Hilton Grand Vacations Inc. - Annual Report: 2019 (Form 10-K)

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019

or

For the transition period from                      to                      

Commission file number 001-37794

Hilton Grand Vacations Inc.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

Registrant’s Telephone Number, Including Area Code (407) 613-3100

(Former Name, Former Address, and Former Fiscal Year, if Changed Since Last Report)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.    Yes  ☒   No  ☐   

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.    Yes  ☐    No  ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirement for the past 90 days.    Yes  ☒    No  ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).    Yes  ☒    No  ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company’ in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.  

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.  ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).    ☐  Yes    ☒  No

As of June 30, 2019, the aggregate market value of the registrant’s common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant was $2,703 million (based on the closing sale price of the common stock on that date on the New York Stock Exchange).

There were 85,542,191 shares of the registrant’s Common Stock outstanding as of February 28, 2020.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

The registrant has incorporated by reference into Part III of this report certain portions of its proxy statement for its 2020 annual meeting of stockholders, which is expected to be filed pursuant to Regulation 14A within 120 days after the end of the registrant’s fiscal year ended December 31, 2019.

HILTON GRAND VACATIONS INC.

FORM 10-K TABLE OF CONTENTS

YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2019

PART I

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements convey management’s expectations as to the future of HGV, and are based on management’s beliefs, expectations, assumptions and such plans, estimates, projections and other information available to management at the time HGV makes such statements. Forward-looking statements include all statements that are not historical facts and may be identified by terminology such as the words “outlook,” “believe,” “expect,” “potential,” “goal,” “continues,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “could,”, “would”, “seeks,” “approximately,” “projects,” predicts,” “intends,” “plans,” “estimates,” “anticipates” “future,” “guidance,” “target,” or the negative version of these words or other comparable words, although not all forward-looking statements may contain such words. The forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K include statements related to HGV’s revenues, earnings, taxes, cash flow and related financial and operating measures, and expectations with respect to future operating, financial and business performance, and other anticipated future events and expectations that are not historical facts.

HGV cautions you that its forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of HGV to be materially different from the future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by its forward-looking statements. HGV’s forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and you should not place undue reliance on such statements in, or incorporated by reference into, this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Factors that could cause HGV’s actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by its forward-looking statements include risks associated with: the inherent business, financial and operating risks of the timeshare industry, including limited underwriting standards due to the real-time nature of industry sales practices, and the intense competition associated with the industry; HGV’s ability successfully market and sell VOIs; HGV’s development and other activities to source inventory for VOI sales; significant increases in defaults on HGV’s vacation ownership mortgage receivables; the ability of managed homeowner associations to collect sufficient maintenance fees; general volatility in the economy and/or the financial and credit markets; adverse economic or market conditions and trends in the tourism and hospitality industry, which may impact the purchasing and vacationing decisions of consumers; actions of HGV or the occurrence of other events that could cause a breach under or termination of HGV’s license agreement with Hilton that could affect or terminate our access to the Hilton brands and programs, or actions of Hilton that affect the reputation of the licensed marks or Hilton’s programs; economic and operational uncertainties related to HGV’s expanding global operations, including our ability to manage the outcome and timing of such operations and compliance with anti-corruption, data privacy and other applicable laws and regulations affecting our international operations; the effects of foreign currency exchange; changes in tax rates and exposure to additional tax liabilities; the impact of future changes in legislation, regulations or accounting pronouncements; HGV’s acquisitions, joint ventures, and strategic alliances that that may not result in expected benefits, including the termination of material fee-for-service agreements; our dependence on third-party development activities to secure just-in-time inventory; HGV’s use of social media platforms; cyber-attacks, security vulnerabilities, and information technology system failures resulting in disclosure of personal data, company data loss, system outages or disruptions of online services, which could lead to reduced revenue, increased costs, liability claims, harm to user engagement, and harm to HGV’s reputation or competitive position; the impact of claims against HGV that may result in adverse outcomes, including regulatory proceedings or litigation; HGV’s credit facilities, indenture and other debt agreements and instruments, including variable interest rates, restrictive covenants, our ability to make scheduled payments, and our ability to refinance our debt on acceptable terms, or at all; the continued service and availability of key executives and employees; and catastrophic events or geo-political conditions including war, terrorist activity, political strife or natural disasters that may disrupt HGV’s operations in key vacation destinations. Any one or more of the foregoing factors could adversely impact HGV’s operations, revenue, operating margins, financial condition and/or credit rating.

For additional information regarding factors that could cause HGV’s actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, please see the risk factors discussed in “Part I—Item 1A. Risk Factors” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K and those described from time to time in other periodic reports that we file with the SEC. There may be other risks and uncertainties that we are unable to predict at this time or that we currently do not expect to have a material adverse effect on our business. Except for HGV’s ongoing obligations to disclose material information under the federal securities laws, we undertake no obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments, changes in management’s expectations, or otherwise.

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Terms Used in this Annual Report on Form 10-K

Except where the context requires otherwise, references in this Annual Report on Form 10-K to “Hilton Grand Vacations,” “HGV,” the “Company,” “we,” “us” and “our” refer to Hilton Grand Vacations Inc., together with its consolidated subsidiaries. Except where the context requires otherwise, references to our “properties” or “resorts” and “units” refer to the timeshare properties that we manage or own. Of these resorts and units, a portion is directly owned by us or joint ventures in which we have an interest and the remaining resorts and units are owned by our third-party owners.

Reference to “Adjusted EBITDA” means earnings before interest expense (excluding interest expense on non-recourse debt), taxes and depreciation and amortization or “EBITDA,” further adjusted to exclude certain items. Refer to “Part II—Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Key Business and Financial Metrics Used by Management” for further discussion of these financial metrics.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures and Operational Metrics

This Annual Report on Form 10-K includes discussion of terms that are not recognized terms under U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“U.S. GAAP”), and financial measures that are not calculated in accordance with U.S. GAAP, including earnings before interest expense (excluding interest expense relating to our non-recourse debt), taxes and depreciation and amortization (“EBITDA”), Adjusted EBITDA, free cash flow and adjusted free cash flow.

Operational Metrics

This Annual Report on Form 10-K also includes discussion of key business operational metrics including contract sales, sales revenue, real estate margin, tour flow, volume per guest (“VPG”) and transient rate.  

See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations-Key Business and Financial Metrics and Terms Used by Management” and “-Results of Operations” for a discussion of the meanings of these terms, the Company’s reasons for providing non-GAAP financial measures, and reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to measures calculated in accordance with U.S. GAAP as well as further discussion on the key business operational metrics.  

Our History

Our history dates to 1992 with the joint venture between Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (“Hilton”) and Grand Vacations, Limited. In 1996, Hilton Grand Vacations became a wholly owned subsidiary of Hilton. During the ensuing years, we expanded our operations and established a track record of innovation in our industry. Unlike the broader timeshare industry, which experienced a contraction in 2008 and 2009 as a result of the overall economic recession, we were able to grow contract sales during the industry downturn and have continued to deliver contract sales growth in each period since, driven by our continued focus on marketing and sales activities, our development activities, large-market distribution model, relationship with Hilton, commitment to new owner transactions and lean organizational structure.

On January 3, 2017, Hilton completed a tax-free spin-off of HGV and Park Hotels & Resorts Inc. (“Park”). As a result of the spin-off, HGV became an independent publicly-traded company and our common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “HGV.”  Following the spin-off, Hilton did not retain any ownership in our company.  In connection with the spin-off, we entered into agreements with Hilton and other third parties, including licenses to use the Hilton Grand Vacations brand.  For more information regarding these agreements, see “—Key Agreements Related to the Spin-Off.”

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Our Business

We are a growing timeshare company that markets and sells vacation ownership intervals (“VOIs”), manages resorts in top leisure and urban destinations, and operates a points-based vacation club. As of December 31, 2019, we have 59 properties, representing 9,540 units, that are primarily located in vacation destinations such as the Orlando, Las Vegas, Hawaiian Islands, New York City, Washington D.C. and South Carolina and feature spacious, condominium-style accommodations with superior amenities and quality service. As of December 31, 2019, we have approximately 326,000 Hilton Grand Vacations Club and Hilton Club (collectively the “Club”) members. Club members have the flexibility to exchange their VOIs for stays at any Hilton Grand Vacations resort or any property in the Hilton system of 18 industry-leading brands across approximately 6,000 properties, as well as numerous experiential vacation options, such as cruises and guided tours.

Our compelling VOI product allows customers to advance purchase a lifetime of vacations. Because our VOI owners generally purchase only the vacation time they intend to use each year, they are able to efficiently split the full cost of owning and maintaining a vacation residence with other owners. Our customers also benefit from the high-quality amenities and service at our Hilton-branded resorts. Furthermore, our points-based platform offers members tremendous flexibility, enabling us to more effectively adapt to their changing vacation needs over time. Building on the strength of that platform, we continuously seek new ways to add value to our Club membership, including enhanced product offerings, greater geographic distribution, broader exchange networks and further technological innovation, all of which drive better, more personalized vacation experiences and guest satisfaction.

As innovators in the timeshare business, we continually seek to enhance our inventory strategy by developing an optimal inventory mix focused on developed properties as well as fee-for-service and just-in-time agreements to sell VOIs on behalf of or acquired from third-party developers. 

Our Reportable Segments

We operate our business across two segments: (1) real estate sales and financing and (2) resort operations and club management. For more information regarding our segments, see “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” included in Item 7, and Note 21: Business Segments in our audited consolidated financial statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Our real estate sales and financing segment primarily generates revenue from:

Our resort operations and club management segment primarily generates revenue from:

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Other than the United States, there were no countries that individually represented more than 10 percent of total revenues for the year ended December 31, 2019.

Our Products

Our primary products are fee-simple VOIs deeded in perpetuity, developed or acquired by us or by third parties. This ownership interest is an interest in real estate equivalent to annual usage rights, generally for one week annually, at the timeshare property where the VOI was purchased. Each Club property provides a distinctive setting, while signature elements remain consistent, such as high-quality guest service, spacious units and extensive on-property amenities. Most resorts feature studio to three-bedroom condominium-style accommodations and amenities such as full kitchens, in-unit washers and dryers, spas and kids’ clubs. Our timeshare properties are relatively concentrated in significant tourist markets, including Florida, Hawaii, Nevada, New York, and South Carolina.  

In addition, VOI purchasers are enrolled in our flexible, points-based Hilton Grand Vacations Club exchange program. This gives a member an annual allotment of Club points based on the value of the owned interest. Club points can be used for a priority reservation period at the home resort where a member’s VOI is deeded, and exchanged for a variety of vacation options, including stays at any Hilton Grand Vacations resort, conversion to Hilton Honors points for stays at approximately 6,000 Hilton-branded hotels and resorts, reservations for experiential travel such as cruises and guided tours, and stays at more than 4,300 resorts included in the RCI vacation exchange network. Our members also have the flexibility to choose when they will take advantage of their annual usage rights and have the option to split their time over the year. All members pay activation fees, annual dues and certain transaction fees depending on their exchange of Club points.

Inventory and Development Activities

We secure VOI inventory by developing or acquiring resorts in strategic markets, building additional phases at our existing resorts, re-acquiring inventory in the open market and sourcing inventory from third-party developers through fee-for-service and just-in-time transactions.

Our development activities involving the acquisition of real estate are followed by construction or renovation to create individual vacation ownership units. These development activities, and the related management of construction activities, are performed either by us or third-party developers. The development and construction of the units require a large upfront investment of capital and can take several years to complete in the case of a ground-up project. Additionally, the VOIs must be legally registered prior to sale our end customers. This investment cannot be recovered until the individual VOIs are sold to purchasers which can take several years. Traditionally, timeshare operators have funded 100 percent of the investment necessary to acquire land and construct timeshare properties.

We also source VOIs through fee-for-service agreements with third-party developers. These agreements enable us to generate fees from the marketing and sale of Hilton-branded VOIs and Club memberships and from the management of the timeshare properties without requiring us to fund up-front acquisition and construction costs or incur unsold inventory maintenance costs. The capital investment we make in connection with these projects is typically limited to the cost of constructing our on-site sales centers. In just-in-time transactions, we acquire and sell inventory in transactions that are designed to closely correlate the timing of our acquisition of inventory with our sale of that inventory to purchasers. We refer to fee-for-service transactions and just-in-time sales as “capital-efficient transactions.” Over time, these capital-efficient transactions have evolved from sourcing inventory from distressed properties to sourcing from new construction projects. For the year ended December 31, 2019, sales from fee-for-service, just-in-time and developed inventory sources were 54 percent, 20 percent and 26 percent, respectively, of contract sales. Based on our 2019 sales pace, we have access to approximately seven years of future inventory, with capital efficient arrangements representing approximately 54 percent of that supply. Our fee-for-service sales generally improve returns on invested capital and liquidity, while sales of owned inventory typically result in a greater contribution to the profitability of our real estate sales and financing segment.

Owners can generally offer their VOIs for resale on the secondary market, which can create pricing pressure on the sale of developer inventory. Given the structure of our products, owners who purchase VOIs on the secondary market will generally become Club members and will be responsible for paying annual Club fees, annual maintenance fees, property taxes and any assessments that are levied by the relevant HOA. While we do not have an obligation to repurchase intervals previously sold, most of our VOIs provide us with a right of first refusal on secondary market sales. We monitor sales that occur in the secondary market and exercise our right of first refusal in certain cases.

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Marketing and Sales Activities

Our marketing and sales activities are based on targeted direct marketing and a highly personalized sales approach. We use targeted direct marketing to reach potential members who are identified as having the financial ability to pay for our products and have an affinity with Hilton and are frequent leisure travelers. Tour quality impacts key metrics such as close rate and volume per guest (VPG), defined in “Key Business and Financial Metrics and Terms Used by Management——Real Estate Sales Metrics.” Additionally, the quality of tours impacts sales revenue and the collectability of our timeshare financing receivables. For the year ended December 31, 2019, 54 percent of our contract sales were to our existing owners.

We sell our vacation ownership products under the Hilton Grand Vacations brand primarily through our distribution network of both in-market and off-site sales centers. Our products are currently marketed for sale throughout the United States, and the Asia-Pacific region. We operate sales distribution centers in major markets and popular leisure destinations with year-round demand and a history of being a friendly environment for vacation ownership. We have sales distribution centers in Las Vegas, Orlando, Oahu, Japan, New York, Myrtle Beach, Waikoloa, Washington D.C., Hilton Head, Park City, Chicago, Korea and Carlsbad.

Our Hilton Grand Vacations sales tours are designed to provide potential members with an overview of our company and our products, as well as a customized presentation to explain how our products can meet their vacationing needs. Our sales centers use proprietary sales technology to deliver a highly transparent and customized sales approach. Consumers place a great deal of trust in the Hilton brand and we believe that preserving that trust is essential. We hire our sales associates using an assessment-based, candidate screening system, which is a proprietary tool we use to uphold our selection criteria. Once hired, we emphasize training, professionalism and product knowledge, and our sales associates receive significant product and sales training before interacting with potential members. Most U.S.-based sales associates are licensed real estate agents and a real estate broker is involved with each sales center. We manage our sales associates’ consistency of presentation and professionalism using a variety of sales tools and technology and through a post-presentation survey of our tour guests that measures many aspects of each guest’s interaction with us. We do not tolerate sales activities that are not consistent with our focus on treating members and guests with the highest degree of respect.

Financing Activities

We originate loans for members purchasing our owned inventory who qualify according to our underwriting criteria. We generate interest income from the spread between the revenue generated on loans originated less our costs to fund and service those loans. We also earn fee revenue from servicing our own portfolio and the loans provided by third-party developers of our fee-for-service projects to purchasers of their VOIs.

We provide financing for members purchasing our developed and acquired inventory and generate interest income. Our timeshare financing receivables are collateralized by the underlying VOIs and are generally structured as 10-year, fully-amortizing receivables that bear a fixed interest rate typically ranging from 9 percent to 18 percent per annum. The interest rate on our loans is determined by, among other factors, the amount of the down payment, the borrower’s credit profile and the loan term. Prepayment is permitted without penalty. As of December 31, 2019, the average loan outstanding was approximately $23,000 with a weighted average interest rate of 12.49 percent.

As loan payments are made, the nature of these fully amortizing loans establishes an increasing level of owner financial commitment in their purchase which reduces the likelihood of default. When a member defaults, we ultimately return their VOI to inventory for resale, and that member no longer participates in our network.

We have a timeshare warehouse facility and periodically securitize timeshare financing receivables we originate in connection with the sale of VOIs to monetize receivables and achieve an efficient return on capital and manage our working capital needs.

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Timeshare Financing Receivables Origination

In underwriting each loan, we obtain a credit application and review the application for completeness. We require a minimum down payment of 10 percent of the purchase price on all sales of VOIs. For U.S. and Canadian purchasers seeking financing, which represented 97 percent of the individuals we provided financing to over the last three years, we apply the credit evaluation score methodology developed by the Fair Isaac Corporation (“FICO”) to credit files compiled and maintained by Experian and Equifax. Higher credit scores equate to lower collection risk and lower credit scores equate to higher collection risk. Over the last three years, the weighted-average FICO score for new loans to U.S. and Canadian borrowers at the time of origination was 738 (out of a maximum potential score of 850). For non-North American purchasers seeking financing, consisting principally of purchasers in Japan, we generally observe that these borrowers have experienced default rates comparable to U.S. and Canadian borrowers within the 700 to 774 FICO score band.

Our underwriting standards are influenced by the changing economic and financial market conditions. We have the ability to modify our down payment requirements and credit thresholds in the face of stronger or weaker market conditions. Our underwriting standards have resulted in a strong, well-seasoned consumer loan portfolio. As of December 31, 2019, our portfolio had a balance of approximately $1.3 billion with over 59,000 loans. The portfolio had a weighted average length of loan of 10.1 years and the weighted average remaining length of loan of 7.9 years.

Liquidity

We finance our working capital needs in part by borrowing against timeshare financing receivables. In general, we seek to use the majority of our financed VOI sales as collateral to borrow against the revolving timeshare receivable credit facility (“Timeshare Facility”) and subsequently transfer those loans into a term securitization after the loans have seasoned and an appropriately sized portfolio has been assembled. We target securitizations that range in size from $200 million to $400 million and we expect the timing of future securitizations will depend on our anticipated sales volume and capital needs. The strong performance of our outstanding loan securitizations demonstrates that loans originated by us are well regarded for their performance in the securitization market. In the future, we expect to regularly access the term securitization market, replenishing capacity on our Timeshare Facility in the process.

Loan Portfolio Servicing

We have a skilled, integrated consumer finance team. This team is responsible for payment processing and loan servicing, collections and default recovery and portfolio reporting and analytics. Accounts more than 30 days past due are deemed delinquent. We reserve for all loans based on our static pool method. A loan that is more than 120 days past due is reserved at 100 percent the following month and is delivered to the loss mitigation team that will make arrangements for any remaining outstanding payments or recommend recovery through a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure or foreclosure. In the deed-in-lieu of foreclosure process, the member deeds the VOI back to us. For domestic owners, this process varies from state to state and typically takes approximately 60 to 120 days, after which time we are able to resell the foreclosed VOI.

We monitor numerous metrics including collection rates, defaults and bankruptcies. Our consumer finance team also is responsible for selecting and processing loans pledged or to be pledged in our securitizations and preparing monthly servicing reports.

Resort and Club Management Activities

Resort Management

Prior to the initiation of VOI sales at a timeshare resort developed by us or by a third party with whom we have entered into a fee-for-service agreement, we enter into a management agreement with the relevant HOA. Each of the HOAs is governed by a board of directors comprising owner or developer representatives that are charged with ensuring that the resorts are well-maintained and financially stable. Our services include day-to-day operations of the resorts, maintenance of the resorts, preparation of reports, budgets and projections and employee training and oversight. Our HOA management agreements provide for a cost-plus management fee, which means we generally earn a fee equal to 10 percent to 15 percent of the costs to operate the applicable resort. As a result, the fees we earn

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are highly predictable, unlike traditional revenue-based hotel management fees, and our management fees generally are unaffected by changes in rental rate or occupancy. Further, because maintenance fees are paid annually by owners, our management fees are recurring and less volatile than hotel management fees. We also are reimbursed for the costs incurred to perform our services, principally related to personnel providing on-site services. The original term of our management agreements is typically governed by state timeshare laws and ranges from three to five years. The agreements generally are subject to automatic renewal for one- to three-year periods unless either party provides advance notice of termination before the expiration of the term. Since our inception in 1992, none of the management agreements relating to our developed or fee-for-service properties have been terminated or lapsed.

To fund resort operations, owners are assessed an annual maintenance fee, which includes our management fee. In 2019, HOAs collected approximately $488 million in maintenance fees, including our applicable management fees, which is net of our contributions to the HOAs for unsold VOIs. Because these funds are collected early in the year, we have substantial visibility and reliability of collection. These fees represent each owner’s allocable share of the management fee and the costs of operating and maintaining the resorts, which generally includes personnel, property taxes, insurance, a capital asset reserve to fund refurbishment and other related costs. If a VOI owner defaults on payment of its maintenance fees and there is no lien against the mortgage note, the HOA has the right to recover the defaulting owner’s VOI. As a service to HOAs at our owned resorts, subject to our inventory needs, we have the ability to reduce the bad debt expense at the HOAs by assuming the defaulted owner’s obligations in exchange for an agreed purchase price. We are then able to resell those VOIs through our normal distribution channels.

A portion of the annual maintenance fees collected from owners each year is set aside as a capital asset reserve for property renovations. The renovations funded by these fees enable HOAs to keep properties modern, which helps the properties consistently receive the highest quality assurance scores across the Hilton brands. HOAs engage an independent consulting firm to compile a reserve study. Typically, HOAs budget the reserve study to target property renovations on a six- and 12-year cycle. HOAs generally replace soft goods every six years and hard goods every 12 years. These reserves also benefit our members by limiting the risk of special assessments and steep increases in maintenance fees due to deferred capital expenditures.

Club Management

We also manage and operate the points-based Hilton Grand Vacations Club and Hilton Club exchange programs (together, the “Clubs”), which provided exclusive exchange, leisure travel and reservation services to approximately 326,000 members as of December 31, 2019. When an owner purchases a VOI, he or she is enrolled in a Club and allotted a number of points that represent his or her ownership interest and allow the member to exchange his or her annual usage rights for a number of vacation and travel options available through the Clubs. The Hilton Club operates certain locations for its VOI owners, who also enjoy exchange benefits with the Hilton Grand Vacations Club. In addition to an annual membership fee, Club members pay incremental fees depending on the type of exchange they choose within the Club system.

Rental of Available Inventory

We rent unsold owned and fee-for-service VOI inventory and inventory made available due to ownership exchanges through our Club programs. By using our website, Hilton’s websites and other direct booking channels to rent available inventory, we are able to reach potential new members that may already have an affinity for and loyalty to the Hilton brands and introduce them to our products. Inventory rentals allow us to utilize otherwise unoccupied inventory to generate additional revenues and provision of ancillary services. We earn a fee from rentals of third-party inventory.

Competition

The timeshare industry has historically been highly competitive and comprised a number of national and regional companies that develop, finance and operate timeshare properties.

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Our timeshare business competes with other timeshare developers for sales of VOIs based principally on location, quality of accommodations, price, service levels and amenities, financing terms, quality of service, terms of property use, reservation systems, flexibility for members to exchange into time at other timeshare properties or other travel rewards, including access to hotel loyalty programs, as well as brand name recognition and reputation. We also compete for property acquisitions and partnerships with entities that have similar investment objectives as we do. There is also significant competition for talent at all levels within the industry, in particular for sales and management. Our primary competitors in the timeshare space include Marriott Vacations Worldwide (which includes Marriott Vacations Worldwide, Interval Leisure Group, Vistana Signature Club and Hyatt Residences Club brands), Wyndham Destinations, Disney Vacation Club, Holiday Inn Club Vacations, Bluegreen Vacations and Diamond Resorts International.

In addition, our timeshare business competes with other entities engaged in the leisure and vacation industry, including resorts, hotels, cruises and other accommodation alternatives, such as condominium and single-family home rentals. We also compete with home and apartment sharing services that operate websites that market available privately-owned residential properties that can be rented on a nightly, weekly or monthly basis. In certain markets, we compete with established independent timeshare operators, and it is possible that other potential competitors may develop properties near our current resort locations. In addition, we face competition from other timeshare management companies in the management of resorts on behalf of owners on the basis of quality, cost, types of services offered and relationship.

Recent and potential future consolidation in the highly fragmented timeshare industry may increase competition. For example, Interval Leisure Group, Inc. (“ILG”), which operates the Interval International exchange program, acquired Hyatt Residence Club in October 2014 and in May 2016 acquired the timeshare operations of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (which includes the use of Westin and Sheraton brands for timeshare purposes), known as Vistana Signature Experiences, Inc. Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation completed the acquisition of the timeshare business of ILG in April 2019. Diamond Resorts International, Inc. completed the acquisition of the timeshare business of Gold Key Resorts in October 2015 and completed the acquisition of the timeshare business of Intrawest Resort Club Group in January 2016. Consolidation may create competitors that enjoy significant advantages resulting from, among other things, a lower cost of, and greater access to, capital and enhanced operating efficiencies.

We generally do not face competition in our consumer financing business to finance sales of our VOIs. We do face competition from financial institutions providing other forms of consumer credit, which may lead to full or partial prepayment of our timeshare financing receivables.

Seasonality and Cyclicality

We experience modest seasonality in timeshare sales at certain resorts, with stronger revenue generation during traditional vacation periods for those locations. Our business is moderately cyclical as the demand for VOIs is affected by the availability and cost of financing for purchases of VOIs, as well as general economic conditions and the relative health of the travel industry.

Intellectual Property

In connection with the spin-off, we entered into a license agreement with Hilton which grants us the right to use certain Hilton-branded trademarks, trade names and related intellectual property in our business for the term of the agreement. The license agreement provides us with, among other things, the exclusive license to design, build, manage and maintain existing and future timeshare resorts under the Hilton Grand Vacations brand throughout the world, subject to Hilton’s consent in certain circumstances. See “Key Agreements Related to the Spin-Off—License Agreement” for more information. We also own certain other trademarks and trade names for various properties. In the competitive industry in which we operate, trademarks, service marks, trade names and logos are very important to the marketing and sales of our products. We believe that the licensed marks and related intellectual property have come to represent the highest standards of quality, service and value to our members, guests, employees and those with whom we have business relationships. We have applied and will continue to apply to register our trademarks in markets in which we conduct business. We will enforce our rights against the unauthorized use of our intellectual property by third parties and otherwise protect our intellectual property through strategies and in jurisdictions we deem appropriate.

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Government Regulation

Our business is subject to various international, national, federal, state and local laws, regulations and policies in jurisdictions in which we operate. Some laws, regulations and policies impact multiple areas of our business, such as securities, anti-discrimination, anti-fraud, data protection and security and anti-corruption and bribery laws and regulations or government economic sanctions, including applicable regulations under the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control and the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”). The FCPA and similar anti-corruption and bribery laws in other jurisdictions generally prohibit companies and their intermediaries from making improper payments to government officials for the purpose of obtaining or generating business. Other laws, regulations and policies primarily affect one of our areas of business: real estate development activities; marketing and sales activities; financial services activities; and resort management activities. We will continue to be subject to applicable new legislation, rules and regulations that have been proposed, or may be proposed, by federal, state and local authorities relating to the origination, servicing and securitization of mortgage loans.

Real Estate Development Regulation

Our real estate development activities are regulated under a number of different timeshare, condominium and land sales disclosure statutes in many jurisdictions. We are generally subject to laws and regulations typically applicable to real estate development, subdivision and construction activities, such as laws relating to zoning, land use restrictions, environmental regulation, accessibility, title transfers, title insurance and taxation. In the United States, these include the Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the Accessibility Guidelines promulgated thereunder, which we refer to collectively as (the “ADA”). In addition, we are subject to laws in some jurisdictions that impose liability on property developers for construction defects discovered or repairs made by future owners of property developed by the developer.

Marketing and Sales Regulation

Our marketing and sales activities are highly regulated. In addition to regulations implementing laws enacted specifically for the timeshare industry, a wide variety of laws and regulations govern our marketing and sales activities, including regulations implementing the USA PATRIOT Act, Foreign Investment In Real Property Tax Act, the Federal Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act and fair housing statutes, U.S. Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and state “Little FTC Act” and other regulations governing unfair, deceptive or abusive acts or practices including unfair or deceptive trade practices and unfair competition, state attorney general regulations, anti-fraud laws, prize, gift and sweepstakes laws, real estate, title agency or insurance and other licensing or registration laws and regulations, anti-money laundering, consumer information privacy and security, breach notification, information sharing and telemarketing laws, home solicitation sales laws, tour operator laws, lodging certificate and seller of travel laws and other consumer protection laws.

We must obtain the approval of numerous governmental authorities for our marketing and sales activities. Changes in circumstances or applicable law may necessitate the application for or modification of existing approvals. In addition, many jurisdictions, including many jurisdictions in the United States, require that we file detailed registration or offering statements with regulatory authorities disclosing information regarding our VOIs, such as information concerning the intervals being offered, the project, resort or program to which the intervals relate, applicable timeshare plans, evidence of title, details regarding our business, the purchaser’s rights and obligations with respect to such intervals, and a description of the manner in which we intend to offer and advertise such intervals.

When we sell VOIs, local law grants the purchaser of a VOI the right to cancel a purchase contract during a specified rescission period following the later of the date the contract was signed or the date the purchaser received the last of the documents required to be provided by us.

In recent years, regulators in many jurisdictions have increased regulations and enforcement actions related to telemarketing operations, including requiring adherence to the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act and “do not call” legislation. These measures have significantly increased the costs associated with telemarketing, in particular with respect to telemarketing to mobile numbers. While we continue to be subject to telemarketing risks and potential liability, we believe that our exposure to adverse effects from telemarketing legislation and enforcement is mitigated in some instances by the use of permission-based marketing in which we obtain permission to contact prospective purchasers in the future. We have also implemented procedures to comply with federal and state “do not call” regulations including subscribing to the federal do not call registry and certain state “do not call” registries as well as maintaining an internal “do not call” list.

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Lending Regulation

Our lending activities are subject to a number of laws and regulations including those of applicable supervisory agencies such as, in the United States, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the FTC, and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. These laws and regulations, some of which contain exceptions applicable to the timeshare industry, may include, among others, the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act and Regulation X, the Truth In Lending Act and Regulation Z, the Federal Trade Commission Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and Regulation B, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Fair Housing Act and implementing regulations, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Electronic Funds Transfer Act and Regulation E, unfair, deceptive or abusive acts or practices regulations and the Credit Practices rules, the USA PATRIOT Act, the Right to Financial Privacy Act, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, the Servicemember’s Civil Relief Act and the Bank Secrecy Act. Our lending activities are also subject to the laws and regulations of other jurisdictions, including, among others, laws and regulations related to consumer loans, retail installment contracts, mortgage lending, fair debt collection and credit reporting practices, loan servicing, consumer debt collection practices, mortgage disclosure, lender or mortgage loan originator licensing and registration and anti-money laundering.

Resort Management Regulation

Our resort management activities are subject to laws and regulations regarding community association management, public lodging, food and beverage services, liquor licensing, labor, employment, health care, health and safety, accessibility, discrimination, immigration, gaming and the environment (including climate change). In addition, many jurisdictions in which we manage our resorts have statutory provisions that limit the duration of the initial and renewal terms of our management agreements for HOAs.

Environmental Matters

We are subject to certain requirements and potential liabilities under various U.S. federal, state and local and foreign environmental, health and safety laws and regulations and incur costs in complying with such requirements. The costs of complying with these requirements are generally covered by the HOAs that operate the affected resort property and are our responsibility for assets owned by us. These laws and regulations govern actions including air emissions, the use, storage and disposal of hazardous and toxic substances, and wastewater disposal. In addition to investigation and remediation liabilities that could arise under such laws, we may also face personal injury, property damage, fines or other claims by third parties concerning environmental compliance or contamination. We use and store hazardous and toxic substances, such as cleaning materials, pool chemicals, heating oil and fuel for back-up generators at some of our facilities, and we generate certain wastes in connection with our operations. Some of our properties include, and some of our future properties may include, older buildings, and some may have, or may historically have had, dry-cleaning facilities and underground storage tanks for heating oil and back-up generators. We have, from time to time, been responsible for investigating and remediating contamination at some of our facilities, such as contamination that has been discovered when we have removed underground storage tanks, and we could be held responsible for any contamination resulting from the disposal of wastes that we generate, including at locations where such wastes have been sent for disposal. In some cases, we may be entitled to indemnification from the party that caused the contamination pursuant to our management, construction or renovation agreements, but there can be no assurance that we would be able to recover all or any costs we incur in addressing such problems. From time to time, we may also be required to manage, abate, remove or contain mold, lead, asbestos-containing materials, radon gas or other hazardous conditions found in or on our properties. We have implemented an on-going operations and maintenance plan at each of our properties that seeks to identify and remediate these conditions as appropriate. Although we have incurred, and expect that we will continue to incur, costs relating to the investigation, identification and remediation of hazardous materials known or discovered to exist at our properties, those costs have not had, and are not expected to have, a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

Employees

For more than 25 years, we have created and delivered vacation experiences for guests from around the world.  Our people first talent strategy is inclusive of programs and services which are designed to ensure that our employees feel engaged, appreciated and rewarded for their contributions.  We accomplish this through an employee-centered approach using their insights to create their programs:  A recognition solution designed to encourage effort, reward results, honor the best and celebrate careers delivered in a variety of categories through

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WOW cards, Spotlight Awards, Pillar & Vision Awards and seasonal campaigns such as International Housekeeping Week.  Cultivating an inclusive work environment, we offer opportunities to become involved with 6 Team Member Resource Groups and HGV Serves volunteer network.  We offer training and development opportunities giving all team members access to more than 1,000 course offerings delivered in a variety of media to fit unique learning styles, job types and schedules within the nonstop nature of our business. Additionally, we offer our employees tuition reimbursement to embrace individual development, both personal and professional.  As of December 31, 2019, more than 9,110 people were employed at our timeshare resorts, call centers and corporate locations around the world.

We are proud to be recognized as an employer of choice through numerous awards:

As of December 31, 2019, less than 10 percent of our employees were covered by various collective bargaining agreements generally addressing pay rates, working hours, other terms and conditions of employment, certain employee benefits and orderly settlement of labor disputes.

Key Agreements Related to the Spin-Off

On January 3, 2017, when the spin-off was completed, Hilton and Park Hotels & Resorts Inc. ceased to be related parties of HGV. In connection with the spin-off, we entered into various agreements with Hilton and Park. Certain provisions of the spin-off agreements survive the performance of the principal transactions to which they related. The following is a summary of the terms of certain agreements we entered in connection with the spin-off from Hilton, which continue to govern our ongoing relationships with Hilton and Park after the spin-off.

License Agreement

In connection with the spin-off, we entered into a license agreement with Hilton granting us the exclusive right to use, for an initial term of 100 years, to use certain Hilton marks and intellectual property in our timeshare business.  For the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, we incurred license fee expense of $101 million, $98 million and $87 million, respectively.   

Subject to the terms and conditions of the license agreement, Hilton has granted us the right to use the trademarks “Hilton Grand Vacations,” “HGV” and “Hilton Club” (collectively, the “Hilton Marks”) in connection with the current and future operation of a Hilton branded vacation ownership business (the “Licensed Business”).  We have also received a license or right to use certain other Hilton-owned intellectual property, including promotional content and access to Hilton’s reservation system and property management software (collectively with the Hilton Marks, the “Hilton IP”).  We also have the right to use Hilton’s loyalty program data and other customer information (“Hilton Data”) to promote the Licensed Business and for other internal business purposes, but may not disclose or sell such information to third parties without Hilton’s consent.

Subject to the following two sentences, Hilton will not compete or use the Hilton IP or Hilton Data in the vacation ownership business (or license others to do so) for the first 30 years of the term of the license agreement, and we may extend this exclusivity for additional 10-year terms if we achieve certain revenue targets in the last year of the initial 30-year term or any subsequent renewal term, or make a payment to cover any revenue shortfall, for a maximum of five such payments during any 10-year renewal term.  If Hilton merges with or acquires a company that owns a vacation ownership business and a hotel business, Hilton shall use commercially reasonable efforts to allow us to acquire or manage the acquired vacation ownership business.  If we do not do so, then after such acquisition by Hilton, notwithstanding the foregoing exclusivity, Hilton may use the Hilton IP, Hilton Data and Hilton’s loyalty program (but not the Hilton Marks) to allow such acquired vacation ownership business to compete with the Licensed Business for the remainder of the term of the license agreement.

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The initial term of the license agreement will expire on December 31, 2116.  After the initial term ends, we may continue to use the Hilton IP and Hilton Data on a non-exclusive basis for a “tail period” of 30 years in connection with products and projects that were using the foregoing rights, or were approved by Hilton for development, when the term ended, provided that we continue to comply with the terms of the license agreement, including payment of royalty and other fees.

We pay a royalty fee of five percent of gross revenues to Hilton quarterly in arrears, as well as specified additional fees.  Gross revenues include our gross sales for the initial sale or re-sale of interests in the Licensed Business (subject to certain Hilton Grand Vacations Club exceptions), property operations revenue, transient rental revenue and other certain revenues earned.  We also owe Hilton an annual transition fee of $5 million for each of the first five years of the term and certain other fees and reimbursements.  The license agreement contains customary requirements with respect to our record-keeping and Hilton’s audit rights.

We are required to comply with the Hilton brand standards applicable to the Licensed Business.  Hilton has inspection and approval rights to monitor our compliance with these standards.  Hilton brand standards include: construction and design brand standards; graphic standards for use of the Hilton IP; sales, service and operating standards; and quality assurance and customer satisfaction requirements.

During the term of the license agreement, we will participate in Hilton’s loyalty program, currently known as the Hilton Honors program.  We can purchase Hilton Honors points at cost for the first 20 years of the term of the license agreement, and thereafter at the market rate (with a most favored nation provision, pursuant to which such market rate is no higher than the price paid by strategic partners that purchase a comparable volume of points annually on comparable business terms).  All members of Hilton’s loyalty program have the right to redeem loyalty program points at our properties in the Licensed Business, consistent with the tiers and rules of Hilton’s current loyalty program.  We can convert points associated with our own point-based reservations and exchange system into Hilton loyalty program points through an exchange program at a conversion rate to be determined by us.  We may not participate in a loyalty program of a Hilton competitor in connection with the Licensed Business. Under our Honors program arrangement with Hilton prior to the spin-off, we purchase Hilton Honors points from Hilton based on an estimated cost per point for the costs of future club exchanges.  For the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, we paid Hilton $58 million, $56 million and $59 million, respectively, for Hilton Honors points.

We are required to operate the Licensed Business in strict compliance with all of Hilton’s standards and guidelines and all applicable laws.  We are responsible for obtaining and maintaining all necessary approvals, permits and licenses required and paying all taxes related to the Licensed Business.  We may subcontract or delegate property-level, non-management functions, including housekeeping, security and maintenance, as long as we comply with Hilton’s standards and guidelines.  Hilton has the right to enter our vacation ownership properties at any time without notice and additional permission from us in order to verify that we are complying with the license agreement and Hilton’s standards and guidelines.

We are required to comply with Hilton’s customer data privacy and security standards and protocols.  We are required to notify Hilton immediately after discovering any actual or attempted circumstances that could compromise the security of our information technology systems.  We are required to remedy any such breach at our own expense.

We are able to operate vacation ownership properties under other brands (with no royalty due to Hilton) if we do so without using any Hilton IP or Hilton Data and they are otherwise separate operations from the Licensed Business.

We are required to obtain Hilton’s consent to develop or operate any additional vacation ownership properties under the Hilton Marks (including on our own undeveloped parcels).  Hilton may not unreasonably withhold its approval for these projects as long as they comply with existing law, do not involve a co-investor that is a competitor of Hilton or is of bad moral character, and are not reasonably likely to harm Hilton, the Licensed IP or the Hilton Data.  Hilton has a right of first refusal if we want to sell an undeveloped parcel to a Hilton competitor.

We have entered into an agreement with Hilton that governs the transfer of calls from Hilton to us.  Under this agreement, Hilton is required to use its reasonable best efforts to transfer calls to us at a level consistent with past practice prior to the spin-off for the first ten years.  Hilton is required to provide the call transfer services at cost for the first 30 years and at market rates thereafter.  We have entered into other agreements that govern other services that Hilton is required to provide us.

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Under the license agreement, our right to use the Hilton Marks as a trade, corporate, d/b/a or similar name will automatically terminate if (i) the aggregate number of units of accommodation in our Licensed Business falls below two-thirds of the total number of units of accommodation in our entire vacation ownership business; (ii) we merge with or acquire control of the assets of Marriott International, Inc., Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation, Hyatt Hotels Corporation, Wyndham Destinations and Interval Leisure Group, Inc. or their respective affiliates and we or they use their brands in any business after such acquisition; or (iii) we become an affiliate of another Hilton competitor.

Hilton has the right to terminate the license agreement as a whole if, among other things: (i) we file for bankruptcy or cease business operations; (ii) 25 percent or more of our Hilton-branded vacation ownership properties fail certain performance thresholds or the overall customer satisfaction score for all our Hilton-branded vacation ownership properties falls below a certain threshold level, and we do not promptly cure such failures; (iii) we operate the Licensed Business in a way that has a material adverse effect on Hilton; (iv) we fail to pay certain amounts due to Hilton (and in certain cases, do not promptly cure such failures); (v) we contest Hilton’s ownership of the Hilton IP or the Hilton Data; (vi) we merge with, consolidate with or are acquired by a competitor of Hilton; or (vii) we assign the agreement to a non-affiliate without Hilton’s consent.

Hilton also has the right to “deflag” (prevent use of any Hilton IP or Hilton Data at) any property in our Licensed Business in certain circumstances, including if (i) a $10 million or more final judgment is assessed against such property or a foreclosure suit is initiated against such property and not vacated; (ii) an ongoing threat or danger to public health or safety occurs at such property; (iii) such property fails to meet certain quality assurance system performance thresholds; or (iv) such property is not operated in compliance with the license agreement or Hilton’s other standards and agreements, and such breaches are not cured in accordance with the license agreement.

If we breach our obligations under the license agreement, Hilton may, in addition to terminating the license agreement, be entitled to (depending on the nature of the breach): seek injunctive relief and/or monetary damages; suspend our access to and terminate our rights to use Licensed IP and/or Hilton Data (other than the Hilton Marks and certain other content); or terminate our rights to use the Licensed IP (including the Hilton Marks) and Hilton Data at specific locations that are not in compliance with performance standards.

If the license agreement terminates due to our fault before the end of the term, we are required to cease use of the Hilton IP and Hilton Data according to a specified schedule.  Hilton has the right to demand liquidated damages based upon its uncollected royalties and fees for the remainder of the term.

Hilton has registered certain of the Hilton Marks for vacation ownership services in jurisdictions in which we currently operate vacation ownership resorts and residential projects under the Hilton Marks.  However, Hilton does not have affirmative trademark rights in the Hilton Marks in relation to every aspect of our business in every country around the world, and we, therefore, may not be able to use one or more of the Hilton Marks to expand various aspects of our business into one or more new countries.  If we want to use a Hilton Mark in a country where it is not registered, we will have to seek Hilton’s consent, which may not be withheld if the new trademark would not reasonably be expected to harm or jeopardize the value, validity, reputation or goodwill of the Hilton Marks or subject Hilton to any risk of legal liability.

Unless we obtain Hilton’s prior written consent, we may not be able to: (i) merge with or acquire a Hilton competitor or a vacation ownership business that has entered into an operating agreement with a Hilton competitor; (ii) merge with or acquire a vacation ownership business together with a lodging business; or (iii) be acquired or combined with any entity other than an affiliate.  We may acquire control of a business that is not a vacation ownership business or a lodging business without Hilton’s consent, but we are required to operate such business as a separate operation that does not use the Hilton IP or Hilton Data unless Hilton consents to such use.  Without Hilton’s prior consent, we may not assign our rights under the license agreement, except to one our affiliates as part of an internal reorganization for tax or administrative purposes.

We are required to indemnify, defend and hold harmless Hilton from and against any claim or liability resulting from (i) third-party claims based on (a) our breach of the license agreement; (b) the operation of our vacation ownership properties; (c) any use of the Hilton IP or Hilton Data in violation of the license agreement and (d) any use of any content provided to us pursuant to the license agreement; or (ii) claims based on any security breach of our systems and/or unauthorized use or disclosure of Hilton Data.

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This summary does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the License Agreement, which was filed as Exhibit 10.4 to HGV’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on January 4, 2017.

Distribution Agreement

We entered into a Distribution Agreement with Hilton and Park (the “Distribution Agreement”) regarding the principal actions taken or to be taken in connection with the spin-off. The Distribution Agreement provided for certain transfers of assets and assumptions of liabilities by each of Hilton, HGV and Park and the settlement or extinguishment of certain liabilities and other obligations among Hilton, HGV and Park. In addition, notwithstanding the allocation described above, HGV, Hilton and Park agreed that losses related to certain contingent liabilities (and related costs and expenses) that generally are not specifically attributable to any of the separated real estate business, the timeshare business or the retained business of Hilton (“Shared Contingent Liabilities”) will be apportioned among the parties according to fixed percentages of 65 percent, 26 percent and nine percent for Hilton, Park and HGV, respectively. Examples of Shared Contingent Liabilities may include uninsured losses arising from actions (including derivative actions) against current or former directors or officers of Hilton or its subsidiaries in respect of acts or omissions occurring prior to the completion of the spin-off, or against current or former directors or officers of any of Hilton, HGV or Park, or any of their respective subsidiaries, arising out of, in connection with, or otherwise relating to, the spin-off, subject to certain exceptions described in the Distribution Agreement. In addition, costs and expenses of, and indemnification obligations to, third party professional advisors arising out of the foregoing actions also may be subject to these provisions. Subject to certain limitations and exceptions, Hilton will generally be vested with the exclusive management and control of all matters pertaining to any such Shared Contingent Liabilities, including the prosecution of any claim and the conduct of any defense. There have been no contingent liabilities subject to these provisions since the spin-off. The Distribution Agreement also provides for cross-indemnities that, except as otherwise provided in the Distribution Agreement, are principally designed to place financial responsibility for the obligations and liabilities of each business with the appropriate company.

The foregoing summary does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the Distribution Agreement, which was filed as Exhibit 12.1 to HGV’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on January 4, 2017.

Tax Matters Agreement

We have entered into a Tax Matters Agreement with Hilton and Park (the “Tax Matters Agreement”) that governs the respective rights, responsibilities and obligations of Hilton, Park and us after the spin-off with respect to tax liabilities and benefits, tax attributes, tax contests and other tax sharing regarding U.S. federal, state, local and foreign income taxes, other tax matters and related tax returns.  Although binding between the parties, the Tax Matters Agreement is not binding on the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”).  We and Park each will continue to have several liabilities with Hilton to the IRS for the consolidated U.S. federal income taxes of the Hilton consolidated group relating to the taxable periods in which we and Park were part of that group.  The Tax Matters Agreement specifies the portion, if any, of this tax liability for which we and Park will bear responsibility, and each party has agreed to indemnify the other two parties against any amounts for which they are not responsible.  The Tax Matters Agreement also provides special rules for allocating tax liabilities in the event that the spin-off is not tax-free.  In general, under the Tax Matters Agreement, each party is responsible for any taxes imposed on Hilton that arise from the failure of the spin-off and certain related transactions to qualify as a tax-free transaction for U.S. federal income tax purposes under Sections 355 and 368(a)(1)(D) of the Code, as applicable, and certain other relevant provisions of the Code, to the extent that the failure to qualify is attributable to actions taken by such party (or with respect to such party’s stock).  The parties share responsibility, in accordance with sharing percentages of 65 percent for Hilton, 26 percent for Park, and nine percent for us, for any such taxes imposed on Hilton that are not attributable to actions taken by a party. In addition, to the extent that any taxes that may be imposed on the Hilton consolidated group for the taxable periods prior to the spin-offs relates to our timeshare business, we would be liable for the full amount under the Tax Matters Agreement.

The foregoing summary does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the Tax Matters Agreement, which was filed as Exhibit 10.2 to HGV’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on January 4, 2017.  

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Where You Can Find More Information

Our website address is www.hgv.com. Information on our website is not incorporated by reference herein. We file reports with the SEC, including annual reports on Form 10-K and Schedule 14A, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K, and certain amendments to these reports. Copies of these reports are available free of charge on our website as soon as reasonably practicable after we file the reports with the SEC. The SEC also maintains a website at www.sec.gov that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC.

We are subject to various risks that could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, liquidity and stock price.  You should carefully consider the risk factors discussed below, in addition to the other information in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Further, other risks and uncertainties not presently known to management or that management currently deems less significant also may result in material and adverse effects on our business, financial condition, results of operations, liquidity and stock price.  The risks below also include forward-looking statements; and actual results and events may differ substantially from those discussed or highlighted in these forward-looking statements. See “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.”

Risks Related to Our Business and Industry

We are subject to business, financial and operating risks inherent to the timeshare and hospitality industry, any of which could reduce our revenues and limit opportunities for growth.

Our business is subject to a number of business, financial and operating risks inherent to the timeshare industry, including:

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Any of these factors could increase our costs or limit or reduce the prices we are able to charge for our products and services or otherwise affect our ability to maintain existing properties, develop new properties or source VOI supply from third parties. As a result, any of these factors can reduce our revenues and limit opportunities for growth

Macroeconomic and other factors beyond our control can adversely affect and reduce demand for our products and services.

Macroeconomic and other factors beyond our control can reduce demand for our products and services, including demand for timeshare properties. These factors include, but are not limited to:

Any one or more of these factors can adversely affect, and from time to time have adversely affected, individual resorts, particular regions and our business, financial condition and results of operations.

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Contraction in the global economy or low levels of economic growth could adversely affect our revenues and profitability as well as limit or slow our future growth.

Consumer demand for products and services provided by the timeshare industry is closely linked to the performance of the general economy and is sensitive to business and personal discretionary spending levels. Decreased global or regional demand for products and services provided by the timeshare industry can be especially pronounced during periods of economic contraction or low levels of economic growth, and the recovery period in our industry may lag overall economic improvement. Declines in demand for our products and services due to general economic conditions could negatively affect our business by decreasing the revenues we are able to generate from our VOI sales, financing activities and Club and resort operations. In addition, many of the expenses associated with our business, including personnel costs, interest, rent, property taxes, insurance and utilities, are relatively fixed. During a period of overall economic weakness, if we are unable to meaningfully decrease these costs as demand for our products and services decreases, our business operations and financial performance may be adversely affected.

We do not own the Hilton brands and our business will be materially harmed if we breach our license agreement with Hilton or it is terminated.

Following the spin-off, Hilton retained ownership of the Hilton-branded trademarks, tradenames and certain related intellectual property used in the operation of our business. We entered into a license agreement with Hilton granting us the right to use the Hilton-branded trademarks, trade names and related intellectual property in our business for the term of the agreement. If we breach our obligations under the license agreement, Hilton may be entitled to terminate the license agreement or terminate our rights to use the Hilton brands and other Hilton intellectual property at properties that do not meet applicable standards and policies, or to exercise other remedies.

The termination of the license agreement or exercise of other remedies would materially harm our business and results of operations and impair our ability to market and sell our products and maintain our competitive position. For example, if we are not able to rely on the strength of the Hilton brands to attract prospective members and guests in the marketplace, our revenue and profits would decline and our marketing and sales expenses would increase. If we are not able to use Hilton’s marketing databases and corporate-level advertising channels to reach potential members and guests, including Hilton’s internet address as a channel through which to market available inventory, our member growth would be adversely affected and our revenue would materially decline, and it is uncertain whether we would be able to replace the revenue associated with those channels.

Even if the license agreement remains in effect, the termination of our rights to use the Hilton-branded trademarks, trade names and related intellectual property at properties that fail to meet applicable standards and policies, or any deterioration of quality or reputation of the Hilton brands (even deterioration not leading to termination of our rights under the license agreement or not caused by us), could also harm our reputation and impair our ability to market and sell our products at the subject properties, which could materially harm our business.

In addition, if license agreement terms relating to the Hilton Honors loyalty program terminate, we would not be able to offer Hilton Honors points to our members and guests. This would adversely affect our ability to sell our products, offer the flexibility associated with our Club membership and sustain our collection performance on our timeshare financing receivables portfolio. See “Item 1. Business—Key Agreements Related to the Spin-Off—License Agreement.”

We will rely on Hilton to consent to our use of its trademarks at new properties we manage in the future.

Under the terms of our license agreement with Hilton, we are required to obtain Hilton’s consent to use its trademarks in circumstances specified in the license agreement. Hilton may reject a proposed project in certain circumstances. Any requirements to obtain Hilton’s consent to our expansion plans, or the need to identify and secure alternative expansion opportunities because Hilton does not allow us to use its trademarks with proposed new projects, may delay implementation of our expansion plans, cause us to incur additional expense or reduce the financial viability of our projects. Further, if Hilton does not permit us to use its trademarks in connection with our expansion plans, our ability to expand our Hilton-branded timeshare business would cease and our ability to remain competitive may be materially adversely affected.

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Our business depends on the quality and reputation of the Hilton brands and affiliation with the Hilton Honors loyalty program.

Currently, all of our products and services are offered under the Hilton brand names and affiliated with the Hilton Honors loyalty program, and we intend to continue to develop and offer products and services under the Hilton brands and affiliated with the Hilton Honors loyalty program in the future. In addition, the license agreement contains significant prohibitions on our ability to own or operate properties that are not Hilton brand names. The concentration of our products and services under these brands and program may expose us to risks of brand or program deterioration, or reputational decline, that are greater than if our portfolio were more diverse. Furthermore, as we are not the owner of the Hilton brands or the Hilton Honors loyalty program, changes to these brands and program or our access to them, including our ability to buy points to offer to our members and potential members, could negatively affect our business. Any failure by Hilton to protect the trademarks, tradenames and intellectual property that we license from it could reduce the value of the Hilton brands and also harm our business. If these brands or program deteriorate or materially change in an adverse manner, or the reputation of these brands or program declines, our market share, reputation, business, financial condition or results of operations could be materially adversely affected.

We rely on several critical marketing programs and activities to generate tour flow and contract sales and increase our revenues.

We rely on several critical marketing activities to engage with potential VOI purchasers for generating tour flow, contract sales and financing fees, resort management and other revenues. These include targeted direct marketing, transfers of calls by Hilton of its customers to us pursuant to an agreement, and the successful implementation of our digital and technology-based marketing strategy. Any significant changes to one or more factors that adversely affect such marketing activities, such as changes in consumer behavior and preference for vacations or a decrease in the number of calls being transferred from Hilton due to increasing consumer reliance on digital tools, will adversely impact our revenue.

Our dependence on development activities exposes us to project cost and completion risks.

We secure VOI inventory in part by developing new timeshare properties and new phases of existing timeshare properties. In recent years, we have increased our construction activities of new timeshare properties as a critical source of developing new inventories that we sell and will continue to sell. Our ongoing involvement in the development of inventory presents a number of risks, including:

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We also source inventory from third-party developers that are exposed to such risks, and the occurrence of any of these risks with respect to those third parties could have a material adverse effect on our access to the inventory sourced from these developers. In addition, developing new VOIs to market and sell requires us to register such VOIs in applicable states, which necessitates the incurrence of additional time and cost, and in many jurisdictions, the exact date of any such registration approvals cannot be accurately predicted. Any significant delays in timeshare project registration approvals will materially adversely impact our sales activities and thereby negatively impact our revenue. See “Our business is regulated under a wide variety of laws, regulations and policies, and failure to comply with these regulations could adversely affect our business.”

A decline in developed or acquired VOI inventory or our failure to enter into and maintain fee-for-service agreements may have an adverse effect on our business or results of operations.

In addition to VOI supply that we develop or acquire, we source VOIs through fee-for-service agreements with third-party developers. If we fail to develop timeshare properties, acquire inventory or are unsuccessful in entering into new agreements with third-party developers, we may experience a decline in VOI supply, which could result in a decrease in our revenues. Approximately 74 percent of our contract sales were from capital-efficient sources for the year ended December 31, 2019. As part of our strategy to optimize our sales mix of capital-efficient inventory, we will continue to acquire inventory and enter into additional fee-for-service agreements to source inventory. These arrangements may expose us to additional risk as we will not control development activities or timing of development completion. If third parties with whom we enter into agreements are not able to fulfill their obligations to us, the inventory we expect to acquire or market and sell on their behalf may not be available on time or at all, or may not otherwise be within agreed-upon specifications, including the specifications that we must meet in order to use Hilton’s trademarks at such properties. If our counterparties do not perform as expected and we do not have access to the expected inventory or obtain access to inventory from alternative sources on a timely basis, our ability to achieve sales goals may be adversely affected.

In addition, a decline in VOI supply could result in a decrease of financing revenues that are generated by VOI purchases and fee and rental revenues that are generated by our resort and Club management services.

We operate in a highly competitive industry.

The timeshare industry is highly competitive. The Hilton brands we use compete with the timeshare brands affiliated with major hotel chains in national and international venues, and we compete generally with other vacation options such as cruises and the vacation rental options generally offered by the lodging and travel industry (e.g., hotels, resorts, home and apartment sharing services, and condominium rentals).

We also compete with other timeshare developers for sales of VOIs based principally on location, quality of accommodations, price, service levels and amenities, financing terms, quality of service, terms of property use, reservation systems, flexibility for VOI owners to exchange into time at other timeshare properties, or other travel rewards, including access to hotel loyalty programs, as well as brand name recognition and reputation. A number of our competitors are significantly larger than we are, and have potentially greater access to capital resources and broader marketing, sales and distribution capabilities. We also compete with numerous other smaller owners and operators of timeshare resorts, as well as home and apartment sharing services that market available privately owned residential properties that can be rented on a nightly, weekly or monthly basis. In addition, we are in competition with national and independent timeshare resale companies and members reselling existing VOIs on the secondary market, which could reduce demand or prices for sales of new VOIs. We also compete with other timeshare management companies in the management of resorts on behalf of owners on the basis of quality, cost, types of services offered and relationship.

We also compete for property acquisitions and partnerships with entities that have similar investment objectives as we do. This competition could limit the number of, or negatively affect the cost of, suitable investment opportunities available to us.

Recent and potential future consolidation in the highly fragmented timeshare industry may increase competition. Consolidation may create competitors that enjoy significant advantages resulting from, among other things, a lower cost of, and greater access to, capital and enhanced operating efficiencies.  There is also significant competition for talent at all levels within the industry, in particular for sales and management.

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Our ability to remain competitive and to attract and retain members depends on our success in distinguishing the quality and value of our products and services from those offered by others. If we cannot compete successfully in these areas or if our marketing and sales efforts are not successful and we are unable to convert customers to a sufficient number of sales, this could negatively affect our operating margins and our ability to recover the expense of our marketing programs and grow our business, diminish our market share and reduce our earnings.

The sale of VOIs in the secondary market by existing members could cause our sales revenues and profits to decline.

Existing members have offered, and are expected to continue to offer, their VOIs for sale on the secondary market. The sale of VOIs has been made easier by recent development of virtual marketplaces assisting members with the sale of their VOIs.  The prices at which these intervals are sold are typically less than the prices at which we would sell the intervals. As a result, these sales create additional pricing pressure on our sale of VOIs, which could cause our sales revenues and profits to decline. In addition, if the secondary market for VOIs becomes more organized or financing for such resales becomes more available, our ability to sell VOIs could be adversely affected and/or the resulting availability of VOIs (particularly where the VOIs are available for sale at lower prices than the prices at which we would sell them) could adversely affect our sales revenues. Further, unlawful or deceptive third-party VOI resale or vacation package sales schemes could damage the reputation of the industry, our reputation and brand value, or affect our ability to collect management fees, which may adversely affect our revenues and results of operations.

Development of a strong secondary market may also cause a decline in the volume of VOI inventory that we are able to repurchase, which could adversely affect our development margin, as we utilize this low-cost inventory source to supplement our inventory needs and help manage our cost of vacation ownership products.

Partnership or joint venture investments could be adversely affected by our lack of sole decision-making authority, our reliance on partners’ or co-venturers’ financial condition, disputes between us and our partners or co-venturers and our obligation to guaranty certain obligations beyond the amount of our investments.

We have co-invested with third parties and we may in the future co-invest with other third parties through partnerships, joint ventures or other entities, acquiring non-controlling interests in, or sharing responsibility for managing the affairs, of a timeshare property, partnership, joint venture or other entity. Consequently, with respect to any such third-party arrangements, we would not be in a position to exercise sole decision-making authority regarding the property, partnership, joint venture or other entity, and may, under certain circumstances, be exposed to risks not present if a third party were not involved, including the possibility that partners or co-venturers might become bankrupt or fail to fund their share of required capital contribution. In addition, we may be forced to make contributions to maintain the value of the property. Such investments may also have the potential risk of impasses on decisions, such as a sale, because neither we nor the partner or co-venturer may have full control over the partnership or joint venture. We and our respective partners or co-venturers may each have the right to trigger a buy-sell right or forced sale arrangement, which could cause us to sell our interest, or acquire our partners’ or co-venturers’ interest, or to sell the underlying asset, either on unfavorable terms or at a time when we otherwise would not have initiated such a transaction. In addition, a sale or transfer by us to a third party of our interests in the partnership or joint venture may be subject to consent rights or rights of first refusal in favor of our partners or co-venturers, which would in each case restrict our ability to dispose of our interest in the partnership or joint venture. Any or all of these factors could adversely affect the value of our investment, our ability to exit, sell or dispose of our investment at times that are beneficial to us, or our financial commitment to maintaining our interest in the joint ventures.

Our joint ventures may be subject to debt and the refinancing of such debt, and we may be required to provide certain guarantees or be responsible for the full amount of the debt, beyond the amount of our equity investment, in certain circumstances in the event of a default. Our joint venture partners may take actions that are inconsistent with the interests of the partnership or joint venture, or in violation of the financing arrangements and trigger our guaranty, which may expose us to substantial financial obligation and commitment that are beyond our ability to fund. In addition, partners or co-venturers may have economic or other business interests or goals that are inconsistent with our business interests or goals and may be in a position to take action or withhold consent contrary to our policies or objectives. In some instances, partners or co-venturers may have competing interests in our markets that could create conflict of interest issues. Disputes between us and partners or co-venturers may result in litigation or arbitration that would increase our expenses and prevent our officers from focusing their time and effort on our business. Consequently, actions by or disputes with partners or co-venturers might result in subjecting assets owned by the partnership or joint venture, and to the extent of any guarantee our assets, to additional risk. In addition, we may, in certain circumstances, be liable for the actions of our third-party partners or co-venturers.

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Our business is regulated under a wide variety of laws, regulations and policies, and failure to comply with these regulations could adversely affect our business.

Our business is subject to extensive regulation, and any failure to comply with applicable laws and regulations could have a material adverse effect on our business. Our real estate development activities, for example, are subject to laws and regulations typically applicable to real estate development, subdivision and construction activities, such as laws relating to zoning, entitlement, permitting, land use restrictions, environmental regulation, title transfers, title insurance, taxation and eminent domain. Laws in some jurisdictions also impose liability on property developers for construction defects discovered or repairs made by future owners of property developed by the developer. In addition, the sales of VOIs must be registered with governmental authorities in most jurisdictions in which we do business. The preparation of VOI registrations requires time and cost, and in many jurisdictions the exact date of registration approval cannot be accurately predicted. Various laws also govern our lending activities and our resort management activities, including the laws described in “Business—Government Regulation.”

A number of laws govern our marketing and sales activities, such as timeshare and land sales acts, fair housing statutes, anti-fraud laws, sweepstakes laws, real estate licensing laws, telemarketing laws, home solicitation sales laws, tour operator laws, seller of travel laws, securities laws, consumer privacy laws and consumer protection laws. In addition, laws in many jurisdictions in which we sell VOIs grant the purchaser of a VOI the right to cancel a purchase contract during a specified rescission period.

In recent years, telemarketing legislation has significantly increased the costs associated with telemarketing. We have implemented procedures that we believe will help reduce the possibility of violating such laws, however, such procedures may not be effective in ensuring regulatory compliance. In addition, because our relationship with Hilton has changed, it may be more difficult for us to utilize customer information we obtain from Hilton in the future for marketing purposes.

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the Accessibility Guidelines promulgated thereunder, which we refer to collectively as the ADA, all public accommodations must meet various federal requirements related to access and use by disabled persons. Compliance with ADA’s requirements could require removal of access barriers, and non-compliance could result in the U.S. government imposing fines or in private litigants winning damages. Our properties also are subject to various federal, state and local regulatory requirements, such as state and local fire and life safety requirements. Furthermore, various laws govern our resort management activities, including laws and regulations regarding community association management, public lodging, food and beverage services, liquor licensing, labor, employment, health care, health and safety, accessibility, discrimination, immigration, gaming and the environment (including climate change).

Our lending activities are also subject to a number of laws and regulations, including laws and regulations related to consumer loans, retail installment contracts, mortgage lending, fair debt collection and credit reporting practices, consumer collection practices, contacting debtors by telephone, mortgage disclosure, lender licenses and money laundering.

We may not be successful in maintaining compliance with all laws, regulations and policies to which we are currently subject, and such compliance is expensive and time consuming. We do not know whether existing requirements will change or whether compliance with future requirements, including regulatory requirements in new geographic areas into which we expand would require significant unanticipated expenditures that would affect our cash flow and results of operations. Failure to comply with current or future applicable laws, regulations and policies could have a material adverse effect on our business. For example, if we do not comply with applicable laws, regulations and policies, governmental authorities in the jurisdictions where the violations occurred may revoke or refuse to renew licenses or registrations necessary to operate our business. Failure to comply with applicable laws, regulations and policies could also render sales contracts for our products void or voidable, subject us to fines or other sanctions, and increase our exposure to litigation.

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We may experience financial and operational risks in connection with acquisitions and other opportunistic business ventures.

We will consider strategic acquisitions to expand our inventory options and distribution capabilities; however, we may be unable to identify attractive acquisition candidates or complete transactions on favorable terms. Future acquisitions could result in potentially dilutive issuances of equity securities and/or the assumption of contingent liabilities. These acquisitions may also be structured in such a way that we will be assuming unknown or undisclosed liabilities or obligations. Moreover, we may be unable to efficiently integrate acquisitions, management attention and other resources may be diverted away from other potentially more profitable areas of our business and in some cases these acquisitions may turn out to be less compatible with our growth and operational strategy than originally anticipated. The occurrence of any of these events could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

As part of our business strategy, we also intend to continue collaborating with Hilton on timeshare development opportunities at new and existing hotel properties and explore growth opportunities along the Hilton brand spectrum, as well as expand our marketing partnerships and travel exchange partners. However, we may be unable to successfully enter into these arrangements on favorable terms or launch related products and services, or such products and services may not gain acceptance among our members or be profitable. The failure to develop and execute any such initiatives on a cost-effective basis could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The expiration, termination or renegotiation of our management agreements could adversely affect our cash flows, revenues and profits.

We enter into management agreements with the HOAs for the timeshare resorts developed/acquired by us or by third parties with whom we have entered into fee-for-service agreements. Our management agreements generally provide for a cost-plus management fee equal to 10 percent to 15 percent of the costs to operate the applicable resort. We also receive revenues that represent reimbursement for the costs incurred to perform our services, principally related to personnel providing on-site services. The original term of our management agreements is typically governed by state timeshare laws, and ranges from three to five years, and many of these agreements renew automatically for one- to three-year periods, unless either party provides advance notice of termination before the expiration of the term. Although none of the management agreements relating to our developed, just-in-time or fee-for-service properties have been terminated or lapsed since our inception, any of these agreements may expire at the end of its then-current term (following notice by a party of non-renewal) or be terminated, or the contract terms may be renegotiated in a manner adverse to us. If a management agreement is terminated or not renewed on favorable terms, our cash flows, revenues and profits could be adversely affected.

Disagreements with VOI owners, HOAs and other third parties may result in litigation and/or loss of management contracts.

The nature of our responsibilities in managing timeshare properties may from time to time give rise to disagreements with VOI owners and HOAs. To develop and maintain positive relations with current and potential VOI owners and HOAs, we seek to resolve any disagreements, but may not always be able to do so. Failure to resolve such disagreements may result in litigation. Further, disagreements with HOAs could also result in the loss of management contracts, a significant loss of which could negatively affect our profits or limit our ability to operate our business, and our ongoing ability to generate sales from our existing member base may be adversely affected.

In the normal course of our business, we are involved in various legal proceedings and in the future we could become the subject of claims by current or former members, VOI owners, HOAs, persons to whom we market our products, third-party developers, guests who use our properties, our employees or contractors, our investors or regulators. The outcome of these proceedings cannot be predicted. If any such litigation results in a significant adverse judgment, settlement or court order, we could suffer significant losses, our profits could be reduced, our reputation could be harmed and our future ability to operate our business could be constrained.

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We manage a concentration of properties in particular geographic areas, which exposes our business to the effects of regional events and occurrences.

A significant number, approximately 73 percent, of the resorts we manage are concentrated in significant tourist markets including Florida, Hawaii, Nevada, New York, Washington D.C. and South Carolina and are, therefore, particularly susceptible to adverse economic developments in those areas. These economic developments include regional economic downturns, significant increases in the number of our competitors’ products in these markets, and potentially higher labor, real estate, tax or other costs in the geographic markets in which we are concentrated. In addition, the properties we manage are subject to the effects of adverse acts of natural or manmade disasters, including earthquakes, windstorms, tornadoes, hurricanes, typhoons, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, floods, drought, fires, oil spills and nuclear incidents. Depending on the severity of these disasters, the damage could require closure of all or substantially all of these properties in one or more markets for a period of time while the necessary repairs and renovations, as applicable, are undertaken. In addition, we cannot guarantee that the amount of insurance maintained for these properties from time to time would entirely cover damages caused by any such event. Further, actual or threatened war, political conditions or civil unrest, violence or terrorist activities or threats and heightened travel security measures instituted in response to these events, could also interrupt or deter vacation plans to our key markets. As a result of this geographic concentration of properties, we face a greater risk of a negative effect on our revenues in the event these areas are more severely and more frequently affected by adverse economic and competitive conditions, extreme weather, manmade disasters, and political and civil unrest.

We rely on tourism and travel by consumers for our business and may be impacted by any pandemic or contagious disease outbreak or conditions that negatively impact travel and the global economy.

Any outbreak of, and fear of exposure to, pandemic or contagious diseases, such as Ebola, avian flu, SARs, swine flu, the Zika virus and the Coronavirus, may deter travelers from scheduling vacations or cause them to cancel vacation plans to the markets in which the properties we manage are concentrated. In addition, governments and businesses may take significant actions that may further depress vacations, travel, and the affected economy.

Our current operations and future expansion outside of the United States make us susceptible to the risks of doing business internationally, which could lower our revenues, increase our costs, reduce our profits or disrupt our business.

We currently offer timeshare properties located in the United States, the United Kingdom and Italy. We also market both our international properties and our U.S. properties in Europe and the Asia Pacific region, primarily in Japan and South Korea.  In addition, as part of our business strategy, we intend to continue the expansion of our operations in Japan, including by developing property there and selling VOIs at properties located in Japan, as well as explore further expansion opportunities in other countries located in the Asia Pacific region, Mexico and the Caribbean. Such activities may not be limited only to marketing efforts for existing international and U.S. properties in other countries, but also include acquiring, developing, managing, marketing, offering and/or financing timeshare properties in such countries.  Current and future international operations expose us to a number of additional challenges and risks that may not be inherent in operating solely in the U.S., including, for example, the following:

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These and other factors may materially adversely affect our business generally, future expansion plans, revenues from international operations, and costs and profits, as well as our financial condition, Moreover, our experience operating internationally is limited to certain markets. Expansion of our international operations into other countries and territories may result in greater inefficiencies in navigating the risks of operating internationally and could result in greater effects on our business than would be experienced by a company with greater international experience.

Further, because we market our U.S. properties and our international properties in Europe, instability of the Eurozone, has resulted in concerns regarding the suitability of a shared currency for the region, which could lead to the reintroduction of individual currencies for member states. If this were to occur, certain of our Euro-denominated assets and liabilities would be re-denominated to such individual currencies, which could result in a mismatch in the values of assets and liabilities and expose us and certain of our investments to additional currency risks. Even if the Euro is maintained, continued concerns regarding the stability of the Eurozone, including potential consequences following Brexit, and the potential effects of government intervention intended to address it could materially adversely affect our business.

Similarly, we market our U.S. and international properties in Japan, have begun developing property in Japan, and we intend to continue the expansion of our operations in Japan. The Japanese economy has recently experienced periods of fiscal and economic volatility, and we may be unable to properly predict the effect of such volatility, including the actions that may be taken by the Japanese government, in a way that fully mitigates the impact of such volatility on our marketing activities and businesses in Japan.

We rely on highly skilled personnel and, if we are unable to retain or motivate key personnel, hire qualified personnel, or maintain our corporate culture, we may not be able to grow effectively.

Our performance largely depends on the talents and efforts of highly skilled individuals. Our future success depends on our continuing ability to identify, hire, develop, motivate, and retain highly skilled personnel for all areas of our organization. Competition in our industry for qualified employees is intense, and certain of our competitors have directly targeted our employees. In addition, our compensation arrangements may not always be successful in attracting new employees and retaining and motivating our existing employees. Our continued ability to compete effectively depends on our ability to attract new employees and to retain and motivate our existing employees.

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In addition, we believe that our corporate culture fosters innovation, creativity, and teamwork. As our organization grows, and we are required to implement more complex organizational management structures, we may find it increasingly difficult to maintain the beneficial aspects of our corporate culture. This could negatively affect our future success.

Our insurance policies may not cover all potential losses.

We maintain insurance coverage for liability, property, business interruption, cyber liability and other risks with respect to business operations. While we have comprehensive property and liability insurance policies with coverage features and insured limits that we believe are customary, market forces beyond our control may limit the scope of the insurance coverage we can obtain or our ability to obtain coverage at reasonable rates. The cost of our insurance may increase, and our coverage levels may decrease, which may affect our ability to maintain customary insurance coverage and deductibles at acceptable costs. There is a limit as well as various sub-limits on the amount of insurance proceeds we will receive in excess of applicable deductibles. If an insurable event occurs that affects more than one of our properties, the claims from each affected property may be considered together to determine whether the per occurrence limit, annual aggregate limit or sub-limits, depending on the type of claim, have been reached. If the limits or sub-limits are exceeded, each affected property may only receive a proportional share of the amount of insurance proceeds provided for under the policy. Further, certain types of losses, generally of a catastrophic nature, such as earthquakes, hurricanes and floods, war, terrorist acts, such as biological or chemical terrorism, political risks, some environmental hazards and/or natural or manmade disasters, may be outside the general coverage limits of our policy, subject to large deductibles, deemed uninsurable or too cost-prohibitive to justify insuring against. In addition, in the event of a substantial loss, the insurance coverage we carry may not be sufficient to pay the full market value or replacement cost of the affected resort or in some cases may not provide a recovery for any part of a loss. As a result, we could lose some or all the capital we have invested in a property, as well as the anticipated future marketing, sales or revenue opportunities from the property. Further, we could remain obligated under guarantees or other financial obligations related to the property despite the loss of product inventory, and our members could be required to contribute toward deductibles to help cover losses.

Failure of HOA boards to levy sufficient fees, or the failure of members to pay those fees, could lead to inadequate funds to maintain or improve the properties we manage.

Owners of our VOIs and those we sell on behalf of third-party developers must pay maintenance fees levied by HOA boards, which include reserve amounts for capital replacements and refurbishments. These maintenance fees are used to maintain and refurbish the timeshare properties and to keep the properties in compliance with applicable Hilton standards and policies. If HOA boards do not levy sufficient maintenance fees, including capital reserves required by applicable law, or fail to manage their reserves appropriately, or if members do not pay their maintenance fees, the timeshare properties could fall into disrepair and fail to comply with applicable standards and policies, and/or state regulators could impose requirements, obligations and penalties. A decline in the quality or standards of the resorts we manage would negatively affect our ability to attract new members and maintain member satisfaction. In addition, if a resort fails to comply with applicable standards and policies because maintenance fees are not paid or otherwise, Hilton could terminate our rights under the license agreement to use its trademarks at the non-compliant resort, which could result in the loss of management fees, and could decrease member satisfaction and impair our ability to market and sell our products at the non-compliant locations.

If maintenance fees at our resorts are required to be increased, our product could become less attractive and our business could be harmed.

The maintenance fees that are levied by HOA boards on VOI owners may increase as the costs to maintain and refurbish the timeshare properties and to keep the properties in compliance with Hilton brand standards increase. Increased maintenance fees could make our products less desirable, which could have a negative effect on VOI sales. Further, if our maintenance fees increase substantially year over year or are not competitive with other VOI providers, we may not be able to attract new members or retain existing members.

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We have limited underwriting standards due to the real-time nature of industry sales practices, and do not include traditional ability-to-pay factors such as income verification which may affect loan default rates. If purchasers default on the loans that we provide to finance their VOI purchases, our revenues, cash flows and profits could be reduced.

We originate loans for purchasers of our VOIs who qualify according to our credit criteria. Our underwriting standards generally employ FICO® score-based standards, down payment ratios, and borrowing history, but due to the real-time nature of industry sales practices, do not include certain traditional ability-to-pay factors, such as income verification.

Providing secured financing to some purchasers of VOIs subjects us to the risk of purchaser default. As of December 31, 2019, our consumer loan portfolio had a balance of approximately $1.3 billion and experienced default rates of 5.14 percent, 4.71 percent and 4.12 percent for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively. If a purchaser defaults under the financing that we provide, we could be forced to write off the loan and reclaim ownership of the VOI. We may be unable to resell the property in a timely manner or at a price sufficient to allow us to recover written-off loan balances, or at all. Also, if a purchaser of a VOI defaults on the related loan during the early part of the amortization period, we may not have recovered the marketing, selling and general and administrative costs associated with the sale of that VOI. If we are unable to recover any of the principal amount of the loan from a defaulting purchaser, or if the allowances for losses from such defaults are inadequate, our revenues and profits could be reduced.

If default rates increase beyond current projections and result in higher than expected foreclosure activity, our results of operations could be adversely affected. In addition, the transactions in which we have securitized timeshare financing receivables in the capital markets contain certain portfolio performance requirements related to default, delinquency and recovery rates, which, if not met, would result in loss or disruption of cash flow until portfolio performance sufficiently improves to satisfy the requirements.

If the default rates or other credit metrics underlying our timeshare financing receivables deteriorate, our timeshare financing receivable securitization program could be adversely affected.

Our timeshare financing receivable securitization program could be adversely affected if any pool of timeshare financing receivables fails to meet certain performance ratios, which could occur if the default rate or other credit metrics of the underlying timeshare financing receivables deteriorate. In addition, if we offer timeshare financings to our customers with terms longer than those generally offered in the industry, we may not be able to securitize those timeshare financing receivables. Our ability to sell securities backed by our timeshare financing receivables depends on the continued ability and willingness of capital market participants to invest in such securities. Asset-backed securities issued in our timeshare financing receivable securitization program could be downgraded by credit agencies in the future. If a downgrade occurs, our ability to complete other securitization transactions on acceptable terms or at all could be jeopardized, and we could be forced to rely on other potentially more expensive and less attractive funding sources, to the extent available. Similarly, if other operators of vacation ownership products were to experience significant financial difficulties, or if the timeshare industry as a whole were to contract, we could experience difficulty in securing funding on acceptable terms. The occurrence of any of the foregoing would decrease our profitability and might require us to adjust our business operations, including by reducing or suspending our provision of financing to purchasers of VOIs. Sales of VOIs may decline if we reduce or suspend the provision of financing to purchasers, which may adversely affect our cash flows, revenues and profits.

A failure to keep pace with developments in technology could impair our operations, competitive position or reputation.

Our business model and competitive conditions in the timeshare industry demand the use of sophisticated technology and systems, including those used for our marketing, sales, reservation, inventory management and property management systems, and technologies we make available to our members and more generally to support our business. In particular, an increasing number of potential customers select products based on the providers’ technology and ease of interfacing with the provider. We must refine, update and/or replace these technologies and systems with more advanced systems on a regular basis. If we cannot do so as quickly as our competitors or within budgeted costs and time frames, our business could suffer. We also may not achieve the benefits that we anticipate from any new technology or system, and a failure to do so could result in higher than anticipated costs or could harm our operating results.

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Social media influences how consumers search for vacation information and make decisions to purchase vacation-related products and services. Lack of awareness or understanding of and the failure to effectively manage, and the costs associated with our management of social media content regarding our products and services could have a material adverse effect on VOI sales, revenues and our operating results.

Social media has become an increasingly influential aspect of tourism, changing the way consumers search, evaluate, rank and purchase vacation products and services. In particular, social media plays a role in the pre-vacation phase, when consumers employ social media in the planning, information search, and the decision-making stages. Providers are no longer the primary spokesperson regarding the quality of their brands and products.  Online reviews about vacation resorts play an increasing role in helping today’s consumers evaluate and make vacation decisions by providing positive and negative reviews and indirect customer-to-customer communication. Consumers may find traveler-generated content more trustworthy than information on provider websites and advertising. Vacation decisions are influenced by both negative customer reviews, and by the lack of positive reviews.

The proliferation and global reach of social media continue to expand rapidly and could cause us to suffer reputational harm. The continuing evolution of social media presents new challenges and requires us to keep pace with new developments, technology and trends. Negative posts or comments about us, sales practices, the properties we manage, the Hilton brands, or the timeshare industry generally, on any social networking or user-generated review website, including travel and/or vacation property websites, could affect consumer opinions of us and our products; and we cannot guarantee that we will timely or adequately redress such instances. The failure to appreciate the importance of content on social media or failing to take action that generates positive content, minimizes negative content, and addresses areas of nonexistent content, could have a material adverse effect on VOI sales, revenues and our operating results.  In addition, we may be required to devote significant resources to social media management programs, which could result in increased costs to us.

Our increasing reliance on information technology and other systems subjects us to risks associated with cyber-security. Cyber-attacks or our failure to maintain the security and integrity of company, employee, associate, customer or third-party data could have a disruptive effect on our business and adversely affect our reputation and financial performance.

We rely heavily on computer, Internet-based and mobile information and communications systems operated by us or our service providers to collect, process, transmit and retain large volumes of customer data, including credit card numbers and other personally identifiable information, reservation information and mailing lists, as well as personally identifiable information of our employees.  There has been an increase in the number and sophistication of criminal cyber-security attacks against companies where customer and other sensitive information has been compromised. Our information systems and records, including those we maintain with our service providers, have been, and likely will continue to be, subject to such cyber-attacks, which include efforts to hack or breach security measures in order to obtain or misuse information, phishing attempts, viruses or other malicious codes, “ransomware” or other malware. In addition, increasingly complex systems and software are subject to failure, operator error or malfeasance, or inadvertent releases of data that may materially impact our information systems and records. For instance, security breaches could result in the dissemination of member and guest credit card information, which could lead to affected members and guests experiencing fraudulent charges. To date, we have seen no material impact on our business or operations from these attacks or events. However, the ever-evolving threats mean we and our third-party service providers and vendors must continually evaluate and adapt our respective systems and processes and overall security environment, as well as those of any companies we may acquire. There is no guarantee that these measures will be adequate to safeguard against all data security breaches, system compromises or misuses of data.

The integrity and protection of customer and employee data is critical to us. We could make faulty decisions if that data is inaccurate or incomplete. Customers and employees also have a high expectation that we and our service providers will adequately protect their personal information. A significant theft, loss, loss of access to, or fraudulent use of customer, employee, or company data could adversely impact our reputation, and could result in significant remedial and other expenses, fines, and/or litigation. Breaches in the security of our information systems or those of our service providers or other disruptions in data services could lead to an interruption in the operation of our systems or require us to consider changes to our customer data or payment systems, resulting in operational inefficiencies, additional expense and a loss of profits.

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Our collection and use of customer information are governed by extensive and evolving privacy laws and regulations that are constantly evolving and may differ significantly depending on jurisdiction.  Compliance with these laws and regulations involves significant costs, which may increase in the future and which may negatively impact our ability to provide services to our customers, and a failure by us or our service providers to comply with privacy regulations may subject us to significant remedial and other expenses, fines, or litigation, as well as restrictions on our use or transfer of data.

Many jurisdictions have enacted or are enacting laws requiring companies to notify regulators or individuals of data security incidents involving certain types of personal data. These mandatory disclosures regarding security incidents often lead to widespread negative publicity, and the risk of reputational harm may be magnified and/or distorted through the rapid dissemination of information over the internet, including through news articles, blogs, chat rooms, and social media sites. Any security incident, whether actual or perceived, could harm our reputation, erode customer confidence in the effectiveness of our data security measures, negatively impact our ability to attract or retain customers, or subject us to third-party lawsuits, regulatory fines or other action or liability, which could materially and adversely affect our business and operating results.

Our business could be subject to stricter obligations and, greater fines and private causes of action under the enactment of new data privacy laws, including but not limited to, the European Union General Data Protection Regulation, enacted on May 25, 2018, and the California Consumer Privacy Act, enacted on January 1, 2020. Our systems and the systems operated by our service providers may be unable to satisfy changing regulatory requirements and customer and employee expectations and/or may require significant additional investments or time to do so.  

The steps we take to deter and mitigate risks related to cyber-security may not provide the intended level of protection. In particular, it may be difficult to anticipate or immediately detect such incidents and the damage caused thereby. We may be required to expend significant additional resources in the future to modify and enhance our protective measures. Although we carry cyber/privacy liability insurance that is designed to protect us against certain losses related to cyber-security risks, such insurance coverage may be insufficient to cover all losses or all types of claims that may arise in connection with cyber-attacks, security breaches, and other related breaches. In addition, the third party service providers on which we rely face cyber-security risks, some of which may be different than the risks we face, and we do not directly control any of such service providers’ information security operations, including the efforts that they may take to mitigate risks or the level of cyber/privacy liability insurance that they may carry.

Changes in privacy law could adversely affect our ability to market our products effectively.

We rely on a variety of direct marketing techniques, including telemarketing, email and social media marketing and postal mailings, and we are subject to various laws and regulations in the United States and internationally that govern marketing and advertising practices. Adoption of new state or federal laws regulating marketing and solicitation, or international data protection laws that govern these activities, or changes to existing laws, such as the Telemarketing Sales Rule, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, and the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, could adversely affect current or planned marketing activities and cause us to change our marketing strategy. If this occurs, we may not be able to develop adequate alternative marketing strategies, which could affect the amount and timing of our VOI sales. We also obtain access to potential members and guests from travel service providers or other companies, including Hilton; and we market to some individuals on these lists directly or through other companies’ marketing materials. If access to these lists were prohibited or otherwise restricted, including access to Hilton Honors loyalty program member information, our ability to access potential members and guests and introduce them to our products could be significantly impaired. Additionally, because our relationship with Hilton has changed, it may be more difficult for us to utilize customer information we obtain from Hilton in the future.

The growth of our business and the execution of our business strategies depend on the services of our management team and our employees.

We believe that our future growth depends, in part, on the continued services of our management team, and on our ability to attract and retain key officers and other highly qualified personnel. Competition for such personnel is intense. There can be no assurance that we will be successful in retaining and attracting management and other highly qualified personnel. The loss of any members of our management team could adversely affect our strategic, member and guest relationships and impede our ability to execute our business strategies.

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In addition, insufficient numbers of talented employees at our properties could constrain our ability to maintain our current levels of business or expand our business. We compete with other companies both within and outside of our industry for talented personnel across a diverse array of operating disciplines. If we cannot recruit, train, develop or retain sufficient numbers of talented employees, we could experience increased employee turnover, decreased member and guest satisfaction, low morale, inefficiency or internal control failures, which could materially reduce our profits.

Third-party reservation channels may negatively affect our bookings for room rental revenues.

Some stays at the properties we manage are booked through third-party internet travel intermediaries, such as expedia.com, orbitz.com and booking.com, as well as lesser-known and/or newly emerging online travel service providers. As the percentage of internet bookings increases, these intermediaries may be able to obtain higher commissions, reduced room rates or other significant contract concessions from us. Moreover, some of these internet travel intermediaries are attempting to commoditize lodging, by increasing the importance of price and general indicators of quality (such as “three-star property”) at the expense of brand identification. These intermediaries also generally employ aggressive marketing strategies, including expending significant resources for online and television advertising campaigns to drive consumers to their websites. Additionally, consumers can book stays at the properties we manage through other distribution channels, including travel agents, travel membership associations and meeting procurement firms. Over time, consumers may develop loyalties to these third-party reservation systems rather than to our booking channels. Although we expect to derive most of our business from traditional channels and our websites (and those of Hilton), our business and profitability could be adversely affected if customer loyalties change significantly, diverting bookings away from our distribution channels.

Our real estate investments subject us to numerous risks.

We are subject to the risks that generally relate to investments in and the development of real property. A variety of factors affect income from properties and real estate values, including laws and regulations, insurance, interest rate levels and the availability of financing. Our license agreement or other agreements with Hilton may require us to incur unexpected costs required to cause our properties to comply with applicable standards and policies. In recent years, our financial results have been positively impacted by a lower interest rate environment.  However, when interest rates increase the cost of acquiring, developing, expanding or renovating real property increases, and real property values may decrease as the number of potential buyers decrease. Similarly, as financing becomes less available, it becomes more difficult both to acquire and develop real property. Many costs of real estate investments, such as real estate taxes, insurance premiums, maintenance costs and certain operating costs, are generally more fixed than variable, and as a result are not reduced even when a property is not fully sold or occupied. If any of these risks were realized, they could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations or financial condition.

United States or foreign environmental laws and regulations may cause us to incur substantial costs or subject us to potential liabilities.

We are subject to certain compliance costs and potential liabilities under various U.S. federal, state and local and foreign environmental, health and safety laws and regulations. These laws and regulations govern actions including air emissions, the use, storage and disposal of hazardous and toxic substances, and wastewater disposal. Our failure to comply with such laws, including any required permits or licenses, could result in substantial fines, penalties, litigation or possible revocation of our authority to conduct some of our operations. We could also be liable under such laws for the costs of investigation, removal or remediation of hazardous or toxic substances at our currently or formerly owned real property or at third-party locations in connection with our waste disposal operations, regardless of whether or not we knew of, or caused, the presence or release of such substances. From time to time, we may be required to remediate such substances or remove, abate or manage asbestos, mold, radon gas, lead or other hazardous conditions at our properties. The presence or release of such toxic or hazardous substances could result in third-party claims for personal injury, property or natural resource damages, business interruption or other losses. Such claims and the need to investigate, remediate or otherwise address hazardous, toxic or unsafe conditions could adversely affect our operations, the value of any affected real property, or our ability to sell, lease or assign our rights in any such property, or could otherwise harm our business or reputation. Environmental, health and safety requirements have also become increasingly stringent, and our costs may increase as a result.

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Some U.S. states and various countries are considering or have undertaken actions to regulate and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. New or revised laws and regulations, or new interpretations of existing laws and regulations, such as those related to climate change, could affect the operation of the properties we manage or result in significant additional expense and operating restrictions on us. The cost of such legislation, regulation or new interpretations would depend upon the specific requirements enacted and cannot be determined at this time.

Our ability to source VOI inventory and finance VOI sales may be impaired if we or the third-party developers with whom we do business are unable to access capital when necessary.

The availability of funds for new investments, primarily developing, acquiring or repurchasing VOI inventory, depends in part on liquidity factors and capital markets over which we can exert little, if any, control. Instability in the financial markets and any resulting contraction of available liquidity and leverage could constrain the capital markets for investments in timeshare products. In addition, we intend to access the securitization markets to securitize our timeshare financing receivables. Any future deterioration in the financial markets could preclude, limit, delay or increase the cost to us of future securitizations. Instability in the financial markets could also affect the timing and volume of any securitizations we undertake, as well as the financial terms of such securitizations. Any indebtedness we incur, including indebtedness under these facilities, may adversely affect our ability to obtain any additional financing necessary to develop or acquire additional VOI inventory, to make other investments in our business, or to repurchase VOIs on the secondary market. Furthermore, volatility in the financial markets, due to tightening of underwriting standards by lenders and credit rating agencies, among other things, could result in less availability of credit and increased costs for what is available.  As a result, we may not be able to obtain financing on attractive terms or at all. If our overall cost of borrowing increases, the increased costs would likely reduce future cash flow available for distribution, affecting our growth and development plans.

We also require the issuance of surety bonds in connection with our real estate development and VOI sales activity. The availability, terms and conditions and pricing of our bonding capacity is dependent on, among other things, continued financial strength and stability of the insurance company affiliates providing the bonding capacity, general availability of such capacity, and our corporate credit rating. If bonding capacity is unavailable, or alternatively, if the terms and conditions and pricing of such bonding capacity are unacceptable to us, our business could be negatively affected.

We have and will continue to enter into fee-for-service agreements with third-party developers to source inventory. These agreements enable us to generate fees from the marketing and sales services we provide, Club memberships and from the management of the timeshare properties without requiring us to fund acquisition and construction costs. If these developers are not able to obtain or maintain financing necessary for their operations, we may not be able to enter into these arrangements, which would limit opportunities for growth and reduce our revenues.

Changes to accounting rules or regulations may adversely affect our reported financial condition and results of operations.

New accounting rules or regulations and varying interpretations of existing accounting rules or regulations have occurred and may occur in the future. A change in accounting rules or regulations may require retrospective application and affect our reporting of transactions completed before the change is effective, and future changes to accounting rules or regulations may adversely affect our reported financial condition and results of operations. See Note 2: Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies in our audited consolidated financial statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for a summary of accounting standards issued but not yet adopted.

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Changes to estimates or projections used to assess the fair value of our assets, or operating results that are lower than our current estimates at certain locations, may cause us to incur impairment losses that could adversely affect our results of operations.

Our total assets include intangible assets with finite useful lives and long-lived assets, principally property and equipment and VOI inventory. We evaluate our intangible assets with finite useful lives and long-lived assets for impairment when circumstances indicate that the carrying amount may not be recoverable. Our evaluation of impairment requires us to make certain estimates and assumptions including projections of future results. After performing our evaluation for impairment, including an analysis to determine the recoverability of long-lived assets, we will record an impairment loss when the carrying value of the underlying asset, asset group or reporting unit exceeds its fair value. We carry our VOI inventory at the lower of cost or estimated fair value, less costs to sell. If the estimates or assumptions used in our evaluation of impairment or fair value change, we may be required to record impairment losses on certain of these assets. If these impairment losses are significant, our results of operations would be adversely affected.

Changes in U.S. federal, state and local or foreign tax law, interpretations of existing tax law, or adverse determinations by tax authorities, could increase our tax burden or otherwise adversely affect our financial condition or results of operations.

We are subject to taxation at the federal, state and local levels in the United States and various other countries and jurisdictions. Our future effective tax rate could be affected by changes in the composition of earnings in jurisdictions with differing tax rates, changes in statutory rates and other legislative changes, changes in the valuation of our deferred tax assets and liabilities, or changes in determinations regarding the jurisdictions in which we are subject to tax. From time to time, the U.S. federal, state and local and foreign governments make substantive changes to tax rules and their application, which could result in materially higher corporate taxes than would be incurred under existing tax law and could adversely affect our financial condition or results of operations. Changes in the non-income tax rates to which we are subject could also have an adverse effect on the maintenance fees charged to our members, which could result in materially lower sales and higher operating costs.

The U.S. tax legislation enacted on December 22, 2017 represented a significant overhaul of the United States federal tax code. This tax legislation significantly reduced the U.S. statutory corporate tax rate and made other changes that could have a favorable impact on our overall U.S. federal tax liability in a given period. However, the tax legislation also included a number of provisions, including, but not limited to, the limitation or elimination of various deductions or credits, the imposition of taxes on certain cross-border payments or transfers, the changing of the timing of the recognition of certain income and deductions or their character, and the limitation of asset basis under certain circumstances, that could significantly and adversely affect our U.S. federal income tax position. There can be no assurance that changes in tax laws or regulations, both within the U.S. and the other jurisdictions in which we operate, will not materially and adversely affect our effective tax rate, tax payments, financial condition and results of operations. Similarly, changes in tax laws and regulations that impact our customers and counterparties, or the economy generally may also impact our financial condition and results of operations.  

Tax laws and regulations are complex and subject to varying interpretations and any significant failure to comply with applicable tax laws and regulations in all relevant jurisdictions could give rise to substantial penalties and liabilities. Any changes in enacted tax laws (such as the recent U.S. tax legislation), rules or regulatory or judicial interpretations or any change in the pronouncements relating to accounting for income taxes could materially and adversely impact our effective tax rate, tax payments, financial condition and results of operations.

In addition, we are subject to ongoing and periodic tax audits and disputes in U.S. federal and various state, local and foreign jurisdictions. An unfavorable outcome from any tax audit could result in higher tax costs, penalties and interest, and could materially and adversely affect our financial condition or results of operations.  

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Failure to comply with laws and regulations applicable to our international operations may increase costs, reduce profits, limit growth or subject us to broader liability.

Our business operations in countries outside the United States are subject to a number of laws and regulations, including restrictions imposed by the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”), as well as trade sanctions administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”). The FCPA is intended to prohibit bribery of foreign officials and requires us to keep books and records that accurately and fairly reflect our transactions. OFAC administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions based on U.S. foreign policy and national security goals against targeted foreign states, organizations and individuals. Although we have policies in place designed to comply with applicable sanctions, rules and regulations, it is possible that the timeshare properties we own or manage in the countries and territories in which we operate may provide services to or receive funds from persons subject to sanctions. In addition, some of our operations may be subject to the laws and regulations of non-U.S. jurisdictions, including the U.K.’s Bribery Act of 2010, which contains significant prohibitions on bribery and other corrupt business activities, and other local anti-corruption laws in the countries and territories in which we conduct operations.

If we fail to comply with these laws and regulations, we could be exposed to claims for damages, financial penalties, reputational harm and incarceration of employees or restrictions on our operation or ownership of timeshare and other properties, including the termination of ownership and management rights. In addition, in certain circumstances, the actions of parties affiliated with us (including Hilton, third-party developers, and our and their respective employees and agents) may expose us to liability under the FCPA, U.S. sanctions or other laws. These restrictions could increase costs of operations, reduce profits or cause us to forgo development opportunities that would otherwise support growth.

In August 2012, Congress enacted the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012 (“ITRSHRA”), which expands the scope of U.S. sanctions against Iran and Syria. In particular, Section 219 of the ITRSHRA amended the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), to require SEC-reporting companies to disclose in their periodic reports specified dealings or transactions involving Iran or other individuals and entities targeted by certain OFAC sanctions engaged in by the reporting company or any of its affiliates. These companies are required to separately file with the SEC a notice that such activities have been disclosed in the relevant periodic report, and the SEC is required to post this notice of disclosure on its website and send the report to the U.S. President and certain U.S. Congressional committees. The U.S. President thereafter is required to initiate an investigation and, within 180 days of initiating such an investigation with respect to certain disclosed activities, to determine whether sanctions should be imposed.

Under ITRSHRA, we are required to report whether we or any of our “affiliates” knowingly engaged in certain specified activities during a period covered by one of our Annual Reports on Form 10-K or Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. We may engage in activities that would require disclosure pursuant to Section 219 of ITRSHRA. In addition, because the SEC defines the term “affiliate” broadly, it includes any entity controlled by us as well as any person or entity that controls us or is under common control with us. Disclosure of such activities, even if such activities are permissible under applicable law, and any sanctions imposed on us or our affiliates as a result of these activities could harm our reputation and the Hilton brands we use and have a negative effect on our results of operations.

The recently enacted European Union (“EU”) General Data Protection Regulation (the “GDPR”) imposes significant obligations to businesses that sell products or services to EU customers or otherwise control or process personal data of EU residents. Complying with the GDPR could increase our compliance cost, or adversely impact the marketing of our products and services to customers in the EU and our overall business. In addition, the GDPR imposes fines and penalties for noncompliance, including fines of up to 4 percent of annual worldwide revenue.  If we fail to comply with the requirements of the GDPR, we could face significant administrative and monetary sanctions, which could materially adversely impact our results of operations and financial condition.  

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Risks Related to Our Indebtedness

Our substantial indebtedness and other contractual obligations could adversely affect our financial condition, our ability to raise additional capital to fund our operations, our ability to operate our business, our ability to react to changes in the economy or our industry and our ability to pay our debts, and could divert our cash flow from operations for debt payments.

As of December 31, 2019, our total indebtedness was approximately $1.6 billion. Our substantial debt and other contractual obligations could have important consequences, including:

For additional discussion on our indebtedness, see “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources—Financing Activities,” and Note 14: Debt & Non-recourse Debt in our audited consolidated financial statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Certain of our debt agreements and instruments impose significant operating and financial restrictions on us, our restricted subsidiaries and the guarantors of our indebtedness, which may prevent us from capitalizing on business opportunities.

The debt agreements and instruments that govern our outstanding indebtedness impose significant operating and financial restrictions on us, certain of our subsidiaries and guarantors of our indebtedness. These restrictions limit our ability and/or the ability of our restricted subsidiaries to, among other things:

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In addition, our credit agreement related to our senior secured credit facilities contains affirmative covenants that will require us to be in compliance with certain leverage and financial ratios.  

As a result of these restrictions, we are limited as to how we conduct our business and we may be unable to raise additional debt or equity financing to compete effectively or to take advantage of new business opportunities. The terms of any other future indebtedness we may incur could include more restrictive covenants. We may not be able to maintain compliance with these covenants in the future and, if we fail to do so, we may not be able to obtain waivers from the lenders and/or amend the covenants.  

Our failure to comply with the restrictive covenants described above, as well as other terms of our other indebtedness and/or the terms of any future indebtedness from time to time, could result in an event of default, which, if not cured or waived, could result in our being required to repay these borrowings before their due date. If we are forced to refinance these borrowings on less favorable terms or are unable to refinance these borrowings, our financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

Our variable rate indebtedness subjects us to interest rate risk, which could cause our indebtedness service obligations to increase significantly.

Interest rates may increase in the future. As a result, interest rates on our revolving credit facility or other variable rate debt offerings could be higher or lower than current levels. As of December 31, 2019, we had approximately $507 million of variable rate debt, representing 32 percent of our total debt. If interest rates increase, our debt service obligations on the variable rate indebtedness would increase, even though the amount borrowed remained the same, and our net income and cash flows, including cash available for servicing our indebtedness, would correspondingly decrease.

In July 2017, the head of the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority announced the desire to phase out the use of LIBOR by the end of 2021. In addition, the U.S. Federal Reserve, in conjunction with the Alternative Reference Rates Committee, a steering committee comprised of large U.S. financial institutions, is considering replacing U.S. dollar LIBOR with the Secured Overnight Financing Rate, or SOFR, a new index calculated by short-term repurchase agreements, backed by Treasury securities. Although there have been a few issuances utilizing SOFR or the Sterling Over Night Index Average, an alternative reference rate that is based on transactions, it is unknown whether these alternative reference rates will attain market acceptance as replacements for LIBOR.

If LIBOR ceases to exist, we may need to renegotiate our revolving credit facility, which utilizes LIBOR as a factor in determining the interest rate, to replace LIBOR with the new standard that is established. There is currently no definitive information regarding the future utilization of LIBOR or of any particular replacement rate. As such, the potential effect of any such event on our cost of capital and net investment income cannot yet be determined.

Servicing our indebtedness requires a significant amount of cash.  Our ability to generate sufficient cash depends on many factors, some of which are not within our control.

Our ability to make payments on our indebtedness will depend on our ability to generate cash in the future. Our ability to generate cash depends on our financial and operating performance, which is subject to general economic, financial, competitive, legislative, regulatory and other factors that are beyond our control. In particular, compliance with state and local laws applicable to our business, including those relating to deeds, title transfers and certain other regulations applicable to sales of VOIs, may at times delay or hinder our ability to access cash flows generated by our VOI sales. If we are unable to generate and access sufficient cash flow to service our debt and meet our other commitments, we may need to restructure or refinance all or a portion of our debt, sell material assets or operations or raise additional debt or equity capital. We may not be able to effect any of these actions on a timely basis, on commercially reasonable terms or at all, and these actions may not be sufficient to meet our capital requirements. In addition, the terms of our existing or future debt arrangements may restrict us from effecting any of these alternatives.

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Our failure to comply with the agreements relating to our outstanding indebtedness could result in an event of default that could materially and adversely affect our results of operations and our financial condition.

If there were an event of default under any of the agreements relating to our outstanding indebtedness, the holders of the defaulted debt could cause all amounts outstanding with respect to that debt to be due and payable immediately. We cannot assure you that our assets or cash flows would be sufficient to fully repay borrowings under our outstanding debt instruments if accelerated upon an event of default. Further, if we are unable to repay, refinance or restructure our indebtedness under our secured debt, the holders of such debt could proceed against the collateral securing that indebtedness. In addition, any event of default or declaration of acceleration under one debt instrument could also result in an event of default under one or more of our other debt instruments. Any such default could materially and adversely affect our results of operations and our financial condition.

Repayment of our debt is dependent on cash flow generated by our subsidiaries, which may be subject to limitations beyond our control.

Our subsidiaries own a substantial portion of our assets and conduct a substantial portion of our operations. Accordingly, repayment of our indebtedness is dependent, to a significant extent, on the generation of cash flow by our subsidiaries and their ability to make such cash available to us, by dividend, debt repayment or otherwise.

Our subsidiaries generally do not have any obligation to pay amounts due on our indebtedness or to make funds available to us for that purpose. Our subsidiaries may not be able to, or may not be permitted to, make distributions to enable us to make payments in respect of our indebtedness. Each subsidiary is a distinct legal entity and, under certain circumstances, legal and contractual restrictions may limit our ability to obtain cash from our subsidiaries. While limitations on our subsidiaries restrict their ability to pay dividends or make other intercompany payments to us, these limitations are subject to certain qualifications and exceptions. In addition, certain of our subsidiaries are party to debt agreements that contain restrictions on their ability to pay dividends or make other intercompany payments to us and may in the future enter into agreements that include additional contractual restrictions on their ability to make any such payments to us.

In the event that we are unable to receive distributions from subsidiaries, we may be unable to make required principal and interest payments on our indebtedness.  

Despite our current level of indebtedness, we may be able to incur substantially more debt and enter into other transactions, which could further exacerbate the risks to our financial condition described above.

We may be able to incur significant additional indebtedness, including secured debt, in the future. Although the agreements that govern substantially all of our indebtedness contain restrictions on the incurrence of additional indebtedness and entering into certain types of other transactions, these restrictions are subject to a number of qualifications and exceptions. Additional indebtedness incurred in compliance with these restrictions could be substantial. These restrictions also do not prevent us from incurring obligations, such as trade payables, that do not constitute indebtedness as defined under our debt instruments. To the extent new debt is added to our current debt levels, the substantial leverage risks described in the preceding six risk factors would increase.

Risks Related to the 2017 Spin-Off From Hilton

We may be responsible for U.S. federal income tax liabilities that relate to the distribution.

The completion of the spin-off was conditioned upon the absence of any withdrawal, invalidation or modification of the ruling (“IRS Ruling”) Hilton received from the IRS regarding certain U.S. federal income tax aspects of the spin-off in an adverse manner prior to the effective time of the spin-off. Although the IRS Ruling generally is binding on the IRS, the continued validity of the IRS Ruling is based upon and subject to the accuracy of factual statements and representations made to the IRS by Hilton.

In addition, the spin-off was conditioned on the receipt of an opinion of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, Hilton’s tax counsel (“spin-off Tax Counsel”) to the effect that the distributions of our and Park common stock would qualify as tax-free distributions under Section 355 of the Code. An opinion of spin-off Tax Counsel is not binding on the IRS. Accordingly, the IRS may reach conclusions with respect to the spin-off that are different from the conclusions reached in the opinion. The opinion was based on certain factual statements and representations, which, if incomplete or untrue in any material respect, could alter spin-off Tax Counsel’s conclusions.

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We are not aware of any facts or circumstances that would cause any such factual statements or representations in the IRS Ruling or the opinion of spin-off Tax Counsel to be incomplete or untrue or cause the facts on which the IRS Ruling and legal opinion are based to be materially different from the facts at the time of the spin-off.

If all or a portion of the spin-off does not qualify as a tax-free transaction for any reason, including because any of the factual statements or representations in the IRS Ruling or the legal opinion are incomplete or untrue, because the facts upon which the IRS Ruling is based are materially different from the facts at the time of the spin-off or because one or more sales of our common stock, Hilton common stock or Park common stock by our respective stockholders after the spin-off cause the spin-off not to qualify as a tax-free transaction, Hilton may recognize a substantial gain attributable to the timeshare business for U.S. federal income tax purposes. In such case, under U.S. Treasury regulations, each member of the Hilton consolidated group at the time of the spin-off (including us and our subsidiaries) would be jointly and severally liable for the resulting entire amount of any U.S. federal income tax liability. Additionally, if the distribution of our common stock and/or the distribution of Park common stock do not qualify as tax-free under Section 355 of the Code, Hilton stockholders will be treated as having received a taxable dividend to the extent of Hilton’s current and accumulated earnings and profits, would have a tax-free basis recovery up to the amount of their tax basis in their shares, and would have taxable gain from the sale or exchange of the shares to the extent of any excess.

Even if the spin-off otherwise qualifies as a tax-free transaction for U.S. federal income tax purposes, the distribution will be taxable to Park and/or Hilton (but not to Hilton stockholders) pursuant to Section 355(e) of the Code if there are (or have been) one or more acquisitions (including issuances) of our stock, the stock of Park or the stock of Hilton, representing 50 percent or more, measured by vote or value, of the stock of any such corporation and the acquisition or acquisitions are deemed to be part of a plan or series of related transactions that include the distribution. Any acquisition of our common stock within two years before or after the distribution (with exceptions, including public trading by less-than-5 percent stockholders and certain compensatory stock issuances) generally would have been presumed to be part of such a plan unless that presumption is rebutted. The resulting tax liability would be substantial, and under U.S. Treasury regulations, each member of the Hilton consolidated group at the time of the spin-off (including us and our subsidiaries) would be jointly and severally liable for the resulting U.S. federal income tax liability.

We have agreed not to enter into certain transactions that could cause any portion of the spin-off to be taxable to Hilton, including under Section 355(e) of the Code. Pursuant to the Tax Matters Agreement (as defined herein), we have also agreed to indemnify Hilton and Park for any tax liabilities resulting from such transactions or other actions we take, and Hilton and Park have agreed to indemnify us for any tax liabilities resulting from transactions entered into by Hilton or Park. These obligations may discourage, delay or prevent a change of control of our company.

The spin-off and related transactions may expose us to potential liabilities arising out of state and federal fraudulent conveyance laws and legal distribution requirements.

The spin-off could be challenged under various state and federal fraudulent conveyance laws. An unpaid creditor or an entity vested with the power of such creditor (such as a trustee or debtor-in-possession in a bankruptcy) could claim that Hilton did not receive fair consideration or reasonably equivalent value in the spin-off, and that the spin-off left Hilton insolvent or with unreasonably small capital or that Hilton intended or believed it would incur debts beyond its ability to pay such debts as they mature. If a court were to agree with such a plaintiff, then such court could void the spin-off as a fraudulent transfer and could impose a number of different remedies, including without limitation, returning our assets or your shares in our company to Hilton or providing Hilton with a claim for money damages against us in an amount equal to the difference between the consideration received by Hilton and the fair market value of our company at the time of the spin-off.

The measure of insolvency for purposes of the fraudulent conveyance laws may vary depending on which jurisdiction’s law is applied. Generally, however, an entity would be considered insolvent if the fair saleable value of its assets is less than the amount of its liabilities (including the probable amount of contingent liabilities), and such entity would be considered to have unreasonably small capital if it lacked adequate capital to conduct its business in the ordinary course and pay its liabilities as they become due. No assurance can be given as to what standard a court would apply to determine insolvency or that a court would determine that Hilton were solvent at the time of or after giving effect to the spin-off, including the distribution of our common stock.

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We could be required to assume responsibility for obligations allocated to Hilton or Park under the Distribution Agreement.

We entered into the Distribution Agreement with Hilton and Park prior to the distribution of our shares of common stock to Hilton stockholders. Under the Distribution Agreement and related ancillary agreements, each of us, Hilton and Park are generally responsible for the debts, liabilities and other obligations related to the business or businesses that they own and operate following the spin-off. Although we do not expect to be liable for any obligations that were not allocated to us under the Distribution Agreement, a court could disregard the allocation agreed to among the parties, and require that we assume responsibility for obligations allocated to Hilton or Park (for example, tax and/or environmental liabilities), particularly if Hilton or Park were to refuse or were unable to pay or perform the allocated obligations.

In addition, losses in respect of certain Shared Contingent Liabilities, which generally are not specifically attributable to any of the timeshare business, the Park business or the retained business of Hilton, were determined on or prior to the date on which the Distribution Agreement was entered. The percentage of Shared Contingent Liabilities for which we are responsible has been fixed in a manner that is intended to approximate our estimated enterprise value on the distribution date relative to the estimated enterprise values of Park and Hilton. Subject to certain limitations and exceptions, Hilton is generally vested with the exclusive management and control of all matters pertaining to any such Shared Contingent Liabilities, including the prosecution of any claim and the conduct of any defense.

In connection with the spin-offs, each of Hilton and Park indemnified us for certain liabilities. These indemnities may not be sufficient to insure us against the full amount of the liabilities assumed by Hilton and Park, and Hilton and Park may be unable to satisfy their indemnification obligations to us in the future.

In connection with the spin-offs, each of Hilton and Park indemnified us with respect to such parties’ assumed or retained liabilities pursuant to the Distribution Agreement and breaches of the Distribution Agreement or other agreements related to the spin-offs. There can be no assurance that the indemnities from each of Hilton and Park will be sufficient to protect us against the full amount of these and other liabilities. Third parties also could seek to hold us responsible for any of the liabilities that Hilton and Park have agreed to assume. Even if we ultimately succeed in recovering from Hilton or Park any amounts for which we are held liable, we may be temporarily required to bear those losses ourselves. Each of these risks could negatively affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

If we are required to indemnify Hilton or Park in connection with the spin-offs and/or incur significant liabilities related to any period prior to the spin-off, we may need to divert cash to meet those obligations, which could negatively affect our financial results.

Pursuant to the Distribution Agreement and certain other agreements, including the Tax Matters Agreement, entered into in connection with the spin-offs among Hilton and Park and us, we agreed to indemnify each of Hilton and Park from certain liabilities (including tax liabilities). In addition to the Shared Contingent Liabilities pursuant to the Distribution Agreement, the Tax Matters Agreement governs the respective obligations of Hilton, Park and us after the spin-off with respect to tax liabilities and benefits, tax attributes, tax contests, liability resulting from tax audits and other tax sharing regarding U.S. federal, state, local and foreign income taxes, other tax matters and related tax returns. Under the Tax Matters Agreement, we have agreed to indemnify Hilton and Park against certain tax liabilities. The Tax Matters Agreement also provides special rules for allocating tax liabilities in the event that the spin-off is not tax-free.  In general, under the Tax Matters Agreement, each party is responsible for any taxes imposed on Hilton that arise from the failure of the spin-off and certain related transactions to qualify as a tax-free transaction for U.S. federal income tax purposes under Sections 355 and 368(a)(1)(D) of the Code, as applicable, and certain other relevant provisions of the Code, to the extent that the failure to qualify is attributable to actions taken by such party (or with respect to such party’s stock).  In addition, the parties share responsibility, in accordance with sharing percentages of 65 percent for Hilton, 26 percent for Park, and nine percent for us, for any such taxes imposed on Hilton that are not attributable to actions taken by a party. Finally, pursuant to the Tax Matters Agreement, to the extent that any taxes that may be imposed on the Hilton consolidated group for the taxable periods prior to the spin-offs relates to the timeshare business, we would in most cases be liable for the full amount attributable to the timeshare business. Indemnities that we may be required to provide Hilton and/or Park, or any liabilities for which we may be responsible proportionately or wholly, pursuant to these agreements may be significant and could negatively affect our business.  

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If we are required to indemnify Hilton or Park in connection with the spin-offs, we may need to divert cash to meet those obligations, which could negatively affect our financial results.

Pursuant to the Distribution Agreement entered into in connection with the spin-offs and certain other agreements among Hilton and Park and us, we agreed to indemnify each of Hilton and Park from certain liabilities. Indemnities that we may be required to provide Hilton and/or Park may be significant and could negatively affect our business.

Risks Related to Ownership of Our Common Stock

Our board of directors may change significant corporate policies without stockholder approval.

Our financing, borrowing and dividend policies and our policies with respect to all other activities, including growth, debt, capitalization and operations, will be determined by our board of directors. These policies may be amended or revised at any time and from time to time at the discretion of our board of directors without a vote of our stockholders. In addition, our board of directors may change our policies with respect to conflicts of interest provided that such changes are consistent with applicable legal requirements. A change in these policies could have an adverse effect on our financial condition, our results of operations, our cash flow, the per share trading price of our common stock and our ability to satisfy our debt service obligations and to pay dividends to our stockholders.

Anti-takeover provisions in our organizational documents and Delaware law might discourage or delay acquisition attempts for us that you might consider favorable.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws contain provisions that may make the merger or acquisition of our company more difficult without the approval of our board of directors. Among other things:

In addition, as a Delaware corporation, we are also subject to provisions of Delaware law, which may impair a takeover attempt that our stockholders may find beneficial. These  anti-takeover and other applicable Delaware law provisions could discourage, delay or prevent a transaction involving a change in control of our company, including actions that our stockholders may deem advantageous, or negatively affect the trading price of our common stock. These provisions could also discourage proxy contests and make it more difficult for you and other stockholders to elect directors of your choosing and to cause us to take other corporate actions you desire.

Consent requirements in our license agreement with Hilton and other requirements in certain of our other material agreements may have the effect deterring a potential takeover transaction that otherwise could be in the best interests of our stockholders.

Our license agreement with Hilton requires us to obtain Hilton’s consent prior to taking certain significant corporate actions, including engaging in a takeover transaction. There can be no assurance that any consent from Hilton to a change of control of our company could be obtained on a basis satisfactory to us or any potential acquiror. In addition, certain of our other material agreements, such as our debt agreements, contain consent, notice, prepayment or other provisions that we are obligated to comply with prior to engaging in certain transactions. Failure to obtain required consents and comply with other provisions in these agreements could discourage, materially delay or prevent a transaction that otherwise may be in the best interests of our stockholders.

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The market price and trading volume of our common stock may fluctuate widely.

For many reasons, the market price of our common stock has been volatile in the past and may be influenced in the future by a number of factors, including the risks identified in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. These factors may result in short-term or long-term negative pressure on the value of our common stock.

The market price of our common stock may fluctuate significantly, depending upon many factors, some of which may be beyond our control, including, but not limited to:

Future issuances of common stock by us may cause the market price of our common stock to decline.

None of the shares outstanding upon consummation of the spin-off were “restricted securities” within the meaning of Rule 144 under the Securities Act, and substantially all of the outstanding shares of our common stock are freely tradable and available for resale in the public market, subject to certain restrictions in the case of control shares held by persons deemed to be our affiliates. Accordingly, the market price of our common stock could drop significantly if holders of a substantial number of shares of our common stock sell them in the public market, or if the market perceives that such sales could occur.

We adopted an Omnibus Incentive Plan under which an aggregate of 10,000,000 shares of HGV common stock are issuable. As of December 31, 2019, an aggregate of 1,252,292 shares have been issued, and an additional 2,582,186 shares were underlying outstanding awards pursuant to the Omnibus Incentive Plan.  We also adopted a Non-Employee Director Stock Plan under which 325,000 shares of our common stock are issuable, and an Employee Stock Purchase Plan under which 2,500,000 shares of our common stock are available for issuance. Under the Non-Employee Director Stock Plan, 48,810 shares had been issued, and there were an additional 25,278 shares underlying outstanding awards granted as of December 31, 2019.  Under the Employee Stock Purchase Plan, a total of 101,244 shares were issued as of December 31, 2019. Any further issuances could result in the dilution of our current stockholders causing the market price of shares of our common stock to decline.

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We have no current plans to pay cash dividends on our common stock, and our indebtedness could limit our ability to pay dividends in the future.

Although we may return capital to stockholders through dividends or otherwise in the future, we have no current plans to pay any cash dividends. The declaration, amount and payment of any future dividends on shares of common stock will be at the sole discretion of our board of directors. Our board of directors may take into account general and economic conditions, our financial condition and results of operations, our available cash, current and anticipated cash needs, capital requirements, contractual, legal, tax and regulatory restrictions on the payment of dividends by us to our stockholders or by our subsidiaries to us, and such other factors as our board of directors may deem relevant. In addition, our ability to pay dividends is limited by our credit agreement related to our senior secured credit facilities. Our ability to pay dividends may also be limited by covenants of other indebtedness that we or our subsidiaries incur in the future.

Our business could be negatively impacted as a result of actions by activist stockholders or others.

Stockholder activism has been increasing in publicly traded companies in recent years and we are subject to the risks associated with such activism, particularly due to the recent decline in our stock price. Our business could be negatively affected as a result of stockholder activism, which could cause us to incur significant legal fees and other costs, hinder execution of our business strategy and impact the trading value of our securities. Additionally, stockholder activism could give rise to perceived uncertainties as to our future direction, adversely affect our relationships with key executives and business partners and make it more difficult to attract and retain qualified employees. Any of these impacts could materially and adversely affect our business and operating results.

None.

Timeshare Properties

As of December 31, 2019, we had 59 properties open and operating, including properties not yet fully developed but in which VOIs were being sold, representing 9,540 units or 496,080 VOIs. Most of our properties and units are located primarily in vacation destinations such as the Orlando, Las Vegas, Hawaiian Islands, New York City, Washington D.C. and South Carolina. These units and properties include those developed by us or by third-party developers with whom we have entered into fee-for-service arrangements. As of December 31, 2019, we owned approximately 50 percent of all unsold units, representing 933 of the 1,852 unsold units or 48,527 of the 96,285 unsold VOIs. We also own, manage, lease fitness, spa and sports facilities, and/or manage the HOAs of undeveloped and partially developed land and other common area assets at some of our resorts, including resort lobbies and food and beverage outlets.  

Sales and Marketing Locations

As of December 31, 2019, we had 10 sales distribution centers. Additionally, we had 11 and 2 sales galleries in Japan and Korea, respectively. We do not own any distribution centers and sales galleries as they are leased properties. Our sales distribution centers are located in Las Vegas, Orlando, Oahu, Japan, New York, Myrtle Beach, Waikoloa, Washington D.C., Hilton Head, Park City, Chicago, Korea and Carlsbad.

Additionally, we have 5 call centers that are leased. Our call centers are located in Orlando, Las Vegas, Carlsbad, Honolulu and Tokyo.

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Corporate Headquarters

Our main corporate headquarters are located at 6355 MetroWest Boulevard, Suite 180, Orlando, Florida 32835, and consist of approximately 102,000 square feet of leased space. The lease for this property expires in 2026 with two additional five-year renewal periods. We also have another corporate headquarters that are located at 5323 Millenia Lakes Boulevard, Orlando, Florida, 32839, and consist of approximately 92,000 square feet of leased space. The lease for this property expires in 2025 with two additional five-year renewal periods.  

We believe that our existing office properties are in good condition and are sufficient and suitable for the conduct of our business. In the event we need to expand our operations, we believe that suitable space will be available on commercially reasonable terms.

We are involved in various claims and lawsuits arising in the ordinary course of business, some of which include claims for substantial sums, including proceedings involving tort and other general liability claims, employee claims, consumer protection claims and privacy claims. Most occurrences involving liability, claims of negligence and employees are covered by insurance with solvent insurance carriers. For those matters not covered by insurance, which include commercial matters, we recognize a liability when we believe the loss is probable and can be reasonably estimated. The ultimate results of claims and litigation cannot be predicted with certainty. We believe we have adequate reserves against such matters. We currently believe that the ultimate outcome of such lawsuits and proceedings will not, individually or in the aggregate, have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial position, results of operations or liquidity. However, depending on the amount and timing, an unfavorable resolution of some or all of these matters could materially affect our future results of operations in a particular period or our ability to run our business as currently conducted.

Not applicable.

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PART II

Market Information

Our common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) under the symbol “HGV.” Our common stock began trading on a “when-issued” basis on December 15, 2016 but did not commence regular-way trading on the NYSE until January 4, 2017, the day after the completion of our spin-off.  We have not made any unregistered sales of our equity securities.

Performance Graph

The following graph compares the cumulative share price performance since December 15, 2016 with the Russell 2500 (R2500) Index and the Dow Jones US Travel & Leisure Index GICS Level 3 (DJUSTLE). The graph assumes that the value of the investment in our common stock and each index was $100 on December 15, 2016, which was the first day our common stock began trading on a “when-issued” basis.

Holders of Record

The number of stockholders of record of our common stock as of February 28, 2020 was 354.

Dividends

Although we may return capital to stockholders through dividends or otherwise in the future, we have no current plans to pay dividends on our common stock. Any decision to declare and pay dividends in the future will be made at the sole discretion of our board of directors and will depend on, among other things, general and economic conditions, our results of operations, available cash, current and anticipated cash requirements, financial condition, contractual, legal, tax and regulatory restrictions on the payment of dividends by us to our stockholders or by our subsidiaries to us, and other factors that our board of directors may deem relevant. In addition, our senior secured credit facilities and certain of our non-recourse debt include provisions limiting our ability to make restricted payments, including dividends.

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Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

On November 28, 2018, the Company announced that our Board of Directors approved a share repurchase program authorizing the Company to repurchase up to an aggregate of $200 million of its outstanding shares of common stock, and on May 2, 2019, the Company announced that the Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to an additional $200 million shares of the Company’s common stock under such program, bringing the total funds allocated to the program to $400 million.  Since the launch of the share repurchase program approved in November 2018, the company has repurchased 11.8 million shares for $355 million at an average price of $29.90. The stock repurchase program automatically expired on November 26, 2019. During the quarter ended December 31, 2019, the Company did not repurchase any securities.

The following selected consolidated statement of operations data for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017 and the selected consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2019 and 2018 are derived from our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The selected historical consolidated statement of operations data for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015 and the selected consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2017 and 2016 are derived from our audited consolidated financial statements not included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K but was included in our previously filed Annual Reports on Form 10-K. The selected historical consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2015 is derived from our unaudited consolidated financial statements that are not included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K but included in our Registration Statement on Form 10. Our historical results are not necessarily indicative of the results expected for any future period.

The selected consolidated financial data below should be read together with the audited consolidated financial statements, including the notes thereto, and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

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The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and related notes that appear elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Forward-Looking Statements

This disclosure includes forward-looking statements; and actual results and events may differ substantially from those discussed or highlighted in these forward-looking statements. See “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.”

Overview

Our Business

We market and sell VOIs, manage vacation resorts in top leisure and urban destinations and operate a point-based vacation club. As of December 31, 2019, we had 59 properties, representing 9,540 units, and approximately 326,000 Hilton Grand Vacations Club and Hilton Club (collectively the “Club”) members. Club members have the flexibility to exchange their VOIs for stays at any Hilton Grand Vacations resort or any property in the Hilton system of 18 industry-leading brands across approximately 6,000 properties, as well as numerous experiential vacation options, such as cruises and guided tours.

On January 3, 2017, Hilton completed a tax-free spin-off of HGV and Park. As a result of the spin-off, HGV became an independent publicly-traded company and our common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “HGV.”  Following the spin-off, Hilton did not retain any ownership in our company.  In connection with the spin-off, we entered into agreements with Hilton and other third parties, including licenses to use the Hilton Grand Vacations brand.  For more information regarding these agreements, see “—Key Agreements Related to the Spin-Off” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

We operate our business across two segments: (1) real estate sales and financing; and (2) resort operations and Club management.

Real Estate Sales and Financing

Our primary product is the marketing and selling of fee-simple VOIs deeded in perpetuity and right to use real estate interests, developed either by us or by third parties. This ownership interest is an interest in real estate generally equivalent to one week on an annual basis, at the timeshare resort where the VOI was purchased. Traditionally, timeshare operators have funded 100 percent of the investment necessary to acquire land and construct timeshare properties. In 2010, we began sourcing VOIs through fee-for-service and just-in-time agreements with third-party developers and have focused our inventory strategy on developing an optimal inventory mix focused on developed properties as well as fee-for-service and just-in-time agreements. The fee-for-service agreements enable us to generate fees from the sales and marketing of the VOIs and Club memberships and from the management of the timeshare properties without requiring us to fund acquisition and construction costs. The just-in-time agreements enable us to source VOI inventory in a manner that allows us to correlate the timing of acquisition of the inventory with the sale to purchasers. Sales of owned, including just-in-time inventory, generally result in greater Adjusted EBITDA contributions, while fee-for-service sales require less initial investment and allow us to accelerate our sales growth. Both sales of owned inventory and fee-for-service sales generate long-term, predictable fee streams, by adding to the Club membership base and properties under management, that generate strong returns on invested capital.

For the year ended December 31, 2019, sales from fee-for-service, just-in-time and developed inventory sources were 54 percent, 20 percent and 26 percent, respectively, of contract sales. See “—Real Estate Sales Metrics” for additional discussion of contract sales.  Based on our 2019 sales pace, we have access to approximately seven years of future inventory, with capital efficient arrangements representing approximately 54 percent of that supply. We believe that the visibility into our long-term supply allows us to efficiently manage inventory to meet predicted sales, reduce capital investments, minimize our exposure to the cyclicality of the real estate market and mitigate the risks of entering into new markets.

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We sell our vacation ownership products under the Hilton Grand Vacations brand primarily through our distribution network of both in-market and off-site sales centers.  Our products are currently marketed for sale throughout the United States and the Asia-Pacific region. We operate sales distribution centers in major markets and popular leisure destinations with year-round demand and a history of being a friendly environment for vacation ownership.  We have sales distribution centers in Las Vegas, Orlando, Oahu, Japan, New York, Myrtle Beach, Waikoloa, Washington D.C., Hilton Head, Park City, Chicago, Korea and Carlsbad. Our marketing and sales activities are based on targeted direct marketing and a highly personalized sales approach.  We use targeted direct marketing to reach potential members who are identified as having the financial ability to pay for our products and have an affinity with Hilton and are frequent leisure travelers.  Tour flow quality impacts key metrics such as close rate and VPG, defined in “Key Business and Financial Metrics and Terms Used by Management—Real Estate Sales Metrics.” Additionally, the quality of tour flow impacts sales revenue and the collectability of our timeshare financing receivables. For the year ended December 31, 2019, 54 percent of our contract sales were to our existing owners.

We provide financing for members purchasing our developed and acquired inventory and generate interest income. Our timeshare financing receivables are collateralized by the underlying VOIs and are generally structured as 10-year, fully-amortizing loans that bear a fixed interest rate typically ranging from 9 percent to 18 percent per annum. Financing propensity was 66.2 percent and 65.8 percent for the year ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. We calculate financing propensity as contract sales volume of financed contracts originated in the period divided by contract sales volume of all contracts originated in the period.

The interest rate on our loans is determined by, among other factors, the amount of the down payment, the borrower’s credit profile and the loan term. The weighted-average FICO score for new loans to U.S. and Canadian borrowers at the time of origination were as follows:

Prepayment is permitted without penalty. When a member defaults, we ultimately return their VOI to inventory for resale and that member no longer participates in our Club. Historical default rates, which represent annual defaults as a percentage of each year’s beginning gross timeshare financing receivables balance, were as follows:

Some of our timeshare financing receivables have been pledged as collateral in our securitization transactions, which have in the past and may in the future provide funding for our business activities. In these securitization transactions, special purpose entities are established to issue various classes of debt securities which are generally collateralized by a single pool of assets, consisting of timeshare financing receivables that we service and related cash deposits. For additional information see Note 5: Timeshare Financing Receivables in our audited consolidated financial statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on form 10-K.

In addition, we earn fees from servicing the loans provided by third-party developers of our fee-for-service projects to purchasers of their VOIs and from our securitized timeshare financing receivables.

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Resort Operations and Club Management

We enter into management agreements with the HOAs of the VOI owners for timeshare resorts developed by us or a third party. Each of the HOAs is governed by a board of directors comprised of owner and developer representatives that are charged with ensuring the resorts are well-maintained and financially stable. Our management services include day-to-day operations of the resorts, maintenance of the resorts, preparation of reports, budgets and projections and employee training and oversight. Our HOA management agreements provide for a cost-plus management fee, which means we generally earn a fee equal to 10 percent to 15 percent of the costs to operate the applicable resort. The fees we earn are highly predictable due to the relatively fixed nature of resort operating expenses and our management fees are unaffected by changes in rental rate or occupancy. We are reimbursed for the costs incurred to perform our services, principally related to personnel providing on-site services. The initial term of our management agreements typically ranges from three to five years and the agreements are subject to periodic renewal for one to three year periods. Many of these agreements renew automatically unless either party provides advance notice of termination before the expiration of the term.

We also manage and operate the points-based Hilton Grand Vacations Club and Hilton Club exchange programs, which provide exclusive exchange, leisure travel and reservation services to our Club members. When owners purchase a VOI, they are generally enrolled in the Club and given an annual allotment of points that allow the member to exchange their annual usage rights in the VOI that they own for a number of vacation and travel options. In addition to an annual membership fee, Club members pay incremental fees depending on exchanges they choose within the Club system.

We rent unsold VOI inventory, third-party inventory and inventory made available due to ownership exchanges through our club programs. We earn a fee from rentals of third-party inventory. Additionally, we provide ancillary offerings including food and beverage, retail and spa offerings at these timeshare properties.

Principal Components and Factors Affecting Our Results of Operations

Principal Components of Revenues

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Factors Affecting Revenues

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Principal Components of Expenses

Factors Affecting Expenses

Furthermore, construction delays, zoning and other local, state or federal governmental approvals, particularly in new geographic areas with which we are unfamiliar, cost overruns, lender financial defaults, or natural or man-made disasters, as well as failure by third-party contractors to perform for any reason, could lead to an adverse effect on our cash flows, margins and profits.

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Other Items

Key Business and Financial Metrics and Terms Used by Management

Real Estate Sales Operating Metrics

We measure our performance using the following key operating metrics:

We believe that the presentation of contract sales on a combined basis (fee-for-service and developed) is most appropriate for the purpose of the operating metric, additional information regarding the split of contract sales, is included in “—Real Estate” below. See Note 2: Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies in our audited consolidated financial statements included in Item 8 in this Annual Report on form 10-K, for additional information on Sales of VOI, net.

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Resort and Club Management and Rental Operating Metrics

EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA

EBITDA, presented herein, is a financial measure that is not recognized under U.S. GAAP that reflects net income (loss), before interest expense (excluding non-recourse debt), a provision for income taxes and depreciation and amortization.

Adjusted EBITDA, presented herein, is calculated as EBITDA, as previously defined, further adjusted to exclude certain items, including, but not limited to, gains, losses and expenses in connection with: (i) asset dispositions; (ii) foreign currency transactions; (iii) debt restructurings/retirements; (iv) non-cash impairment losses; (v) reorganization costs, including severance and relocation costs; (vi) share-based and certain other compensation expenses; (vii) costs related to the spin-off; and (viii) other items.

EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are not recognized terms under U.S. GAAP and should not be considered as alternatives to net income (loss) or other measures of financial performance or liquidity derived in accordance with U.S. GAAP. In addition, our definitions of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies.

We believe that EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA provide useful information to investors about us and our financial condition and results of operations for the following reasons: (i) EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are among the measures used by our management team to evaluate our operating performance and make day-to-day operating decisions; and (ii) EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties as a common performance measure to compare results or estimate valuations across companies in our industry.

EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA have limitations as analytical tools and should not be considered either in isolation or as a substitute for net income (loss), cash flow or other methods of analyzing our results as reported under U.S. GAAP. Some of these limitations are:

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Because of these limitations, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered as discretionary cash available to us to reinvest in the growth of our business or as measures of cash that will be available to us to meet our obligations.

Free Cash Flow and Adjusted Free Cash Flow

Free Cash Flow represents cash from operating activities less non-inventory capital spending.

Adjusted Free Cash Flow represents free cash flow less non-recourse debt activities, net.

We consider Free Cash Flow and Adjusted Free Cash Flow to be liquidity measures not recognized under U.S. GAAP that provides useful information to both management and investors about the amount of cash generated by operating activities that can be used for investing and financing activities, including strategic opportunities and debt service. We do not believe these non-GAAP measures to be a representation of how we will use excess cash.

Results of Operations

Year Ended December 31, 2019 Compared with Year Ended December 31, 2018

The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations is for the year ended December 31, 2019 compared with the year ended December 31, 2018. For a discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2018 compared to December 31, 2017, see Part II, Item 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” included in the 2018 Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 28, 2019, which is available on the SEC website at www.sec.gov.

Segment Results

The following table presents our revenues by segment for the year ended December 31 2019 fiscal year compared the year ended December 31, 2018. We do not include equity in earnings from unconsolidated affiliates in our measures of segment revenues.

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We evaluate our business segment operating performance using segment Adjusted EBITDA, as described in Note 21: Business Segments in our audited consolidated financial statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. For a discussion of our definition of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA, how management uses them to manage our business and material limitations on their usefulness, refer to “—Key Business and Financial Metrics and Terms Used by Management—EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA.” The following table reconciles net income, our most comparable U.S. GAAP financial measure, to EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA:

The following table reconciles our segment Adjusted EBITDA to Adjusted EBITDA.

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Real Estate Sales and Financing

In accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 606, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers” (“ASC 606”), revenue and the related costs to fulfill and acquire the contract (“direct costs”) from sales of VOIs under construction are deferred until the point in time when construction activities are deemed to be completed. The real estate sales and financing segment is impacted by construction related deferral and recognition activity. In periods where Sales of VOIs and related direct costs of projects under construction are deferred, margin percentages will generally contract as the indirect marketing and selling costs associated with these sales are recognized as incurred in the current period. In periods where previously deferred Sales of VOIs and related direct costs are recognized upon construction completion, margin percentages will generally expand as the indirect marketing and selling costs associated with these sales were recognized in prior periods.

The following table represents deferrals and recognitions of Sales of VOI revenue and direct costs for properties under construction:

Real estate sales and financing segment revenues decreased by $210 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, compared to the same period in 2018, primarily due to a $235 million decrease in sales revenue, a $13 million increase in marketing revenue and other fees mainly associated with higher vacation package sales and a $12 million increase in financing revenue related to an increase in interest income primarily from higher outstanding timeshare receivables balance and a corresponding increase in servicing fees. The $235 million decrease in sales revenue was primarily related to $84 million of net deferrals of VOI sales of projects under construction at the end of 2019 compared to a $133 million net recognition of VOI sales from the completion of The Residences by Hilton Club and the first phase of Ocean Tower by Hilton Grand Vacation Club which were both under construction in 2018.

In 2019, certain Sales of VOIs and the related direct costs of projects under construction were deferred, leading to a contraction of margin percentages, as the indirect marketing and selling costs associated with these sales were recognized as incurred in the current period. This contrasts with 2018 where net recognitions of certain Sales of VOIs occurred, leading to margin expansion during that period, with the indirect costs having been recognized in prior periods.

Real estate sales and financing segment Adjusted EBITDA decreased by $122 million for the year ended December 31, 2019 compared to the same period in 2018, primarily due to the decreases in segment margin associated with segment performance discussed above and herein.

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Refer to “—Real Estate” and “—Financing” for further discussion on the revenues and expenses of the real estate sales and financing segment.

Resort Operations and Club Management

Resort operations and club management segment revenues increased by $32 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, compared to the same period in 2018, primarily due to an increase of $19 million in resort and club management revenues from an increase in Club members and higher resort management revenue from the launch of new properties subsequent to the third quarter of 2018. Rental and ancillary services revenue increased by $9 million primarily related to ancillary operations and nightly rentals of an operating hotel acquired in June 2018 that is undergoing a conversion to timeshare inventory beginning in the third quarter of 2019 and an increase in redemptions of bonus points driven by additional members in 2019.

Refer to “—Resort and Club Management” and “—Rental and Ancillary Services” for further discussion on the revenues and expenses of the resort operations and club management segment.

Real Estate Sales and Financing Segment

Real Estate

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Contract sales remained flat for the year ended December 31, 2019, compared to the same period in 2018, primarily due to an increase in tour flow offset by lower VPG from both a 30-basis point decline in close rate and 4.1 percent average transaction price reduction, driven primarily by lower quality tours and increased discounts offered at point of sale, respectively.

The real estate sales and financing segment is impacted by construction related deferral and recognition activity. In periods where Sales of VOIs and related direct costs of projects under construction are deferred, margin percentages will generally contract as the indirect marketing and selling costs associated with these sales are recognized as incurred in the current period. In periods where previously deferred Sales of VOIs and related direct costs are recognized upon construction completion, margin percentages will generally expand as the indirect marketing and selling costs associated with these sales were recognized in prior periods.

Sales revenue decreased by $235 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, compared to the same period in 2018, primarily due to $84 million of net deferrals of revenue from VOI sales for properties under construction versus $133 million of net recognitions and a $5 million increase in the provision for financing receivable losses driven by a marginal increase in default rates and higher loan volume. The decrease in sales revenue was partially offset by a $3 million increase in marketing revenue and other fees mainly associated with higher vacation package sales. The decrease in real estate margin and margin percentage for the year ended December 31, 2019, compared to the same period in 2018, was primarily due to the increase of net construction deferrals which generally drives the contraction of margin percentage due to the timing of recognition of indirect sales and marketing expenses, which are recognized in the period in which they are incurred irrespective of construction activities. This contrasts with 2018 where net recognitions of certain Sales of VOIs occurred, leading to margin expansion during that period, with the indirect sales and marketing costs having been recognized in prior periods. In addition to the impacts on margins period over period related to the change in net construction deferrals and recognitions, lower conversion rates and VPGs further suppressed our real estate margins.

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Financing