ILX Resorts Incorporated | The New Century: 2000s
The New Century: 2000s
In 2000 ILX opened a sales office in Phoenix, which served as its fifth sales office in the United States. By the middle of the year ILX's sales had topped previous figures for the first and second quarters and the company leased a 44-acre parcel of land off the Las Vegas strip with future plans for development. The Las Vegas parcel, at the corner of Tropicana and Paradise Road, had what ILX termed the "potential to be developed into a first-class mixed-use development," as quoted in Phoenix Business Journal in September 2000. Although the land was currently the site of the Las Vegas International Golf Center, ILX had secured the lease rights for the next 50 years if the company could find financing for its plans. ILX also leased a parcel adjacent to its Los Abrigados Resort in Sedona, Arizona, occupied by the Canyon Portal Motel. ILX planned to renovate the motel and create a sister property called Los Abrigados Lodge.
By 2001 the Sedona area was attracting much attention from developers, including ILX. The company already had its upscale Los Abrigados Resort & Spa, new plans for the soon-tobe Los Abrigados Lodge, as well as two additional purchases. The first was a $1 million parcel next to the Resort to open a sales office; the second was the $5.2 million purchase of the Bell Rock Inn, located in Oak Creek, just six miles from ILX's Los Abrigados properties.
On the Vegas beat, ILX continued with its plans for the $95 million parcel off the strip, envisioning a Varsity Club like those operated in South Bend and Tucson. The Varsity Club concept had proved quite successful, and the third would be close to the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. In addition, ILX gained access to Vegas by acquiring more than 600 timeshare intervals at the pricey Carriage House hotel in the summer of 2001. The 155-suite Carriage House was just off the Las Vegas strip and across from the flashy new Aladdin Hotel & Casino.
ILX's much anticipated Sea of Cortez resort in San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico, opened its doors by mid-2001. The company celebrated the property's grand opening by offering guests complementary scuba diving lessons. ILX pursued further expansion in Mexico by partnering with Consorcio Asag and Grupo Casa to develop additional timeshare opportunities in the San Carlos area.
By 2003 ILX was on a roll. The firm's stock had been touted by Dow Jones as one of its top ten performers for 2002 and ILX's Sedona resorts were nestled in what USA Today called "the most beautiful place in America." ILX operated four resorts in the Sedona area's stunning landscape, and each was highly rated by its guests. In addition, ILX opened a sales office on the top floor of the luxurious Carriage House just off the Las Vegas strip, declared the company's first-ever dividend for common stockholders, and ended the year with its highest revenues yet of $65.4 million, more than 10 percent better than the previous year's figure. Each of ILX's three business segments did well in 2003, especially new sales in vacation ownership interests. According to a company profile of ILX in the Wall Street Transcript (April 2002), Martori had mentioned that only 3 percent of American families owned timeshares—which left an untapped market of the remaining 97 percent. Martori and ILX intended to pursue that market and make ILX a major player in the flexible vacation ownership industry.