How are resorts responding to a crisis that stopped the hospitality industry in its tracks? Bouncing back takes planning. After all, as Dr. Jill Murray says: “The comeback is always stronger than the setback”.

The Merlin team recently joined an online Town Hall meeting organised by our friends at The Resort Trades magazine. The subject of this virtual gathering was Resort Resilience during the Covid-19 crisis. And a number of industry leaders generously shared their strategies for managing resorts during the crisis and their plans post-Covid 19.

While we love the title’s alliteration, what does resilience actually mean? Well, it covers flexibility, hardiness and, our particular favourite, bounciness. And, where there has been plenty of negative news about the decimation of the hospitality industry, it is clear that the timeshare industry is getting ready to come back fighting.

In this article, we want to share this positivity by looking how resorts and associated businesses are planning to bounce back after coronavirus. It’s time to show there is light at the end of this particular dark tunnel.

Indeed, with hotel occupancy rates in the US rising to 35.4 per cent (for the week May 17-23), lockdown easing in many parts of the world, there is plenty to be positive about.

With this in mind, we have put together a short survey to find out how your business is planning to bounce back.

Complete our survey and share your plans for bouncing back after lockdown.

Here at Merlin Software we have taken all the necessary steps to protect our staff with remote working, daily check-ins and regular interaction. Importantly, we have continued to operate as normal-a-service as possible to assist our clients.

Support logs have been completed, new functionality created and released to all our clients (at NO extra charge), and we are bouncing back with a range of new support services. More news on that later.

During the Resort Trades’ Town Hall, Ann Donahue from Raintree Vacation Club explained how and why they had been keeping their members engaged. She shared their omni-channel communication strategy that:

• Showed concern for their members’ safety and well-being;
• Explained the safety measures taken to keep staff and the resorts safe;
• Updated member on closures;
• Reassured members they would not lose points;
• Offered incentives to pay maintenance fees, continue membership, book rentals:
• Used video to remind members what they can look forward to; and
• Surveyed members to find out what would make them feel safe to return.

Complete our survey and share your plans for bouncing back after lockdown.

Jay Anderson, Grand Pacific Resorts (GPR), explained their new “Vacation Well’ strategy based on a health check continuum. They have communicated with owners explaining how they are using lockdown to improve the resorts. Hygiene will be highly scrutinized in the post-Covid era and Grand Pacific Resorts has used Knowcross housekeeping software to ensure no cross contamination.

We want guests to know “they can relax in confidence that it’s clean when they return,” Jay explained. GPR has implemented new guest room preparation protocols including staff training, inspections, and documentation. And staff will now be screened before shifts with temperature gauges.

Once the resorts re-open there will be increased physical distancing, guidelines for staff and guest illness, new standards for common area cleaning, self service activities and touchless interactions.

Complete our survey and share your plans for bouncing back after lockdown.

Melanie Gring from Global Connections shared their plans for improving sales and sales practices post Covid 19. The team has considered the product they are offering, their pricing strategy and the sales operation itself. The results from this analysis included:

• Restructuring the club;
• Adding value benefits such as early check-in/late check-out;
• Reorganizing the pricing fee;
• Balancing the age of the salesperson with the prospect; and
• Increasing the number of waves per day but with fewer people.

Elsewhere there are signs of the large brands launching their post-Covid 19 campaigns.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has launched its multi-faceted Count on Us^SM  initiative to build confidence among guests. The immediate focus is to elevate health and safety protocols with enhanced cleaning and disinfection of guestrooms and public spaces. The plan also includes drop-shipping critical health supplies, mandatory virtual training and, importantly, ensure guests can physically see the efforts being made and trust in their impact.

And they are not alone. Club Med, which has resorts in Florida, Mexico and the Caribbean has announced new hygiene and safety protocols and an updated Free Cancellation Policy. This provides flexibility and peace of mind to anyone booking a stay up to December 2020. Other innovative ideas to provide confidence to returning guests include:

• Operating at 65 per cent maximum occupancy;
• Increased opening hours of dining locations for lower occupancy;
• Focus on single-plated dishes and custom preparation;
• Temperature-checking children twice a day; and
• Smaller scale, outdoor evening entertainment

In Mexico, El Cid Vacation Club has partnered with professional hygiene companies to develop its own Cleanliness & Care Program. Their resorts will return to providing a full range of services that respect their safety protocols. There will a reduced capacity for guests and limited access to service areas to ensure safe physical distancing.

The El Cid Vacation Club has also implemented strict new protocols for employees including face masks and gloves, temperature checks, disinfectant mats and designated lockers.

Complete our survey and share your plans for bouncing back after lockdown.

Sunset World Resorts has introduced its Sunset World Safe Stay Program to ensure protection, safe-distancing, reduction of physical touchpoints, and proper disinfection.

Common areas will have limits, reduced furniture layouts and clear signage. Check-in will go self-service with a new check-in app, all printed documents will be transferred to digital, and restaurant menus will be replaced by sanitized tablets. Transfer vehicles will carry fewer passengers and be deep cleaned between trips.

Employees will enter resorts through a disinfection tunnel and provided with masks and gloves they must change every four hours. Additional PPE will be available based on their role and responsibilities.

If bouncing back is still a long way off for your resort, remember there is still much you can do:

• Find alternative suppliers and extend payment terms if you can;
• Conserve your cash and plan for reduced revenue flow;
• Check to see what government support is available – we know from our clients that financial aid and support is different depending on your location;
• Chat with your bank about credit and loans;
• Review your insurance policies for business interruption coverage; and
• Take the time to train your staff on new software, cleaning guidelines, marketing techniques and customer service.

We would love to hear your experiences. Complete the survey or send us an email at info@quickmerlin.com and with your permission, we will share your thoughts, plans and strategies. Let’s get the message out there that the vacation ownership industry is fighting back!

If you resort software is not providing the support that you need at this time, then contact us for a demo of our comprehensive, cloud-based software.