Timeshare Firm Loves The Beach

Ask George Donovan, president and chief executive of Bluegreen Corp., about Myrtle Beach, and he almost won't shut up.

Donovan's Florida-based timeshare company is so impressed with Myrtle Beach that Bluegreen is opening two properties this year, doubling its number of resorts here.

Myrtle Beach is the top market for Bluegreen, which runs timeshares in 31 cities.

"It is hard to fathom how strong [Myrtle Beach] is. It is absolutely a phenomenon," Donovan said. "I see a real bright future."

Last month, Bluegreen opened the Carolina Grande Timeshare Resort at 25th Avenue North in Myrtle Beach.

And later this year, the Sea Glass Tower will debut. Bluegreen bought that building, formerly The Yachtsman Resort at 14th Avenue North in Myrtle Beach, last year and is renovating the interior into timeshare units. Snags in construction have delayed the opening. It was originally going to open this spring.

Bluegreen also owns Harbour Lights in Fantasy Harbour and Shore Crest in North Myrtle Beach. It has 442 employees along the Grand Strand and Donovan expects that number to swell to 650 by year's end.

Bluegreen is one of several timeshare companies capitalizing on the beach boom and the surging popularity of time shares. Marriott, Sheraton and Burroughs & Chapin Co. Inc. also are opening new units along the Grand Strand.

Timeshares pumped $1.9 billion into South Carolina's economy in 2002, according to a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers for the American Resort Development Association. With 12,100 units, South Carolina was second only to Florida in the number of units in 2002, the latest year data is available.

Last year, Bluegreen, based in Boca Raton, Fla., ranked No. 48 on Fortune's list of America's 100 Fastest Growing Companies and landed in the No. 57 spot on Forbes list of the 200 Best Small Companies.

Donovan didn't make Friday's ceremony in Myrtle Beach, but he talked with The Sun News via telephone last week during a break from the American Resort Developers Association convention in Las Vegas. Donovan is on the ARDA board of directors.

Question | Timeshares have experienced huge growth in recent years. Do you think it will continue?

Answer | We are in a lot of markets, and Myrtle Beach is by far our biggest and best market. And there is no sign of any problems. Market penetration is light. And Myrtle Beach serves a huge market.

Q. | You had planned to open Sea Glass tower this spring. Is a date set?

A. | That appears to be the fall. We are doing extensive interior renovations. We are replacing the elevator systems; reconfiguring most of the rooms. ... It's a great building. It's been there quite some time. There is nothing harder than renovation. Things pop up here and there. Just the normal stuff - it adds up.

Q. | You mentioned that Myrtle Beach is your best timeshare market. What makes it so good?

A. | I've developed here since 1984. My feeling about the Myrtle Beach market: It's about as strong a market as I have ever seen. It's been pretty stable growth. It just doesn't weaken.

As a testament to that, our second timeshare was ShoreCrest. The first was in Gatlinburg, Tenn.

Q. | What makes Myrtle Beach so strong?

A. | It benefits from huge populations. Not just the Carolinas, but Ohio and the mid-Atlantic. Myrtle Beach is very, very convenient to get to for huge populations. You've got the natural feature of the beach and all of the supporting facilities. There is so much for people to do.

Q. | What are your future plans in Myrtle Beach?

A. | There will be a period of absorption after all the recent expansions. We will focus on the sale of inventories we just built. We will probably not initiate any more development of a consequential size for two or three years.

But we won't be totally dormant. We'll add amenities. We have four acres that we bought last year at Harbour Lights.

Q. | What are the trends in the timeshare industry; in other words, what do guests want? How is Bluegreen responding?

A. | That is a changing environment right now, and a healthy one. Guests want more experiences. It's not just wanting a two-bedroom, two-bath unit. They want activities that go with it.

We are thinking about white-water rafting and other similar activities. We are beginning to see this younger vacationer who wants that.

Recreational vehicles - we think there is a market for that.

Q. | Several of the local RV parks have recently been sold to developers who plan to build condominium towers. And isn't adding RV spaces contradictory to your core business of providing timeshare units?

A. | Our business is to provide people with fun vacations.

The state and federal governments aren't setting aside land anymore [for RV parks] and the existing government parks are not very well maintained. We think there is an opportunity to build environmentally sensitive, well-maintained RV parks.

Q. | Myrtle Beach is going through a transition with The Pavilion closing and new properties opening. Where do you think Myrtle Beach is headed?

A. | Real estate recycles. Myrtle Beach is a perfect example of a very viable market. I think it is healthy.

Q. | Has the timeshare industry overcome the bad perception created by pushy sellers?

A. | It's a hard lesson because that reputation has stuck for many, many years. It was deserved, frankly. The industry was dominated by marketing companies that didn't have long-term visions. The methods to make sales were questionable.

As you know, we are in Las Vegas at the ARDA convention. There are 4,000 people here, including lenders, hotel companies. The top five in the industry are hotel companies.

We are proud of where we have brought it. It is a totally different mind-set. Customers are treated with dignity.

We had an independent, third-party research firm who talked to people who did not buy. When it came to the sales process, more than 70 percent said it was fine. It was not because we were doing anything wrong. We watch that very, very closely, and keep timeshare a good thing.


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