NEW YORK— As Cendant continues to shuffle its executives, John Paul Nichols, former Cendant Hotel Division chief marketing officer, has made a move into the company’s timeshare division, accepting a position as the new evp/leisure property management at Resort Condominiums International (RCI). Nichols succeeds Mark Nuzzo, an 18-year industry veteran who oversaw the integration of Fairfield Resorts and RCI Management, creating RCI Resort Management. Nuzzo is currently exploring potential new roles within RCI. Though effective on Jan. 16, Nichols has been transitioning into his new position for the past 40 days. He now reports to Ken May, president/CEO of RCI. Doug Patterson, newly named Hotel Division COO, and Peter Strebel, svp/marketing services at Cendant, will assume Nichol’s previous responsibilities in Cendant’s Hotel Division. “Strebel will handle the bulk of it,” said Nichols, noting that his decision to switch industries was primarily opportunity driven. “It was based on the fact that the opportunity was available,” he said. When ask if the move was a part of Cendant’s highly publicized reorganization, Nichols said, “The timing was consistent and coincidental.” Cendant has recently lost several top executives including Bob Foley, president/CEO of Travelodge Hotels; Steve Belmonte, president/CEO of Ramada Franchise Systems; and, reportedly, Bruce Bloom, president/CEO of Knights Inns. Nichols added that he thinks “the reorganization was needed and will make for a more flexible organization.” In his new post with RCI, Nichols plans on working to grow the company’s management portfolio, while helping to further integrate RCI Management with the operations at its Fairfield Resorts and the soon-to-be-added Equivest resorts. The acquisition of Equivest for $100 million was announced in December, and is expected to close by the end of this quarter. Equivest will add 27 more resort management contracts to RCI’s portfolio. “We’re really growing our timeshare division,” said Nichols. “I see significant opportunities as a management company.” He added that the industry’s “capital structure is changing rapidly,” and that the aging “Baby Boomers represent a huge upside. They’re the prototypical profile of a timeshare owner.” Nichols hopes to expand RCI’s management portfolio throughout Mexico and Europe. “From a global perspective there are a lot of opportunities,” he said. In addition, he expects to see significant changes in the way timeshares are traded. Currently, RCI uses two exchange programs: RCI Weeks, a traditional trade of real estate weeks between owners, and RCI Points, which allows more flexibility. “We’re creating a currency,” he said. These points can be used to purchase weeks at resorts, or separate weekend trips, or be used at any of RCI’s partners, which include airlines, non-timeshare hotels, car rentals, entertainment, and golf. “Clearly the industry is moving towards a points platform…It’s a more flexible currency,” he added. Though timeshare is a bit of a change from the hotel industry, Nichols was quick to note that the “requisite skill set is the same,” and that he was “very excited about working in a new industry… I forgot how much fun it is starting something brand new.”
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