JUNE, 2020 (BALI, INDONESIA) – Staff at four Wyndham and Ramada hotels and resorts in Bali have provided future hospitality professionals guidance for their careers and the opportunity to hone their skills at state-of-the-art facilities during a local downturn in tourism.

In recent weeks, Wyndham Tamansari Jivva Resort Bali, Wyndham Dreamland Resort Bali, Wyndham Garden Kuta Beach Bali and Ramada by Wyndham Bali Sunset Road Kuta opened their doors to train students from the following Balinese schools:

• SMK negeri 3 Denpasar
• SMK negeri 5 Denpasar
• SMK 1 Kuta Selatan
• SMK Pariwisata Harapan
• SMK Wira Harapan
• SMK Prshanti Nilayam
• SMK Dwijendra
• Elizabeth International School
• Politeknik Negeri Bali

The resorts also provided online training to three schools outside of Bali: SMK negeri 1 Labuan Bajo, SMK Suakarsa Ruteng, SMK negeri 1 Sumbawa Besar.

“About 60 students attended the session at our resort and were split into two separate sessions, where they were able train at our facilities and learn about housekeeping, human resources and food and beverage from our experienced staff,” said Anastasia Damayanti, General Manager of Ramada Bali Sunset Road.

“The sessions we have run give students the opportunity to become used to the standards expected in the hospitality industry and experience what it is like to utilise professional equipment, all with guidance provided by our supportive staff. I am sure the students enjoyed the opportunity and we enjoyed the opportunity to impart some of what we know.”

The four properties are managed by PT. Wyndham Hotel Management, an Indonesian subsidiary of Wyndham Destinations, one of the world’s largest travel and hospitality companies. The properties are two of the 10 Wyndham Hotels & Resorts properties in Indonesia to be managed by PT Wyndham Hotel Management.

Wyndham Destinations Asia Pacific Head of Hotel and Resort Operations, Asia Pacific, Michael Burchett said the initiative has been a great way for the properties – and their staff – to give back to the community, particularly while Wyndham Dreamland Bali is closed.

“COVID-19 has been disruptive to most industries, including hospitality and education, but it has also presented us with new opportunities to form partnerships and help to invest in the future of the local industry,” he said.

“Despite the COVID-19 situation, we believe that there is a positive long-term future for tourism in Indonesia and Bali and our teams hope to see students continuing to pursue careers in the sector.”

GOLD COAST, AUSTRALIA (JUNE 22, 2021) – Wyndham Destinations Asia Pacific’s customer focus during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic has been recognised at the annual American Resort Development Association (ARDA) Awards, with one major win and three finalists.

Gold-Coast based VIP Program Manager Rebecca Hitchcock was the winner of the Owner or Customer Relations Team Member category. Her colleague, Owner Education & Engagement Manager Emma Sheldrick, was a finalist in Owner or Customer Relations Manager category; the company’s Gold Coast corporate centre-based sales team was a finalist in the Sales Team category while several teams were part of Wyndham Destinations’ entry in the ACE Excellence in Customer Service category, which was also a finalist.

“When the pandemic struck, we made a business-wide effort to communicate more with our customers: to keep them up-to-date with our latest news, provide light entertainment and create a video channel, Club Wyndham TV, to inspire their future travels,” said Barry Robinson, President and Managing Director, International Operations, Wyndham Destinations.

“We also focused on showing our vacation club members how to maximize their membership experiences by holding live education sessions on Zoom. Many of the team members involved in this collaboration have been recognised and we are thrilled with the recognition.”

Ms Hitchcock in particular was chosen for her efforts engaging with vacation club members who owned large points holdings and found their travel plans limited due to restrictions.

“I have spent many years assisting our valued vacation club members with their travel plans and it has been a privilege to develop strong personal relationships with many of them over that time. I would like to think the challenges of the pandemic has brought us even closer,” said Ms Hitchcock.

“Providing outstanding service to our customers is a team effort and I am grateful to have hard-working colleagues alongside me who genuinely care and provide our club members with excellent guidance about the value of their product.”

Globally, Ms Hitchcock was one of seven winners from Wyndham Destinations, the vacation ownership arm of Travel + Leisure Co. (NYSE: TNL) – the world’s leading membership and leisure travel company.

ARDA Award winners are selected by both timeshare industry experts and judges outside of the industry. The awards are broadly acknowledged as a gold standard for overall professional excellence across the global timeshare industry.

SINGAPORE, (14 JUNE, 2021) – Seventeen properties managed by Wyndham Destinations Asia Pacific have been recognised in Tripadvisor’s annual Travelers’ Choice awards, with one being named in the top 25 resorts in the South Pacific region.

Tripadvisor’s annual Travelers’ Choice Awards are designed to celebrate the world’s best accommodation, restaurants, airlines and destinations and are determined by the quality and quantity of reviews submitted by guests to tripadvisor.com.

“While last year was a disruptive one for the hospitality sector, our resort teams understood early into the pandemic that they still had control over many elements of the experience our guests enjoyed at our properties,” said Warren Cullum, Senior Vice President Resort Operations.

“Thanks to our customers who took the time to show their appreciation and provide favourable reviews online. We are proud of the way our people continued to provide personalised service and create an environment where guests could make memories to last a lifetime, while adhering to ever-changing COVID-19 regulations and rolling out new, strict hygiene standards.

“We also took the opportunity through the quieter periods of last year to reinvent the future guest experience at our properties by completing refurbishments, implementing complimentary activities, purchasing new equipment and launching new initiatives – for example, the hobby farm with alpacas and livestock at Ramada Resort by Wyndham Seven Mile Beach,” Mr Cullum added.

The following properties managed by Wyndham Destinations Asia Pacific were Travelers’ Choice winners:

• Ramada Resort by Wyndham Port Douglas (Australia)
• Ramada Resort by Wyndham Golden Beach (Australia)
• Wyndham Surfers Paradise (Australia)
• Club Wyndham Sydney (Australia)
• Wyndham Melbourne (Australia)
• Ramada Resort by Wyndham Dinner Plain Mt Hotham (Australia)
• Ramada Resort by Wyndham Seven Mile Beach (Australia)
• Ramada Resort by Wyndham Wanaka (New Zealand)
• Club Wyndham Denarau Island (Fiji)
• Wyndham Grand Phuket Kalim Bay (Thailand)
• Wyndham Dreamland Resort Bali (Indonesia)
• Wyndham Tamansari Jivva Resort Bali (Indonesia)
• Wyndham Sundancer Resort Lombok (Indonesia)
• Wyndham Surabaya (Indonesia)
• Wyndham Casablanca Jakarta (Indonesia)
• Days Hotel & Suites Jakarta Airport (Indonesia)
• Wyndham Palembang (Indonesia)

Club Wyndham Denarau Island was almost named one of the Travellers’ Choice Awards “Best of the Best”, ranking in the top 25 hotels or resorts in the South Pacific region. Wyndham Destinations Asia Pacific oversees a collection of 65 hotels and resorts across the region, extending across Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Thailand, Indonesia and Japan. It is a division of Wyndham Destinations, the world’s largest vacation ownership business, which is part of Travel + Leisure (NYSE:TNL), the world’s leading membership and leisure travel company.

TORQUAY, VICTORIA (14 JUNE, 2021) – A new cocktail menu and 24-hour pizza are now available to both guests at Wyndham Torquay and local residents, as the resort ramps up its food and beverage options.

Onsite bar Winkipops started serving pizzas 24 hours a day recently and has now made these available to the public, while the establishment’s new cocktail menu includes a mixture of original tastes and favourites from around the globe.

“Many of our guests – particularly those from major centres – gave us feedback that they would like to see more options for food in Torquay after 11pm, so we took it to heart and began serving pizza at any time of the day or night,” said General Manager, Cameron Jeffery.

“We are pleased to say that everything is made at the resort and drinks can be ordered with the meal. Guests can order pizza using the resort’s web app while locals can now place an order via Menulog, or can visit Winkipops on Thursday, Friday or Saturday night from 5pm to 8pm to enjoy a slice at the resort.”

The comprehensive pizza menu includes favourites like margherita, vegetarian and meat lovers, along with the spicy Eye-Waterer and Tropical Torquay, a unique take on an old classic with ham, mushroom, capsicum and pineapple. For a sugar hit, the Nutella and banana pizza is available for dessert.

The new cocktail menu, featuring 20 diverse martinis and cocktails, was championed by Mr Jeffery and draws heavily on his experiences running properties and bars within hotels and cruise ships over the world.

“Wyndham Torquay is positioned just over the road from Zeally Bay and the Winkipops cocktails are designed to feel right at home in a beachside resort. My personal favourites are the tropical tasting Bon Voyage and Jubilation, a unique blend of Midori, Licor 43 and Bailey’s Irish Cream,” Mr Jeffery said.

“Those are two of the six original cocktails we have designed for the menu, along with Hot Apple Pie, Inspiration, Illumination and our namesake Wyn Gin. With favourites like the Appletini, Espresso Martini, Pina Colada, Fruit Tingle and Toblerone, we have something for everyone.”

The 206-room Wyndham Torquay is opposite Zeally Bay Beach, a few minutes away from Bells Beach and is at the gateway to the picturesque Great Ocean Road. It offers a range of luxury hotel rooms and one or two-bedroom apartments. The onsite bar Winkipops has been named in honour of the famous surf break at nearby Bell’s Beach.

The resort is a mixed-use property utilised by resort guests and members of Club Wyndham South Pacific, one of the region’s leading timeshare clubs with close to 60,000 vacation owners.

SINGAPORE, (MAY 27, 2021) – Wyndham Destinations Asia Pacific was recently recognised at the international Perspective Magazine Awards with three awards, one of which represents the fourth consecutive win in the same category by the business.

An Asia Pacific timeshare leader, Wyndham Destinations Asia Pacific won Best Consumer Product, Best Hotel/Resort Development and Best Legal Services – which represented the legal team’s fourth nod in four years – at the GNEX conference in Miami, Florida, on the weekend.

“It is always a privilege to be honoured at the Perspective Magazine Awards but following a year unlike any other we have ever experienced before, these are special award wins which highlight the resilience, responsiveness and reinvention of our people,” said Barry Robinson, President and Managing Director, International Operations, Wyndham Destinations.

“I could not be prouder of our teams who, despite the extraordinary circumstances of the pandemic, have launched new, consumer-friendly products, reinvented the experiences they offer and continue to set new industry benchmarks.”

Innovative Holiday Club by Club Wyndham (IHC), launched in Asia in 2020, won Best Consumer Product by Perspective Magazine. The timeshare club is a simple holiday concept offering a shorter 20-year term along with usage rights at thousands of resorts globally, thanks to agreements with exchange leader RCI and Wyndham Destinations.

Ramada Resort by Wyndham Seven Mile Beach was named Best Hotel/Resort Development. During its COVID-19 related closure in April and May last year, General Manager Emma Todd and her team took the opportunity to reinvent the resort, reopening with a plan for enhanced experiences and a new hobby farm complete with livestock and alpacas, and feeding tours.

The company’s legal team, domiciled on the Gold Coast in Australia and Singapore, was named Best Legal Services for the fourth consecutive year. This year, the team helped the business successfully navigate COVID-19 restrictions across multiple Asia Pacific jurisdictions and advise on legislative changes in some markets.

Wyndham Destinations Asia Pacific oversees a collection of 65 hotels and resorts across the region, extending across Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Thailand, Indonesia and Japan. It also markets and sells vacation ownership interests in Club Wyndham South Pacific and provides support for affiliate Wyndham Destinations International Limited, which develops Club Wyndham Asia and IHC.

It is a division of Wyndham Destinations, the world’s largest vacation ownership business, which is part of Travel + Leisure (NYSE:TNL), the world’s leading membership and leisure travel company.

NADI, FIJI (MAY 26, 2021) – Club Wyndham Denarau Island was named on Tripadvisor’s Top 25 resorts in the South Pacific in the review platform’s recent 2021 Travelers’ Choice Awards.

The awards and the resort’s status on the “Best of the Best” list are determined by the quality and quantity of reviews submitted by guests to tripadvisor.com. Club Wyndham Denarau Island currently enjoys a 4.5-star rating on the website and is rated the top resort on Denarau Island in Fiji.

“Our team is thrilled to once again be recognised through the Tripadvisor Travelers’ Choice Awards, after topping the family category for the South Pacific region last year. I am immensely proud to lead a team that is committed to delivering a personalised and memorable experience to everyone who checks in,” said General Manager Kaydee George.

“These recognitions from Tripadvisor are special because they are directly influenced by the experience of our visiting Club Wyndham South Pacific owners and their guests and we appreciate them for taking the time to write their favourable reviews online. What is truly incredible is that we have received this accolade despite being closed for a large part of last year.”

The resort has more than 1,600 reviews on Tripadvisor, with many praising friendly staff, generous facilities, quality of food and beverage and onsite activities. One reviewer called the resort “the friendliest place on earth” while another said it was a “second home”.

Club Wyndham Denarau Island is a timeshare resort utilised primarily by the close to 60,000 members of Club Wyndham South Pacific, one of the region’s leading clubs with 51 resorts across Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Thailand, Japan, Hawaii and Europe.

While most of the club’s members – who are based in Australia and New Zealand – have been unable to visit Fiji, the resort has been closed for long periods to undergo extensive refurbishments. These have included everything from repairing the beachfront rock wall and re-thatching bures damaged by cyclones to a full building re-paint and the upgrade of several of the facilities including the kids’ club, swim-up pool bar and the resort’s café, The Latte Lounge. The resort opened on weekends and over the Easter long weekend earlier in the year for locally-based club members and the general public.

When the resort is re-opened, club members will enjoy these upgrades and a wider range of complimentary activities than before, including dive-in-movie nights with a big outdoor screen, kayak and stand up paddle board safaris, photo mementos, basket making, kava demonstrations, coconut leaf weaving, volleyball and Fijian language classes.

The resort boasts a host of facilities including Mamacita Restaurant & Bar, The Beach Shack Bar and Grill, The Latte Lounge located in the lobby and swim up-pool bars at the lagoon-style swimming pool and adults’ only pool. The resort also boasts a kids’ club, day spa, gym and 24-hour reception.

Tripadvisor’s annual Travelers’ Choice Awards are designed to celebrate the world’s best accommodation, restaurants, airlines and destinations.

Playford Mayor Glenn Docherty formally breaks ground on stylish Ramada by Wyndham hotel in Adelaide’s North

ADELAIDE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA (14 APRIL, 2021) – Construction has begun on the 205-room Ramada by Wyndham Playford in Adelaide’s north today – a sign of confidence in the long-term future of the tourism and accommodation industry.

The hotel construction is expected to cost circa $70 million dollars and will feature a collection of well-appointed rooms and facilities including a swimming pool, gym, restaurant and sports bar, along with conference and events spaces. Once complete, guests staying at the hotel will be within easy walking distance of the Civic Centre and Shedley Theatre, Prince George Plaza and Grenville Hub. The Barossa Valley is also only a short drive away.

“The hotel is a much-anticipated addition to our Civic Precinct, neighbouring the iconic Shedley Theatre, our premier parklands Fremont Park and retail experience from Vicinity Centres. It provides greater options for high quality accommodation in Northern Adelaide and brings with it much needed jobs and investment in our city,” said Councillor Docherty.

The ground-breaking event was attended by Barry Robinson, President and Managing Director International Operations, Wyndham Destinations; Duncan Mars, Senior Director of Operations, Wyndham Destinations Asia Pacific; and Matt Holmes, Head of Development – South East Asia & Pacific Rim at Wyndham Hotels & Resorts; with City of Playford Mayor, Glenn Docherty officiating the ground breaking.

As the first Ramada by Wyndham property for South Australia, this hotel further showcases Wyndham Hotels & Resorts’ ongoing expansion throughout Australia and the wider Asia Pacific region.  With more than 800 hotels worldwide, the Ramada by Wyndham brand is one of the world’s most recognisable hotel brands featuring a range of globally diverse properties for travellers looking for both full-service stays and quick stopovers.

The hotel will operate as a Ramada by Wyndham under a licence agreement between Wyndham Hotels & Resorts and Wyndham Destinations.

Ramada by Wyndham Playford will be managed by Resort Management by Wyndham, an Australian hotel management subsidiary of Wyndham Destinations Asia Pacific. Construction is expected to be complete by October, 2022, with the grand opening slated before Christmas of the same year.

“We are thrilled to be commencing construction on what will become an important hub for Playford and South Australia once complete. The hotel will provide quality accommodation, servicing one of the nation’s key defence hubs – the RAAF Edinburgh super-base – along with the many corporate businesses and government agencies across the city. Located just 15 minutes away from the Barossa

Valley, it also makes one of the region’s key attractions easier to access,” said Andrew Russell Price, business owner, Playford City Hotel Pty Ltd.

“This is a milestone moment for Ramada by Wyndham Playford, a long-awaited project that will bring an elevated calibre of accommodation and a globally recognised hospitality brand to this growing city. It is an expression of confidence in the future of the city and the resilience of the state’s hotel sector, which overcame the disruptions of COVID-19 to recently record festive figures on par with those from 2019,” said Barry Robinson, President and Managing Director International Operations, Wyndham Destinations.

“This is the 52^nd property in our managed hotel and resort portfolio across Asia Pacific and we look forward to bringing our signature personalised service and exceptional experiences to visitors to the region,” he added.

“This is an important addition to Wyndham Hotels & Resorts’ portfolio of over 1,500 hotels across Asia Pacific, bolstering our presence as one of the region’s leading hotel groups. The hotel’s launch will coincide with a significant expansion of Playford’s infrastructure, including the A$885 million Northern Connector Expressway and Ramada by Wyndham Playford will play a significant role in Playford’s emergence as a gateway city to the northern regional areas of South Australia,” said Matt Holmes, Head of Development, South East Asia & Pacific Rim at Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Asia Pacific.

Award-winning architect, Carlo Pennino of MPH Architects, has designed the plans for the sleek and contemporary hotel. Playford City Hotel Pty Ltd has appointed South Australian Construction Company, Mossop Builders for the construction. Consulting and asset management services are being provided by Hotellerie.

Ramada by Wyndham Playford, along with all of Wyndham’s hotels and resorts in Australia will participate in Wyndham Rewards, the world’s most generous rewards program with thousands of hotels, vacation club resorts and vacation rentals worldwide. Designed for the everyday traveller, the program’s more than 86 million members earn a guaranteed 1,000 points with every qualified stay and may redeem points for a wide-range of rewards, including free nights, gift cards, merchandise and more.