Growth spikes in early amenity memberships

By TOM STAUSS Publisher

Couples memberships in Aquatics succeed in b

General Manager John Viola likes to talk about “organic” growth in amenities, by which he means increased revenues re sulting from more members and increased usage rather than increases in rates and fees.

Early indications from the amenity member ship summary released as part of the May finan cial statements suggest that Viola is getting this organic growth, with aquatics, golf, tennis, plat form tennis, pickleball and racquet sports combo all showing year-over-year membership growth.

The comparison is from May 30 of last year to May of this year. May is the first month of the new fiscal year when membership numbers from March and April show up in the totals and when most Ocean Pines Association members either buy or have already purchased their amenity packages for the new year.

It’s a solid barometer on how membership sales will fare for the entire fiscal year.

A summary of the amenity membership totals indicates a positive spin in possible for each of them.

Aquatics has grown from 715 total member ships in May of last year to 786 this year, produc ing $270,780 in revenue so far and 84 percent of the $320,485 goal for the year.

While it’s not clear whether the additional $49,705 needed to make goal will be collected, it seems achievable.

June is another month that can generate new memberships as seasonal owners arrive in Ocean Pines. In addition, annual aquatics memberships can be purchased anytime throughout the year.

The new couples memberships advocated by Director Stuart Lakernick during the budget re view process this past winter has been an unqual ified success, and seems to be the driver behind the organic growth in Aquatics memberships so far this year.

These new couple memberships more than offset a slight erosion in annual family member ships that was more or less predicted.

Lakernick had predicted that the new couples membership, sold at a discount from family mem bership rates, would attract new memberships from those who might not have purchased any membership in prior years.

There were skeptics on the Board about the predicted effect of the new couples members, particularly Director Colette Horn, who was ad amant in opposition, calling it an unproven ap proach to growing membership.

Actually Lakernick would also have added a new grandparents membership for Aquatics, but he decided that trying the couples membership was a good first start.

The membership growth is even more remark able in the context of another summer of reduced hours at some Ocean Pines pool because of a life guard shortage. Some predicted that this would u Source: Ocean Pines Association Membership Department