The largest destination club, Exclusive Resorts, now has more than 3,500 members and is celebrating its 5th Anniversary of bringing friends and family together.

Majority owned by Steve Case, the Denver, Colorado based club was founded in 2002 and began operations in 2003. It has built up a real estate portfolio valued at more than $1.1 billion, consisting of more than 375 residences in about 35 top resort and vacation destinations.

The graphs below will give you an idea of how the club has grown in this relatively short period. We’ve developed these graphs based on our tracking of the club growth over the past few years.

In the current economy the lines on the graphs probably won’t be as steep over the next year, and Exclusive has already made adjustments to its operations with some layoffs in several departments within the company.

Sticking with the analytical theme above, one area that will continue to see growth, and the most important area for destination clubs, is the number of trips that members take with the club. Exclusive Resorts members passed the 50,000 vacations mark earlier this year and have now traveled on over 70,000 vacations with the club.

If you're looking into joining Exclusive Resorts or one of the other destination clubs, then download our comprehensive free Guide to Destination Clubs.