Hoseasons and its sister brands can benefit from their parent company’s global reputation, Wyndham Vacation Rentals’ Geoff Ballotti tells Lucy Huxley
Hoseasons celebrates its 70th birthday next year and James Villas will be marking its 30th.
Both brands are household names in the UK yet their parent company, Wyndham Vacation Rentals, is less well known, according to its chief executive, Geoff Ballotti.
He explained the ownership would always be a ‘light endorsement that sits behind the brands’, but he added that he hopes it gives a level of assurance of the quality.
The Hoseasons Group changed its name to Wyndham Vacation Rentals UK in September to increase awareness of its parent company in the trade.
The brand names of the group’s businesses in the UK, including Hoseasons, Cottages4you, Canvas Holidays, English Country Cottages and James Villa Holidays, remained unchanged.
Ballotti added that a big brand like Wyndham also helps as the brands increasingly trade overseas.
“People have heard of Wyndham and tend to know it’s a publicly-traded company and among Fortune’s Most Admired, so it helps,” he said.
“With all the scams online, being part of something bigger is increasingly important.”
Ballotti, a former president of Starwood North America, believes companies recently snapped up by the group, including holiday home rental outfits in Dartmouth, Salcombe and Cumbria, are already feeling the benefits of being part of a big global group.
“We were underrepresented in the Lake District but found a seller that viewed Wyndham Vacation Rentals as a great opportunity for the management team to grow the business by giving it more national distribution, marketing and synergy. It’s been a great success.”
Ballotti, who was in London last month for World Travel Market, said he was looking at more opportunities in the UK.
Referring to Malcolm Hoad, managing director of James Villas and Villas4you, Ballotti said: “Malcolm has just brought us another potential deal. We will continue to grow our current brands and to look for more acquisitions.”
Ballotti explained how the vacation rental market in the UK was so much better established than in the US.
“In the US, the whole idea of staying in someone’s else’s home is really alien to Americans, so there’s a whole mentality issue to overcome,” he said. “The US mentality for vacations is to stay in a clean hotel in every corner of the world, and we are trying to change that.”
If Ballotti can overcome that hurdle, he believes the market is “massive”.
Working with fellow brands in the wider Wyndham group is something companies like James Villas and Villas4you have already embraced.
Hoad said: “We see a lot of customers maybe booking a short break at the start of the year, a James Villa for the summer and a boating holiday in the autumn. We’re encouraging agents to sell a main and second holiday in this way.”
So what next for the UK brands?
Ballotti revealed James Villas was eyeing the ski market for catered chalets to boost its winter business, looking for more long-haul properties to give it year-round strength and seeking to add properties at the luxury end of the market.
Hoad said the villa market was faring well, with bookings increasingly being made earlier.
“Villas were booked 180 days out last year and that’s jumped to 190 days this year as people increasingly want the right villa on the right day and want to know they are going to get it,” he said.
“It’s a trend we’re starting to see and it’s a really encouraging sign that things are getting stronger.”