Congratulations to those who have nominated to be on one of the ATHOC Regions Committees. As seen in a email sent to you recently the Northern Region is being hotly contested and the voting ballot has been sent out to members in that Region.

The new team for ATHOC Southern is Phyll King (Capri Waters), Anne Burns (Eastcoast), Chris Marcinko (Wyndham Vacation Resorts Asia Pacific), Joe Bengasino (WMB Lawyers) and Dennis Grimes (Eastcoast).

The new team for ATHOC Western is Ivan Hill (Silversands Resort) and Mark Petrig (Wyndham Vacation Resorts Asia Pacific).

With all committees, members can be invited on, so please let us know if you are interested in becoming involved.

We will advise the make up of the Northern Committee as soon as the election results have been declared.

Nomination forms will be sent out shortly for the ATHOC Board, so please keep an eye out for them, and most importantly don’t forget to vote on the people you want to run your organisation.

Recently a new committee for ATHOC Southern was formed, and their first meeting held. The Committee consists of Phyll King, (Capri Waters) Joe Bengasino,(Professional Legal) Ann Burns, (Eastcoast) Dennis Grimes, (Eastcoast) Chris Marcinko, (Wyndham Vacation Resorts Asia Pacific) & David Lindsay, (Eastcoast). This committee is in place until handover to the new committee following the AGM in September.

The new committee is excited and ready to provide interesting and informative Seminar and Training Days as in the past. 

The first program planned for Southern is to be held on the second Tuesday in November, Nov. 11th 2008. The venue will be confirmed. It has been suggested we put forward training on how to maximize RMS Viewpoint for all users. It was felt that this subject would be very informative and much needed. The information day will be a full day, as an update on ATHOC National, as well as compliance issues for those Resorts selling bad debt intervals and other Sales Locations will be provided. A variety of informative subjects is being compiled and will be of interest to our Southern Members.  This will be a session not to be missed and will finalise with Southern’s famous Gala Dinner, which will be themed as post Melbourne Cup.

The Southern Region recognizes that ATHOC holds it’s National Awards night in Surfers Paradise, Qld, but Southern have decided to retain the Southern Awards as in the past, and it is planned to present these at the Dinner. This has always been a popular event, so we ask you all to watch out for the times and location for this event.  Non Members are welcome so be sure not to miss out.

For any further details of information contact Laura Younger at laura.younger@athoc.com.au or Phyll. King of 0411 106 137

Breakfast with Ernie Dingo

Over 50 people gathered at the Accor Vacation Club Corporate Uni in May for an early morning breakfast, followed by an informative talk by Ernie Dingo, television celebrity and Accor Vacation Club Ambassador.

Ernie regaled interesting stories from his childhood, his career in television and travel and also his role as Ambassador. His philosophy on life and personal values are, as summarised by Mike Winlaw, very similar to those of Accor Vacation Club, highlighting the synergy of the partnership.

Pinnacle Breathes Life into the Lake
Adrian Gutteridge, GM of Accor Vacation Club’s Grand Mercure Pinnacle Valley Resort, recently initiated an environmentally friendly programme to tackle the severe infestation of algae in the resort’s lake, which was having a profound affect on the resident fish.

Installation of a circulation pump and fountain on the resort’s lake has greatly improved the water quality and will arrest the increasing algae issues. Rejuvenating the water will promote the growth of the fish population.

All companies are encouraged to consider environmentally friendly initiatives, especially projects such as this that benefit both Members and the environment. Well done to the Resort Operations team!

There is growing recognition, both in government and industry circles, that higher learning and career development skills can help individuals in the holiday ownership industry to deliver a higher standard of excellence to consumers.

Wyndham Vacation Resorts Asia Pacific actively supports this sentiment, and are extending the number of traineeships available to employees. “Giving our people the best opportunity to develop the necessary knowledge and skills to do their jobs well, is our primary focus”, said Professional Development Manager, Allyson Marriott. “Already we offer various government funded training programs in tourism operations/tourism management, hospitality and even horticulture.”

“We acknowledge how these nationally recognised training schemes can help our people develop professionally and personally while they work. Management actively supports these programs and our employees can benefit in the long term with a qualification. In 2008, we are working to extend our scope of courses to include traineeships in Finance (Bookkeeping, Accounting or Credit Management focus), Business (Sales or Frontline Management focus) and in Customer Contact.”

Wyndham Vacation Resorts Asia Pacific also offer a number of other higher learning paths for staff in all facets of the business through various company funded internal and external programs. “Our Tertiary Reimbursement Program is an excellent way of helping our employees to continue their professional development and we have many employees currently studying for diplomas, bachelor degrees and even Masters degrees in areas including project management, accounting, human resources, professional communication and business administration.”