Luxury Comes Standard: The Registry Collection Celebrates a Decade of Success
June 22, 2012Ten years ago, RCI recognized an opportunity to bring exchange services to the luxury fractional real estate market and to give fractional owners all of the flexibility and choice that RCI members had come to expect from the brand. The fractional real estate industry was quickly developing, and the baby boomer generation, a group with more disposable income than the generations that came before them, were looking for fresh, life-enriching experiences. They hungered for adventure, and were willing to invest in luxury vacation options to find it.
And so in 2002, RCI decided to take a chance by creating the first ever luxury leisure real-estate exchange program called A&K Registry, now known as The Registry Collection. The risk paid off: after the first member signed up in July of that year, the program quickly gained momentum, expanding and finding success through high-quality, luxury affiliations as well as services that appealed to its affluent member base.
Today, The Registry Collection program is the world’s largest luxury exchange program with more than 180 affiliated properties on six continents. More than 35,000 members now belong to The Registry Collection program, which allows them to exchange for memorable vacations at beautiful properties year after year. “The Registry Collection program appeals to a growing group of vacationers who want to experience new and exotic destinations while maintaining a high level of quality and luxury in all of their accommodations,” said Gregg Anderson, global vice president of The Registry Collection program. “With this anniversary, we now have 10 years of success under our belts and a portfolio of impressive affiliates that continues to grow each year. We have literally opened up a world of luxury vacation opportunities for our members.”
Thanks to its portfolio of beautiful affiliated resorts, The Registry Collection program has been able to send its members on tens of thousands of vacations around the world. Many of them report back with stories of their adventures, including glowing reviews of the exchange program and its affiliated resorts.
“Our fall tour of Vermont and first experience with The Registry Collection was beyond even our grandest expectations,” said The Registry Collection member Robert O. “The experience was only the first of several with The Registry Collection and we have never been disappointed. Our membership in The Registry Collection has been one of the best vacation [decisions] we have ever made and is only confirmed each time we visit another place in the world.”
Wonderful member experiences like this have proven beneficial to affiliates of the program, who offer The Registry Collection memberships to owners who would like to add variety to their fractional ownership experience. Many of the program’s original affiliates have stayed with The Registry Collection over the course of the last 10 years because of the great feedback they get from their owners who participate in the exchange program.
Michael Burns, president and CEO of Private Residence Resorts, which owns The Registry Collection-affiliated Les Saisons, said, “We were one of the first affiliates, and in many ways, [The Registry Collection] has exceeded our expectations and certainly met or exceeded the expectations of our owners. They have been consistently pleased with the quality of the affiliate resorts and number of resorts around the world. They describe their experiences as ‘world class’ with memories to last a lifetime.” Burns continued, “In terms of the quality of the resorts, number of affiliates and alternatives, service levels and standards, The Registry Collection has been a very important and positive part of our fractional business.”
