In response to customer demand for a greater variety of holiday options, and an increasing demand for holidays in peak times and in high demand areas, RCI will be offering its 230 000 member families a wide choice of new holiday options. Access to RCI membership is gained by purchasing holiday ownership at one of the 174 RCI-affiliated resorts, or points within an RCI-affiliated club.
"The new RCI Choices incorporate a wide range of non-traditional holiday exchange options for which members are able to exchange timeshare ownership," said RCI SA's President and CEO, Ivor Clucas. "These include RCI Cruise Exchange with over 1000 cruise options off local shores or internationally; RCI Tour Exchange for affordable, yet luxurious European coach tours; RCI Hotel Exchange for high quality hotel accommodation locally and internationally; and RCI Safari Exchange, which offers access to upmarket game lodges in southern Africa."
Via RCI Frontiers, members can now exchange points or timeshare for traditional bed and breakfast and guesthouse accommodation in popular areas, where availability of traditional timeshare may be limited.
For last minute bookings at reduced prices at top of the range hotels and game lodges, another RCI company, MT Beds, continues to offer clients a service that benefits both members and non-members. Plus, its latest innovation, Res24Seven, facilitates the flow of online, real-time, accommodation reservations for use by tour operators, retail agents and selected websites.
"RCI members have traditionally seen us as a timeshare exchange provider, which may have been true 21 years ago, but is no longer true today," said Clucas. "We have a lot more to offer now, not only with regard to the new RCI Choices range of holiday options, but also with regard to our existing travel service, through which we are able to arrange flights, car hire, forex, travel insurance and so much more."
Armed with a clearer understanding of its membership, RCI is setting out to reposition itself in the marketplace, according to Clucas. "We're in the business of fulfilling holidays, and the emotional power of holidays is huge," he said. "Our members need to believe that RCI is committed to helping them achieve the best holiday experience so that we are able to secure a relevant role in their lives."
RCI marketing director, Adrian Zanetti, explained that with RCI's new brand vision and positioning comes a new brand identity symbolic of the company's new direction. "While the basic RCI logo remains consistent, it has been given a fresh new treatment with a new 'Global Arc' being added to the RCI corporate logo." The Global Arc forms the foundation of RCI's visual identity and represents RCI's global business, demonstrating that RCI holidays take members to the four corners of the earth.
"Our focus is on more choices for our members and our partners in the timeshare and travel industry," he added. "Because choices mean decisions, and decisions require information, what we also offer is knowledge and understanding of our destinations, of our customers and of our partners' needs."
He pointed out that successful branding is about trust, relationships, and most importantly about consistency regarding quality and service. "We are aiming to do a better job of connecting our members' perceptions of RCI to the value and breadth of services we offer. This means we have to put more meaning into RCI membership to keep and grow our member base through providing value added services and continuously improving service levels."
In line with this thinking, RCI SA is committed to continually enhancing its Customer Relationship Management strategy, which involves training its 200 call centre staff to be more customer oriented and equipped with extensive product knowledge. According to RCI, this will position them to assist members with choosing the holiday that is right for them, based on their knowledge of RCI clients and the options and destinations available.
Based in Sunninghill, Gauteng, RCI SA has satellite offices in Cape Town, Durban and Zimbabwe. RCI SA also took over the company's Pacific office a year ago and since then has shown a growth of over US$2,4 million. Since Cendant acquired RCI SA four years ago, the South African office has become one of the group's global success stories. Not only was it named one of the top fifty companies to work for in South Africa in the recent Finance Week Top 100 Survey, and recognised by Top Companies Publishing and Events as one of SA's Top 300 Companies, sales of timeshare through RCI's partners increased by 25% in 2003, making this region one of the most successful timeshare markets. Last year, RCI SA sent 600,000 people on holiday, was responsible for 18,000 inbound tourists and enrolled 17 000 new members.
"Now, with the new offerings, RCI envisage sending increasing numbers of people on an ever-growing variety of holidays," said Zanetti. "Timeshare and points, through RCI, are still the most affordable ways to travel the globe."
"For our business partners, and partners in the tourism industry, RCI is committed to making even bigger in-roads in the southern African tourism industry, to meet our own business needs, the needs of our members, and the needs of the nation, in terms of jobs and revenues," he said.
An example of how RCI is getting far more actively involved in the broader tourism industry, is the introduction of Hotel Dynamics, a 3rd party provider of revenue and profit generating solutions for the hotel industry, such as customised membership programmes focused on acquiring and retaining loyal guests. In addition, profit solutions include database management and marketing tools for high profile hotel groups to maximise occupancy and food and beverage revenues.
"Our partnerships are an integral part of our success," continued RCI's Clucas. "They provide platforms for growth into broader leisure streams and facilitate the merging and acquisition of competencies, businesses and assets. The success of RCI is attributed to our partners and an industry that promotes co-operative business ventures."
With regard to its expansion strategy, he said that RCI's strategy to expand the timeshare concept and ownership of timeshare related products into Africa continues to gain momentum. "RCI' affiliated timeshare and related products are currently being sold in Kenya, Zambia, Tanzania, Uganda, the DRC, Botswana, and by the end of November, in Ethiopia," he added. "Our foray into these uncharted waters is extremely exciting, and we will continue to nurture these new markets, in addition to pursuing other development opportunities that arise in these areas."
Appropriately themed 'live your choice', the event was attended by prominent members of South African tourism bodies, the tourism industry, RCI business partners and media.
