Original Message:
Re: Marriott One Week Owners and the Destination Club (by Den):
At the outset of the Destinations trust, the entire inventory of unsold properties was placed in the trust. Because of the bad economy at the time and a slowdown in development, I suspect that the unsold properties placed in the trust were not the "pick of the litter" and that Dest point buyers bought into a less than sterling portfolio. Of course, they would need to then sell Dest points sufficient to absorb the inventory. At some point, the trust will need to either buy inventory or develop new properties for the trust to resell as points. Now, two years later, Dest might be using the ROFR to acquire the better properties, considering both season and location. Certainly, they can buy (cherry pick) great properties at a lower cost than developing new properties (more profits).
I wonder if we will ever see the development of any great new properties. It may be that the concept of pre-packaged travel deals for points might displace the development of new properties (less capital investment and risk). We'll see.