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North Myrtle BeachHomeowner News straight from your local team
BAY WATCH RESORT HOMEOWNER NEWSLETTER: Letter from the General Manager Alan Peterson
Quarter 3 • 2015
Our summers keep getting better and I attribute most of this to the improvements made in the units on the Oceana program. We constantly hear comments regarding the improvement of the units as well as a positive comparison with units not with Oceana Resorts. When we first came to Bay Watch over three years ago, the average grade for our units was just a little over 81% compliance with our standards. Currently our average is over 91% and with all of the improvements scheduled for completion, we will increase this over the next year.
Consistent high quality rooms make the job much easier for all of our employees as well as help drive some of the rates we currently get. Put yourselves in our guests place and think,
“is this two-bedroom condo worth $295 a night?”
July is our peak month, but the expectations of our guests are for us to provide value throughout the year. It is because of these expectations that we continually try and improve our service quality as well as the physical appearance of Bay Watch. Thank you for trusting us with your investment as we strive for continous improvement.
Alan Peterson, General Manager
LETTER FROM YOUR HOMEOWNER REPRESENTATIVE: Sue BassI hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful summer! We at Bay Watch have been very busy. The summer seemed to go very smoothly this year.
Thanks to the owners who continue to invest in their units with upgrades. Our guests have seen the improvement! We consistently work with all owners in an effort to make improvements. Real estate seems to be gaining momentum still with no foreclosures or short sales currently.
We have been discussing the Oceana Rental Management program with several Owners currently not on the program. Some have already signed contracts to join us. They are seeing the difference in the overall property improvements and our increase in revenue.
We in Homeowner Services are preparing for a busy fall/winter season with our upcoming Deep Clean/Winter Preventative services. We will be grading and working with everyone individually to suggest items to improve the unit grades and annual revenue. Feel free to stop by and see us anytime!
Sue Bass, Homeowner Services
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ACTIVITIES UPDATE: A Fun-Tastic Summer
If you are at all familiar with Jimmy Buffet, then you might just agree that he has to be one of the wittiest writers, writing lines such as “I’m growing older, but not up!” For me personally, there seems to be a wealth of truth in this idiom when you have the blessing of coordinating fun activities for the children that stay at Oceana Resorts during the summer. For three months out of the year, I have the good fortune of channeling
my inner-child in order to establish the most entertaining atmosphere possible at our resorts.
And, what a fun-tastic summer it’s been at Oceana Resorts! With excellent participation rates, the children who joined us this summer were able to enjoy a variety of unique activities.
Whether it was learning how to be a mermaid for the afternoon, studying baby sharks, being amazed by poolside magic tricks, or designing their own tie-dye t-shirt, the children experienced no shortage of fun, wonder, and lasting vacation memories.
As your Activities Manager, perhaps the greatest pleasure I receive during the summer season is witnessing the joy that a child exudes during their vacation with Oceana Resorts. In seeing them either splashing in the ocean surf, floating along in a lazy river, or participating in one of our many on-site activities, I am indelibly brought back to my own wonderful childhood memories of vacationing in Myrtle Beach. Knowing that a child can benefit so richly from our resorts is a generous source of pride for my activities staff and myself.
To that end, your Oceana Activities team’s most valued priority is to create the best possible memories for our homeowners and guests. Creating lasting relationships with the children who visit our resorts during the summer allows us to believe that they are indeed a part of our extended family. Because of such, my staff and I certainly hope to see each and every child again next summer (as well as new ones!), in order to create all new vacation memories!
Alex McLean, Activities Manager
REVENUE UPDATE: Q3 - 2015 The third quarter of 2015 was a great quarter for us at Bay Watch Resort. Average Daily Rate (ADR) was up, as was total revenue, while occupied nights were down slightly as compared to the same quarter last year. Email marketing efforts combined with social media outreach resulted in increased brand awareness and revenue generation. Any added value from property or unit upgrades helps to further enhance the overall guest experience and your investment. For more information on the current status of your individual unit, please contact your homeowner representative.
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MARKETING UPDATE: Not Slowing DownAlthough things often slow down at our resorts after the summer, the marketing team continues to work hard promoting our beautiful properties and this wonderful destination. We have responded to over 500 TripAdvisor® reviews this quarter and continue monitoring these daily to ensure they are handled professionally and promptly.
We have recently acquired new professional photography of our resorts and area attractions, and are incorporating them into our social media presence to keep posts fresh.
Our focus now turns to the shoulder season where we will work hard to bring guests to our area to enjoy the beautiful weather and shopping, and to experience the holidays with us at the beach. Various promotions have already launched including email campaigns for Halloween and Thanksgiving, and we are beginning to better leverage our use of third party platforms to fill in room nights as needed. We are also gearing up our “snowbird” marketing to attract our friends escaping the cold weather this fall and winter.
GOLF UPDATE: 2015 Wyndham ChampionshipIn August, Oceana Resorts and Wyndham Vacation Rentals employees worked at a booth at the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, NC. We were able to opt in over 950 golfers to our email database to specifically target with golf promotions in the future. Our booth looked fantastic and our team was very engaging. Events such as this are a great opportunity to leverage the entire network of Wyndham Vacation Rentals and show the world our breadth of products. The collaboration of the different departments, regions and corporate team truly made the difference in our results.
As mentioned in our previous newsletters, don’t forget about our Homeowners No Greens Fee program. Several area golf courses have partnered with Oceana Resorts to extend a fantastic benefit just for our valued Homeowners. Visit http://www.oceanaresorts.com/benefits/nogreensfee/ for more details. Additionally, we have great rates on area courses that are not included in the program. To take advantage of this owner privilege, call Oceana Resorts Golf Specialists toll free at 877.840.8464.
14 Sylvan Way, Parsippany, NJ 07054
Alan PetersonGeneral Manager(843) 272-4600
Sue BassHomeowner Rep.(843) 361-2103
Fran GreggsGuest Services Manager
(843) [email protected]
John BiernesserMaintenance Manager
(843) [email protected]
Gwen DixonHousekeeping Manager
(843) [email protected]
Bay Watch Resort & Conference Center2701 S. Ocean Blvd.North Myrtle Beach, SC 29582866-270-2172reservations@oceanaresorts.comwww.baywatchresort.com
SPONSORSHIP NEWS: Increasing Visibility in Sports TourismAs you may know from previous editions of this newsletter, Oceana Resorts is a proud sponsor of both the Myrtle Beach Sports Center and the North Myrtle Beach Park and Sports Complex.
The Myrtle Beach Sports Center hosted numerous athletes, coaches and visitors this summer. Distribution of our marketing pieces included in visitor packets is estimated to be nearly 48,000 units. Additionally, estimates of the number of visitors within viewing range of our video board advertisement are around 36,000, not including athletes or coaches.
Meanwhile, in North Myrtle Beach, our sponsored baseball and softball fields have seen 16 events this summer, with 424 participating teams and 13,300 attendees. These games at the Park and Sports Complex are also live streamed from their website, where over 94,000 viewers were also exposed to our brand.
While our sponsorships are more about creating brand awareness as opposed to lead generation, the impact of these sports complexes seems to have been a boon to our business. Our group sales department experienced a double digit increase in revenue compared to this quarter last year, attributable in part to an increase in Myrtle Beach sports tourism.
Wyndham Vacation Rentals and related marks are registered trademarks and/or service marks in the United States and internationally. All rights reserved. © 2015 Wyndham Vacation Rentals North America, LLC. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA.
DESTINATION NEWS: Grand Strand RecognizedMyrtle Beach has been recognized by TripAdvisor yet again, this time coming in at number six on the list of TripAdvisor Vacation Rentals’ Top Places For Fall Season. Bethany Beach, DE came in first on the list as well as other noted destinations including Gulf Shores, AL, Hilton Head, SC, and Ocean City, MD.
Travel Weekly also picked Myrtle Beach for an award in third quarter of this year. Myrtle Beach was awarded the “Silver Magellan Award” in the category of family destination by top travel organizations and professionals, which is not surprising considering the generations of families that have been vacationing here for decades.
According to Brad Dean of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, “what vacationers are realizing is the fall shoulder season is a perfect time to take a vacation to the Myrtle Beach area. The weather is still warm and inviting, the savings on accommodations are significant and there’s more elbow room on the beach. If you missed us in the summer, there is no better time than the fall to visit the Grand Strand.”
