RCI Pacific Competition Winner Announced at Annual ATHOC Conference
High number of entries demonstrates growing interest in timeshare ownership and exchange throughout Australia
Gold Coast (September 13, 2011) RCI, the global leader in vacation exchange and one of the Wyndham Worldwide family of brands (NYSE: WYN), yesterday announced the winner of the Pacific Region’s WIN BIG competition. Launched over three months ago, the competition is RCI Pacific’s largest prize pool in 25 years, valued at $40,000.
Held on the first day of the Australian Timeshare and Holiday Ownership Council’s (ATHOC) annual conference at the Watermark Hotel in the heart of Surfers Paradise, Queensland, the Australian winners Musia and Boris Roshkovan, represented by their daughter and son-in-law, Rina and Steven Zlatkin won a brand new Hyundai i30, celebrating the win in front of key industry leaders.
An elated Mrs. Roshkovan was thrilled to receive a phone call saying that she had won the main prize. “I wasn’t sure I would win at all,” she said. “I’m so grateful my daughter could be there on my behalf, this is such a fantastic surprise. We have been RCI members for over nine years and we have enjoyed the many great benefits membership offers and of course great holidays over the years, a big thank you to RCI.”
The promotion had a fantastic response rate with more than 10,000 RCI member entries. For every transaction made, members received one entry into the prize draw – transactions included membership renewals, deposits of timeshare entitlements or making travel purchases (including rentals and cruise or tour exchanges) with RCI Travel.
Commenting on the success of the competition, Charisse Cox, managing director of RCI Pacific said, “These figures demonstrate the value consumers find in owning timeshare and being part of a global timeshare exchange company like RCI, which gives them access to more than 4,000 affiliated resorts in top holiday destinations around the world.”
Furthermore, RCI members continue to benefit from wider holiday options as more affiliated resorts are added to its exchange system. In the first six months of 2011, RCI signed 34 new affiliations resulting in the addition of 56 new properties to RCI’s family of affiliated resorts, thus further expanding the world’s largest holiday exchange network.
According to General Manager of ATHOC, Laura Younger, “Holiday Ownership contributes an economic significance of over $486 million into the Australian Economy. Although times have been very tough for the tourism sector, timeshare occupancy remains at a steady 86 percent annually across the national average and approximately 94 percent on the Gold Coast. The industry can be seen somewhat as recession proof,” Younger added.
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About RCI
RCI is the worldwide leader in vacation exchange with over 4,000 affiliated resorts in approximately 100 countries. RCI pioneered the concept of vacation exchange in 1974, offering members increased flexibility and versatility with their vacation ownership experience. Today, through RCI® Weeks, the traditional week-for-week exchange system, and RCI Points®, the industry’s first global points-based exchange system, RCI provides flexible vacation options to its 3.8 million RCI subscribing members each year. RCI is part of Wyndham Exchange & Rentals and the Wyndham Worldwide family of brands (NYSE: WYN). For additional information visit our media centre, rciaffiliates.com or The RCI Blog. RCI also can be found on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.
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RCI Pacific Media Contact
Cristina Matisan
+ 61 7 5588 9937
cristina.matisan@rci.com