TimeSharing Today | Jul / Aug, 2026 Page 58
RESORT SOURCES
A Technology Partnership Built for Legacy Resorts
Why Sapphire Vacation Services Selected Merlin Software
The independent legacy timeshare resort marketplace is entering one of its most challenging and transformative periods. Across North America, boards and property managers are confronting pressures hard to imagine twenty years ago— aging owner bases, rising delinquencies, deferred maintenance, insurance volatility, reserve funding mandates, cybersecurity threats, severe weather risks, and intensifying competition from major hospitality brands.
Many resorts are evaluating mixed-use ownership models combining timeshare with vacation rentals or wholly owned condominiums. Others are modernizing operations amid escalating costs. A significant share continues to run on outdated software, fragmented databases, manual processes, and disconnected accounting tools that limit focus on owners and guests. Efficiency, once a convenience, has become a survival strategy.
Those realities framed an in-depth conversation between Shep Altshuler, Founder of the Common Thread Hospitality Leadership Coalition, and Peter Gust, Chief Financial Officer of Sapphire Vacation Services. The interview examined the challenges facing legacy resorts and the growing role of integrated technology platforms such as Merlin Software.
A Boutique Service Model Built Around Direct Owner Engagement
Sapphire Vacation Services operates with a deliberately different posture than most large hospitality organizations. Instead of layering departments and administrative tiers, it runs a lean, cross-trained team in which employees understand every job the business performs, and the principals stay directly engaged with clients and owners daily. Gust described the approach as homogeneous by design— built for efficiency, accountability, and consistent owner service across the United
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States, Mexico, and Canada.
“ We’ re not reactionary to owner concerns,” Gust said.“ We’ re more proactive because we’ re working with them on a day-to-day basis.”
That distinction matters for legacy timeshare boards that fear being overlooked within larger management organizations. Sapphire focuses on back-end and front-end services— reservations, owner administration, billing, soft collections, and communications, and consulting— while avoiding on-site property management. When boards need on-site coordination, Sapphire will work with them to find the appropriate third-party partners.
How the Legacy Resort Marketplace Has Changed
One of the strongest themes of the interview centered on demographic and financial shifts reshaping independent resorts. The owner base is aging, usage is