News of 187 company wide layoffs by Hilton Grand Vacations managed to grab a headline with Orlando's local television station WFTV. There have been so many layoffs lately in and around Orlando that anytime someone has a layoff in the timeshare travel or tourism industry the media flinches like a "battle fatigued" soldier. The reality is that these 187 layoffs, while unfortunate for them, represents less than half of one percent of their 3,500 employees.

The bigger story here is that The Blackstone Group (they own Hilton) is pressing ahead with their plans to expand Hilton with the first phase of Club Parc Soleil, the Old Knights Inn on International Drive, and a 1,400 room Hilton hotel - all in Orlando! These projects will more than make up for the 187 jobs lost. In fact, these projects will add hundreds of more jobs to the area.

At the same time consider the big picture: Hilton Hotels is moving their headquarters away from Beverly Hills to Washington DC metro area (Bethesda MD). Why there? Marriott International happens to be headquartered there as well. Having been bought by Blackstone Group for $26 Billion in 2007, the Hilton family gave up it's 5% interest in Hilton Hotels. So the personal ties with Beverly Hills (Paris Hilton & family) have been severed.  Bill Marriott said "we welcome them to our home town". After Hilton's move, "three of the six top hotel companies in the world by number of rooms would be based in the region, controlling more than 1.5 million rooms, according to Hotels magazine." (source)

So Orlando timeshare workers, take heart. You have not been forgotten. More jobs are on the way - it may just take a little time for the growth of the Orlando timeshare resort industry to pick back up. But, it will.