Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
This is Chris Redgrave for Zions Bank Speaking on Business.
The Sundance Film Festival has become one of Utah's most well-known events, bringing millions of dollars and thousands of tourists into the state. It's a launching point for films and documentaries and sometimes for new businesses too. That's how it happened for Paul Goldman, president of VacationCandy.
Paul and his brother, Dan, had teamed up on previous business ventures successfully when they realized the possibility the Sundance Film Festival presented. They formed a property management company that specialized in helping festival visitors find housing during those two weeks.
They focused mainly on private condos and individually-owned timeshare units. The business was so successful, they saw potential to scale their model, and VacationCandy was born. Three and a half years later their business is going strong.
VacationCandy now offers vacation destinations worldwide. Many of these are timeshare properties where owners end up not being able to use their time. It works well for both parties because the timeshare owner gets money back on their investment, and the purchaser gets a sweet deal on a luxury resort experience.
They are now at over 50 resorts and by year end, Paul says that number will be in the one hundred range, so wide offerings are available. You can go to their website, VacationCandy.com and begin to explore various locations which might be of interest. And the partners are continually branching out, watching word of mouth help VacationCandy spread like wildfire to many states and customers.
Today VacationCandy has offices in Park City and Salt Lake City with 13 employees on board. And because they use the cloud as their main storage and operating tool, just about anybody can use the service. Of course the first goal is to introduce people to discounted rates, luxury resorts and options for the business. From there, they put together welcome packages which are sent to the resort so when the client checks in, they have all the pertinent information from VacationCandy, including a handwritten note with details about the resort and any other helpful information.
For Zions Bank, I'm Chris Redgrave, speaking on business.
VacationCandy 211 E. Broadway Salt Lake City, UT 84111 888-487-5527 www.vacationcandy.com
