Julius Baumann

Aviation and Tourism Editor

Hotel group Southern Sun hopes to breathe new life into its time-share division, Southern Sun Lifestyle Resorts, after concluding an agreement with Interval International to run its time-share ownership programme, Sunswop.

This comes after Southern Sun terminated its long-standing agreement with time-share group RCI late last year after its contract came to an end. .

Deon Viljoen, director of Lifestyle Resorts, said yesterday that Southern Sun wanted to take back control of its time share and after proposals from both groups, selected Interval over RCI. The new partnership would allow the group to grow its portfolio of resorts as well its membership. He said the entrance of Interval into the South African market would stimulate competition in an industry long dominated by RCI.

Interval operates membership programmes for vacation owners and provides value-added services to developer clients worldwide, including Starwood, Marriott and Hyatt. The group has more than 2 million members with access to 2400 resorts. Its agreement with Southern Sun gives the group its first foothold into SA.

Viljoen said Southern Sun would be expanding its time-share portfolio and would announce new developments towards the end of the year. On the cards are expansions to the Drakensberg Sun and Sabi Sun as well as several new developments.

David Clifton, Interval’s MD for Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia, said SA’s burgeoning black middle class offered huge potential for growth. “We have a well-

He said that for the first time, Interval’s members would be able to visit SA.

Source: Business Day