Singer made her remarks during a luncheon presentation at NationsBanc Montgomery's 16th Annual Hospitality Conference that has attracted 59 companies from across the nation. The conference, featuring presentations and panel discussions geared around the premier growth companies in the lodging, lodging REIT, timeshare, cruise line, ski resort, gaming, auto rental and restaurant industries, started Monday, January 25th and will run through Friday, January 29th at the Pierre Hotel.

Timeshare segment -- The timeshare segment is one of the fastest-growing areas within the lodging industry, according to Singer. Singer is bullish on the timeshare sector for a variety of reasons: the rapid rate of growth both in sales volumes and number of timeshare owners; strong consumer appeal (she noted a satisfaction rating of 85 percent); excellent unit economics in terms of development, sales and financing; and fragmentation within the sector. Her stock picks in this group include: Fairfield Communities, Inc., Sunterra Corporation*, Trendwest Resorts, Inc.* and Vistana, Inc.*.

Ski Industry -- More people are heading to the slopes and are enjoying different activities and higher levels of service, making for a favorable outlook for the ski industry, Singer noted.

According to Singer, there are significant growth opportunities for well-positioned ski companies for several reasons, including:

• Favorable demographic trends;
• More activity options for skiers -- alpine skis, shaped skis, snowboarding;
• New mountain resort companies providing high levels of amenities and services;
• Profit growth through higher resort revenue per skier day; and
• Ongoing consolidation within the industry.

Singer noted that there are essentially two types of resorts to cater to two different types of skiers: small local resorts that attract day skiers from local areas and offer less expensive tickets; and large destination resorts that focus on "quality" by providing numerous amenities and a high level of service. These destination resorts generate higher revenue per skier day than the local day resorts. Large resorts should see increased profits as they capture a greater share of guest spending by expanding and upgrading ski operations, providing additional activities and services to skiing and non- skiing guests, and implementing loyalty programs.

Singer also noted that consolidation activity within the ski industry is likely to continue since infrastructure costs will continue to rise and smaller resorts lack the capital and management to compete with larger resorts. She pointed out that there were 735 resorts in the U.S. in 1983 and only 507 at the end of the season in 1997. 

NationsBanc Montgomery Securities LLC, a subsidiary of BankAmerica Corp., is a full-service investment bank and brokerage firm with approximately $2.7 billion of regulatory capital. The company provides research, trading and issuance in the equity and fixed-income markets (high yield, emerging markets, high grade and mortgage-backed markets). Other services include MA advisory, financial buyer coverage, loan syndications, global investment banking, real estate finance, mortgage finance, money markets and a primary dealer.

NationsBanc Montgomery Securities is a registered broker-dealer with the Securities and Exchange Commission and is a member of the National Association of Securities Dealers and the New York Stock Exchange. NOTE: * NationsBanc Montgomery Securities LLC currently maintains a market in this security. NationsBanc Montgomery Securities LLC was manager or co-manager of a public offering and/or has performed investment banking or other services for this company in the last three years.