Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation (NYSE:VAC) Q1 2024 Earnings Conference Call May 7, 2024 8:30 AM ET

Company Participants

Neal Goldner - VP-IR
John Geller - President and CEO
Jason Marino - EVP and CFO

Conference Call Participants

Ben Chaiken - Mizuho Securities
Patrick Scholes - Truist Securities
Chris Woronka - Deutsche Bank
David Katz - Jefferies
Shaun Kelley - Bank of America
Ryan Lambert - JPMorgan

Operator

Greetings, and welcome to the Marriott Vacations Worldwide First Quarter 2024 Earnings Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question-and-answer session will follow the formal presentation. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

I would now like to turn the conference over to your host, Mr. Neal Goldner, Vice President, Investor Relations for Marriott Vacations Worldwide. Thank you. You may begin.

Neal Goldner

Thank you, Melissa. And welcome to the Marriott Vacations Worldwide first quarter earnings conference call. I'm joined today by John Geller, our President and Chief Executive Officer; and Jason Marino, our Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

I need to remind everyone that many of our comments today are not historical facts and are considered forward-looking statements under federal securities laws. These statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties which could cause future results to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by our comments. Forward-looking statements in the press release that we issued last night, as well as comments on this call, are effective only when made and will not be updated as actual events unfold.

Throughout the call, we will make references to non-GAAP financial information. You can find a reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures referred to in our remarks in the schedules attached to our press release and on our website.

With that, it's now my pleasure to turn the call over to John Geller.

John Geller

Thanks, Neal. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining our first quarter earnings call.

It was great to see so many guests enjoying time with their family and friends at our resorts, making lasting memories during the first quarter. That's why they come back year in and year out. And with a systemwide occupancy running 90% in Q1, we grew contract sales by 3% excluding Maui, despite having a difficult VPG comparison, with first-time buyer tours growing 9%.

We also started taking reservations for our new Marriott Vacation Club Resort in Waikiki at the end of the quarter, which remains on track to open later this year and reservations have been strong for this new property. Owners have consistently told us they wanted us to add a location in Waikiki, and this new resort is already bringing excitement to the system. Concurrent with the resort opening, we plan to open a new sales gallery that we believe could be a meaningful contributor as it ramps up over a few years.