Outrigger signs deal Hawaii's Outrigger Hotels & Resorts is stepping into the timeshare business, opening its properties to Fairfield Resort Inc.'s 450,000 time-share owners and paving the way for a longer-term deal with Fairfield.
with time-share firm
Fairfield Resort owners will be
able to stay at isle hotel propertiesBy Tim Ruel
truel@starbulletin.com
Orlando, Fla.-based Fairfield will be able to market Hawaii travel packages, using Outrigger properties. Visits could start as early as December. Fairfield would reimburse Outrigger for the rooms, much like a wholesale tour arrangement.
In addition, Fairfield and Outrigger are jointly exploring a couple sites in Hawaii where they would either develop a time-share resort or buy an existing property, said David Carey, president and chief executive of Outrigger Enterprises Inc.
"They don't have anything in Hawaii," Carey said.
The property would carry the Outrigger or Ohana brand, though it's not clear who would own the property.
The companies are also looking at allowing Fairfield timeshare owners to swap their stays at Fairfield properties with stays at Outrigger properties, Carey said. Fairfield has a points-base exchange system based on season, location, length of stay and size of unit.
Outrigger has been discussing the alliance with Fairfield for more than a year, though discussions were put off by the Sept. 11 attacks, Carey said. Outrigger hopes to tap a new market -- Fairfield's East Coast time-share owners -- and spread the reach of its brand. Time-share customers are more predictable, countering the increasing unpredictability of traditional hotel visitors.
Cendant Corp., owner of Cheap Tickets Inc., acquired Fairfield for $760 million in April 2001. Fairfield revenues were $210.5 million in the second quarter, up 14.5 percent from $183.8 million last year, according to Cendant's recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.