The way Raymond Maduro tells it, it began with a post-card. A businessman friend dropped him a line from Puerto Rico telling him about a revolutionary new concept in hospitality, and Raymond answered the call.
It’s that simple, Raymond was ready for a breakthrough and followed a lead from a friend who owned a home in Aruba.
He decided to take a trip to Puerto Rico and see for himself how revolutionary this new timeshare concept is.
He took two friends along, businessman Tito Muyale, and architect Dan Oduber.
The minute they laid eyes on that resort that is still operational, the genius of the concept hit them. It represented an affordable, reasonable solution to the challenge of owning a home in Aruba.
You own a fraction.
And you can tell your friends back home, that you own a place on the island.
Raymond believes that timeshare was the most innovative concept in the history of hospitality in the last four decades. And it is still going strong. Our very own Bettina Gonzalez is now setting up a big timeshare operation in Florida, for the Marriott Corporation.
Aruba Beach Club was the #8 timeshare in the world and the first outside US territory. Farida Mansur is the GM at the helm. She’s been there for thirty years, starting at the accounting department and transitioning into the executive office. With 85 employees and 3,000 members the ABC is still going strong, enjoying a multi-generational guest profile; some have been vacationing at the resort, every year, since infancy.
And employees are as loyal as guests, says Farida. The ABC enjoys a stable and reliable workforce that is emotionally attached to the property and very familiar with its guests. The laundry manager, Farida fondly states, has been working for ABC for 39 years.
Farida recalls she was hired into the accounting department serving five different companies, including the Aruba Beach Club, Casa del Mar and the respective holding and management companies. Today the resort is run by a co-op of owners, and since the split with Casa Del Mar in the year 2000, it is a self sustainable, independent, full service entity, sharing the beach with Casa del Mar but otherwise completely separate.
Imagine a resort without a marketing budget. It’s true. Farida admits her resort sells itself and doesn’t require any booking engines, nor travel sites. The members show up every year and when they are indisposed they send their friends and the resort enjoys high occupancy, year round. Get ready for a modest 40 year celebration for the staff and for dignitaries, with Raymond Maduro as the keynote speaker.
