he said there has
been a change lately in how these colleges and universities view development.
“Traditionally, if you wanted to
be adjacent, you are going to be challenged to do that, because the land really
didn’t transact,” he said. “What we’re seeing on many college campuses is a
desire to have a entertainment districts that are different than the
entertainment districts that existed when I was in school.
“[They are] much more designed
around not just students, but alumni activities, significant F&B presence
and a significant hospitality presence. There is an opportunity to partner with
universities to offer a different experience. Each university that we speak
with is very interested in how they capture that… revenue opportunity for
the sheer number of people coming.”
Each university that we speak with is very interested in how they capture that… revenue opportunity for the sheer number of people coming.
Geoff Richards
Sports Illustrated Resorts has
recently announced a new location in Chicago, converting the former Virgin
hotel into a Sports Illustrated Resort brand. Timeshare specialist Accelerated
Assets acquired the asset in July for $77 million. As a conversion, the
property will remain open during the construction period.
Richards said the Chicago
property will eventually feature multiple T+L timeshare brands, with Sports
Illustrated Resorts coming first, followed by the Presidential Reserve within
Club Wyndham. He said the work with Acclerated started happening late last year
to make the deal happen.
“We’ve done multiple
transactions with Accelerated over the years, and with our desire to have
delivery for our vacation ownership business, as we were looking at different
opportunities in the United States,” he said, noting Travel + Leisure will take
over management of the property on December 15 and begin the conversion
process.
“We can take down floors to do
conversions, but by the second quarter of 2026, all the lobbies, all the
F&B, will be wearing a Sports Illustrated brand,” he said, noting the
entire property will be converted entirely by late next year.
There is a relatively extensive
pipeline for Sports Illustrated Resorts, Richards said. Over the next 7-10
years, he said he could see 10-15 open or developed hotels in North America
with 2/3 of those being conversions.
The Sports Illustrated resort in Tuscaloosa, Alabama will begin construction early next year.
Another recently announced
conversion is in Nashville (which will also be primarily timeshare), where an
SI Resort will convert from a former Placemakr Hotel. Richards said unlike the
Chicago property, this one will close in December and the whole property will
convert and reopen in May 2026. He said conversions are a much more practical
development vehicle at the moment.
“I’d love everything to be
purpose built, but purpose built right now is tough and it’s probably four
years from the time you think about it to when you might open,” he said. “The
generating revenues is really good grease for these businesses. In an ideal
situation, we’ll probably be 50% conversion, 50% purpose built.”
We’re running numbers — I’ve worked for the company for almost 30 years now — and I’ve never seen the type of efficiency numbers that we’re running.
Geoff Richards
SI Resorts initially announced
developments in Ann Arbor, Michigan and Orlando, Florida, but both have
subsequently fallen through (though both locations are appealing options,
Richards said). SI Resorts also has a property in Cap Cana, Dominican Republic,
which doesn’t have a timeshare component.
As for the state of the
timeshare industry right now, Richards said it’s a great time to be in the
business.
“It’s been interesting to see what’s occurred
post-pandemic. There was no question that our average length of stay increased
during the pandemic, and it has come back down a little bit, but… it’s a full
day higher than it was in 2019 or early 2020,” he said.
Richards said the company’s new
member creation is back to pre-pandemic levels and its efficiency, the way it
measures its business, is off the charts.
“We’re running numbers — I’ve
worked for the company for almost 30 years now — and I’ve never seen the type
of efficiency numbers that we’re running. Our business is performing extremely
well,” he said.