Another Major Timeshare Firm Lands its Corporate HQ in Orlando

ORLANDO. FL—While the city of Orlando is a haven for vacation travelers, it has also become a hot spot for vacation ownership (timeshare) companies’ corporate headquarters. On Friday newly formed Wyndham Destinations, Inc. announced its headquarters operations would be based there next year.

State and city officials and Wyndham Destinations executives announced the company will house its future global headquarters location starting in early 2019 in Orlando. The company reports it plans to create 200 new jobs with average salaries of $89,000—double the overall prevailing average wage in Orange County. In addition to Wyndham Destinations, two other publicly-traded vacation ownership companies have their corporate headquarters in Orlando—Hilton Grand Vacations Inc. and Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp.

Wyndham Destinations, which did not announce a specific location for its corporate headquarters, says it will be making a $7.5-million capital investment in establishing its headquarters in Orlando. The new employees will be hired over the course of the next two years, consisting of corporate headquarters professional positions in legal, information technology, human resources and finance.

Last year, Wyndham Worldwide announced plans to spin off the company’s hotel business, resulting in two separate, publicly traded companies. Wyndham Hotel Group, headquartered in Parsippany, NJ and Wyndham Destinations, which includes Wyndham Vacation Ownership and Wyndham Destinations, located in Orlando.

In addition to the corporate headquarters announcement on Friday, Wyndham Destinations, formerly known as Wyndham Worldwide Corp., announced it had completed the spin-off of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc. to become the world’s largest vacation ownership and exchange company. Wyndham Destinations now trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the new symbol “WYND.” Wyndham Destinations has a global presence in 110 countries at more than 220 vacation ownership resorts and more than 4,300 affiliated exchange properties. It employs more than 25,000 people around the globe.

“Over the past decade, we have built the world’s largest vacation ownership and exchange company thanks to the hard work of our employees and the loyalty of our customers,” says Michael D. Brown, president and CEO for Wyndham Destinations. “We are excited to move forward as a focused, pure-play company with a leading market position and significant growth opportunities. With our experienced management team, robust sales and marketing platform, and increased financial flexibility, we look forward to providing our owners and guests with great vacation experiences and delivering value for our shareholders in the years to come.”

State officials report the Wyndham Destinations headquarters project was made possible through the efforts of Enterprise Florida, the Department of Economic Opportunity, the Orlando Economic Partnership and Orange County. The company considered locating in Orange County (FL), New Jersey and Indiana.

“Today, I am proud to join Wyndham Destinations as they move their headquarters to Orlando and create 200 jobs in our state,” says Florida Gov. Rick Scott. “By cutting taxes and creating an environment where our private sector can grow, we have made it easier for major businesses to move their operations to Florida. Wyndham Destinations made a great choice by picking Orlando for their headquarters.”

Earlier this year Orange County approved $240,000 of the total $1.2 million incentive package to help bring Wyndham to Orlando, according to a report in the Orlando Business Journal.

The City of Orlando continues to grow its corporate headquarters and regional office portfolio. Among the firms that are either headquartered or have a significant presence in the region, according to the Orlando Economic Partnership, include: the American Automobile Association, Darden Restaurants, Deloitte Consulting LLP, Electronic Arts, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Tupperware Brands Corp., Verizon Communications and the Walt Disney Co.

The partnership also notes on its website that Orlando is also home to the major U.S. operations of international companies, such as: Germany’s Siemens Energy, Japan’s Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, Israel’s Mazor Robotics, and Australia’s Adacel. In total, more than 150 international companies, representing about 20 countries, have facilities in Orlando.