Halogen Guides was in attendance along with all of the big industry players at the annual Destination Club Association meeting in Denver this January. We sat down with Ultimate Resort CEO Jim Tousignant to find out what’s new with his club, his opinion on the state of industry, and what sets Ultimate Resort apart from the pack.

Tousignant touted the strong state of the industry, with more than a dozen clubs around the world and thousands of members, though he emphasized that destination clubs were only scratching the surface with more than 10 million mass affluent consumers who fit the profile for enjoying the luxury and flexibility of destination clubs.

As far as this year’s real estate slowdown goes, Tousignant was in agreement with his fellow destination club CEO’s in seeing an opportunity. If anything the higher cost of real estate during the hot markets of the last few years made the job of buying properties around the world more difficult.

Tousignant was rightly proud of the work of Destination Club Association, of which he is a founding member, in establishing best practices and focusing efforts on full and fair disclosure, financial security, and proper sales practices. Ultimate Resort, Tousignant pointed out, was the first club to provide members with audited financial statements to ensure the viability of their investment, now a common practice among many clubs.

A firm believer in the strength of his club Tousignant cited his seasoned management team, the club’s well capitalized position vis-à-vis equity, as well as the club’s homes and services. Just don’t ask him to pick one as his favorite: he loves them all. And this week, the merger between Ultimate Resort and Private Escapes was finalized to form a new mega-club, Ultimate Escapes.

Watch the complete video interview below, or check out Part 1 of our CEO interviews, with Exclusive Resort’s Jeff Potter, Part 2 with High Country Club’s Christian Kirschner, or Part 3 with the Lusso Collection’s Steve Greer.