ORLANDO, Florida—Westgate Resorts announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to purchase Bellevue, Washington-based Vacation Ownership Sales (VOS), which has the management and sales and marketing rights for VI Resorts. The acquisition is set to close in 2025.
As part of the acquisition, Westgate Resorts will assume management of VI Resorts’ points-based Vacation Club, which has a portfolio of over 40 domestic and international resorts and destinations. These locations are around the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Westgate Resorts will continue to add new Owners to the VI Club through its sales and marketing efforts.
As part of its management agreement, Westgate Resorts has committed to investing over $4 million in marketing, branding, and technology improvements to enhance the VI program for its owners, along with additional benefits.
“We are thrilled to significantly expand Westgate with this game-changing acquisition of Vacation Ownership Sales and management of VI Resorts’ Vacation Club with more than 40 resort locations,” said Westgate Resorts’ CEO Jim Gissy. “We look forward to working with the VI Resorts Owners to help enhance their Vacation Club, bring exciting new Westgate destinations into the VI Club and create new and diverse vacation product offerings for our existing Owners at Westgate.”
Upon the completion of the acquisition, Mike Vasey, owner and president of Vacation Ownership Sales, will join the Westgate executive team and continue to lead the company forward. “From the moment I began speaking with the Westgate team it instantly felt like a natural fit that the largest independent, owner-led vacation club and the largest independent timeshare brand should come together. This acquisition will lead to so many product synergies and collaborative opportunities,” said Vasey. “The VI Resorts team and I look forward to joining the Westgate team and leveraging over 90 years of history between our two great companies.”
Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2024, VI Resorts is a vacation club known for its points-based timeshare system dating back to its inception in 1974. This collaboration will allow the VI Resorts Board to leverage Westgate’s management experience to elevate resort operations. “We have enjoyed getting to know the Westgate Resorts leadership team over the past year and have visited several of their resort locations. We appreciate the immense capacity that this partnership brings, allowing the VI Club to remain independent,” said Betty Flad, president of the VI Owners Association (VIOA) Board and a VI Resorts owner.
This purchase builds on the heels of Westgate’s partnership with Choice Hotels which was announced earlier this year, as well as its plan to continue to grow its timeshare business. Through this partnership, existing Westgate Owners can exchange their ownership time for stays at VI Resorts locations and VI Owners can exchange to Westgate Resorts locations through their Interval International membership.
