Barry Robinson is the President and Managing Director, International Operations, at Travel + Leisure Co. – a leading vacation ownership and travel membership company. Barry oversees the company’s vacation ownership operations outside North America.
Today, around 6,000 associates are part of Travel + Leisure Co. International region, across resorts and corporate offices in Singapore; Shanghai, China; Tokyo, Japan; Bali, Indonesia; Clark, Philippines; and on the Gold Coast, Australia. With a club portfolio valued at over US$1 billion, this growth has been driven by the leadership of Robinson, who joined in 2003 and has expanded the business into 10 markets.
Under Robinson’s guidance, the company has come to lead the vacation ownership industry in the region. It was an early developer of purpose-built club resorts in Australia, pioneered the mixed-use model of vacation ownership and hotel inventory, and developed the first 20-year vacation club. Club Wyndham Asia represents a progressive evolution of the timeshare industry, addressing some major customer pain points through a shorter term, a commitment to giving members proceeds of property sales at the end of the club term, and the opportunity to surrender annual points and forgo levies.
Barry has diversified the business to go beyond developing and managing timeshare clubs. Travel + Leisure Co. oversees a host of these resorts for club owners and has added 10 pure-play hotel and resort properties to its management portfolio. The business also runs a full-service travel agency utilised by club owners or members. Under Barry’s guidance, the business developed an add-on membership program, Lifestyle by Wyndham, which offers Club Wyndham South Pacific owners the opportunity to receive discounts, deals and cashback offers from business partners on a complimentary basis, and/or pay to access a tiered system of benefits designed to provide more options for their ownership. The business is licensed to provide consumer finance and has a portfolio valued at more than US$218 million.
In 2022, Barry led an overhaul of sales methods in Australia, where timeshare is considered a financial product and heavily regulated. After 2021 regulation changes made it more difficult to sell timeshare, Barry challenged his team to reinvent the sales process to avoid personal advice – the heavily regulated part of the presentation. With Barry’s support, the business worked to give customers more general advice about the club and ownership. This method has not just allowed sales operations in Australia to continue, but at unprecedented levels of success.
Barry strongly advocates a customer-centric mindset yet is passionate about ensuring associates receive the best benefits in the industry. These include an Employee Assistance Program, a stock purchase plan, substantial travel and accommodation discounts, paid parental leave, birthday leave, subsidised private health cover and membership to Lifestyle by Wyndham, depending on the market. The company also provides management pathways for those with potential, with several Directors, Vice Presidents, and one Executive promoted through the ranks.
In recent years, Barry has pushed the business to create a point of difference for its clubs, in the form of unique and memorable experiences onsite and complimentary hire of sporting equipment. Currently, over 200 activities are facilitated either through experiences or complimentary hire onsite. Post stay scores at South Pacific resorts remain at a high average of approximately 8.9.
In 2024, Barry successfully acquired Accor Vacation Club for the Travel + Leisure Co. business portfolio, a statement of the business’ intent to pursue a multi-brand vacation ownership strategy. Through this acquisition, the company bolstered its portfolio to more than 100,000 memberships in the Asia Pacific region and grew its club resort count by approximately 40% to 79. Travel + Leisure Co. also has the exclusive rights to develop new vacation ownership clubs and products utilising the Accor Vacation Club brand across a region including Asia Pacific, Middle East, Africa and Turkey. Before the acquisition, Accor Vacation Club had not been selling to new owners or upgrading and, under Barry’s leadership, sales have resumed, with new sales sites and a virtual selling team earning more than US$2 million a month in revenue.
Barry is also a committed philanthropist with over a decade of impactful contributions. Since 2007, he has been a Director of the Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy (FSHD) Global Research Foundation. Travel + Leisure Co. supports this cause through the annual FSHD Club Wyndham Surf Challenge, which raised over AU$32,000 in 2024. Over years, the event has driven advancements, like Australia’s inclusion in a global clinical trial network for people with FSHD.
Barry actively contributes to the industry through various influential roles:
• President of APRDO (Asia Pacific Resort Development Organisation)
• Deputy President of ATHOC (Australian Timeshare and Holiday Ownership Council)
• Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors
• Member of Young Presidents’ Organisation, Queensland Chapter
• CHA member for over 15 years.
