Q&A Interview: Marcos Agostini

You have a long history — about 27 years — with Interval. That certainly makes the transition a little easier, but what part of that background do you think is the most important?

Marcos Agostini: The institutional knowledge. Interval is a unique business, and knowing how it’s all connected is crucial to being able to lead the business. It all begins with how we promote ourselves, the affiliation process, the different exchange methods we support, valuation of inventory, how we market to our customers, and all the business rules that support the business. My industry knowledge and experience give me a clear understanding of how we operate and need to evolve.

And working closely with Interval’s previous leaders (Craig Nash, David Gilbert, and Marbert) definitely guided my professional career. They were very passionate for the Interval business and its associates. They were always conscious to make sure the Interval team was making the right business deal with the right people — and always made fulfillment a priority, ensuring that we delivered on what we were saying. Those traits are very much part of Interval’s DNA.

Your early experience at Interval, though, is unique from those previous leaders.

MA: My experience started when I went to visit my parents in Venezuela a long time ago. Interval was meant to be a part-time job, a six-month gig while I was home. Then I’d go back to England and continue on with life. But I liked what I was doing and kept earning more responsibility. I went from operations to sales, so I’ve been on the phones and in the field. I’ve had the opportunity to work in our different Latin America offices, too, so I have a multicultural background that allows me to adapt to cultures and be open-minded to change. That’s definitely a different background than previous leaders. And I think it gives me a unique perspective and a unique insight to the fact that not all customers are the same, and it’s important to recognize that in our products and the marketing of those products.

Your life outside of Interval also provides a different foundation.

MA: Yes, in addition to working in our Latin America offices, I grew up in a multicultural environment. I have lived in Europe, South America, and now Miami is home. My mother is Welsh, my father was born in Trinidad and Tobago, where his parents immigrated to from the Middle East. As we look at our business, the international markets are very important for the future growth of Interval. So, being able to adapt to different environments is beneficial to conducting business in different jurisdictions. Along those lines, we continue to look at what has worked in different markets and consider how we use those learnings to evolve our products and services.

Any examples?

MA: In terms of products, Mexico is a great example of how the market has evolved. Over the years, resorts have introduced different types of memberships. We have seen how the all-inclusive market has exploded and in parallel how these resorts have introduced membership programs. We have seen how developers have introduced sales upgrade paths by developing higher-end products within their developments. Our business is more than just timeshare. Interval supports different types of ownership models: large clubs — with their own systems — travel clubs, short-term membership programs, fractional resorts, and other types of shared ownership offerings. As we look at growth, we have to continue embracing these types of products and customize the Interval network to developers’ needs, so we can become a larger marketplace for more products to grow our services.

Consumers are certainly always interested in the “next big thing.”

MA: Definitely. For us, it’s about being conscious of the differences in how developers are positioning their offerings to the consumers. We can’t expect every member to think in terms of what we consider traditional timeshare … there are so many other forms.

We are always evolving in terms of how we service all the different types of customers. And, we continue to look at how we can leverage our infrastructure and our knowledge to develop different kinds of offerings, while never moving away from our foundation as a membership and service company.

It’s always been a bit of a balancing act for Interval to provide the most comprehensive exchange services and opportunities while also attending to new types of services that go beyond the traditional exchange process.

MA: When you look at the composition of the industry, there are many clubs that have their vacation systems and are essentially mini-exchange companies. We have worked hard to figure out how to have our ecosystems connect in a way that we all win. We recently did this with Disney Vacation Club.

As we move forward, it’s not about their customer and our customer. It’s about delivering the best vacation experience to the customer. For nearly 50 years, Interval has played a key role in the industry, and we continue to build on and deliver new products and services that are widely used by our clients and customers. We have a reputable brand, which quite frankly differs from other networks and we are part of Marriott Vacations Worldwide, a leader in vacation ownership. We are in a good place.