Today’s Wall Street Journal included a four-page featured titled, Insider’s Guide to Destination Clubs (Special Advertising Feature) in Section A. The content was a nice puff piece, as to be expected for an advertorial. The quarter and half-page ads were interesting, especially to see how the destination clubs are currently positioning themselves. We thought the “Guide to Properties” was weak since several leading clubs were omitted, such as Quintess and Leading Residences of the World.

Our first reaction was that you had to be an advertiser to make it into the advertorial copy and the chart above – but that does not seem to be the case, since Exclusive Resorts, Gentry Retreats and The Markers made the chart but don’t seem to be advertisers.

Of course, we think our chart (PDF, 80kb) is better! At least it’s comprehensive and we also provide more in-depth club profiles.

Bottom line is that the industry should benefit from the increased exposure, which should be good for Helium Report. It highlights the consumers’ need for more and better information before making a $100,000 to half million dollar decision. Hey, we decided to advertise in the online version of their report to show off our wares, too. (More on our editorial policy here.)