Wyndham Destinations CEO: People Vacation 'in Good Times and in Bad'
*By Chloe Aiello*
The markets may be shaky, but Wyndham Destinations CEO Michael Brown feels confident the timeshare spin-off can weather an economic downturn.
"People are going to vacation in good times and in bad. They will not give up their vacations ー they may change how they vacation," Brown told Cheddar on Tuesday.
In June, Wyndham Worldwide spun off Wyndham Hotels & Resorts and became Wyndham Destinations ($WYND). Since then, the stock has fallen more than 20 percent amid broader market weakness ー with the exception of a pop in value in November. But Brown said the company still managed to return over $200 million in dividends and share repurchases to its shareholders since then, and is concentrating on stockpiling cash, or "dry powder," in case of a recession.
"On the capital allocation and capital expenditures side, we continue to be thoughtful in looking forward to '19 and '20 on how much capital we have dedicated. In the last recession and the one before that, you wanted to have some dry powder in your company so that as real estate began to drop and \[mergers and acquisitions\] opportunities came forward you had the ability to take advantage of those," Brown said.
As far as demand goes, however, Brown said the market might experience some margin compression, but ultimately people will continue to want to escape. And that's good news for a timeshare company.
"Instead of taking a long haul trip to Hawaii, they may put some gas in their car, some groceries in their car, save a little money and go to a regional destination," Brown said. "And that's the beauty about vacation ownership. It's prepaid vacation, you've locked in their value, and you're going to enjoy your vacation in good times and in bad."
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/talking-2019-travel-trends-with-wyndham-destinations).
The Tony Awards on Sunday lured 4.85 million viewers to CBS, its largest broadcast audience in six years. CBS says Monday that Nielsen data shows the telecast — hosted by “Wicked” star Cynthia Erivo — scored a 38% increase over last year’s 3.53 million viewers. That’s the largest audience for the Tonys since 2019, when the telecast that year nabbed 5.4 million viewers and “Hadestown” was crowned best new musical. The latest version also had to compete with the second game of the NBA Finals, between the Thunder and Pacers,
After stumbling out of the starting gate in Big Tech’s pivotal race to capitalize on artificial intelligence, Apple tried to regain its footing Monday during a developers conference that focused mostly on incremental advances and cosmetic changes in its technology.
Six weeks before UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was gunned down outside a Manhattan hotel last December, Luigi Mangione mused about rebelling against “the deadly, greed fueled health insurance cartel” and expressed that killing the executive “conveys a greedy bastard that had it coming."
Shaquille O’Neal and Allen Iverson once clashed on the court in the 2001 NBA Finals, but now the basketball legends are joining forces to revive the Reebok brand they helped make iconic.
Midea is voluntarily recalling about 1.7 million of its popular U and U+ Smart air conditioners because pooled water in the units may not drain fast enough, leading to mold growth.
