WYNDHAM WORLDWIDE TO REBRAND ITS TIMESHARE
PROPERTIES
World's Largest Vacation Ownership
Business Will Carry the Wyndham Flag
PARSIPPANY, N.J. 10-12-2006 — Wyndham Worldwide Corporation (NYSE:WYN), one of the
world's largest hospitality companies, today announced that it will rebrand its
industry-leading timeshare properties – Fairfield Resorts®, Trendwest® North
America and Trendwest South Pacific – under the Wyndham® name.
"Adopting the Wyndham
name within our timeshare business is a significant leap forward in our global
brand strategy and sets the stage for further development of mixed-use hotel
and timeshare properties throughout our system," said Stephen
P. Holmes, Wyndham Worldwide chairman, president and chief executive
officer.
"Associating the
Wyndham brand with our world-class vacation ownership resorts dramatically
broadens the presence of our flagship brand throughout the marketplace, both in
the United States
and abroad," he said. "It also signifies a major evolution for the
Wyndham brand as it now extends to include upscale timeshare products consumers
can own and enjoy for life."
The rebranding process
will begin with the Fairfield Resorts transition to Wyndham Vacation Resorts,
effective immediately. Trendwest South Pacific will become Wyndham Vacation
Resorts-Asia Pacific later this year, followed by Trendwest North America,
which will transition its WorldMark by Trendwest brand to WorldMark by Wyndham
in early 2007.
Collectively, these brands
will continue to operate as Wyndham Vacation Ownership, one of three business
units that comprise Wyndham Worldwide.
The Wyndham brand will
begin to appear on timeshare resorts as well as Wyndham Vacation Ownership's
sales, marketing and service centers around the world in concurrent stages over
a 12-month period. By the end of the year, 15 to 18 high quality resorts in key
markets will prominently carry the Wyndham flag. When completed, more than 140
timeshare resorts throughout the United States,
Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean
and South Pacific will be associated with the Wyndham brand.
"We're excited to
begin introducing our products to consumers under the highly regarded Wyndham
banner," said Franz
S. Hanning, Wyndham Vacation Ownership president and chief executive
officer.
"For more than 40
years, we've built our success on the quality of our resorts, the flexibility
of our vacation ownership programs and the talent and dedication of our more
than 14,000 employees," he said. "Matching these strengths with a
world-class brand presents us with substantial growth opportunities as we begin
to reach new consumers through a name they know and trust."
In conjunction with the
reflagging of its timeshare properties, Wyndham Vacation Ownership will launch
comprehensive marketing campaigns in national broadcast and print media as well
as direct-mail and e-commerce applications in support of its Wyndham-branded
vacation ownership products. The company also will develop additional
cross-marketing programs designed to introduce its full spectrum of
Wyndham-branded products to timeshare owners and hotel guests.
As one of the world's largest hospitality companies, Wyndham Worldwide offers
individual consumers and business-to-business customers a broad suite of
hospitality products and services across various accommodation alternatives and
price ranges through its premier portfolio of world-renowned brands. Wyndham
Hotel Group encompasses more than 6,400 franchised hotels and 535,000 hotel
rooms worldwide. RCI Global Vacation Network offers its more than 3 million
members access to approximately 55,000 vacation properties located in more than
100 countries. Wyndham Vacation Ownership develops, markets and sells vacation
ownership interests and provides consumer financing to owners through its
network of more than 140 vacation ownership resorts serving more than 750,000
owners throughout North America, the Caribbean
and the South Pacific. Wyndham Worldwide, headquartered in Parsippany, N.J.,
employs approximately 28,800 employees globally.
For more information about
Wyndham Worldwide, please visit the company's Web site at www.wyndhamworldwide.com.
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