Timeshare For Tour

During the craze to buy permanent holiday homes, timeshare was looked upon as a creaky relic to be filed in the history of leisure travel. But it is coming back into fashion with families seeking ever more cost-effective methods of holidaying.

Resort Condominiums International (RCI) is a leader in the field “with over 85 per cent share of the global timeshare market”. The company runs 3,700 timeshare resorts in 100 countries, with 40,000 members and 50 resorts in India. It is soon going to open an office in Calcutta.

“Places such as Darjeeling have been favourites with Calcuttans, who don’t necessarily want to break the bank to get away. In Darjeeling and many more areas, RCI will be providing affordable options for holidays,” said a spokesperson for the company. Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Maldives have recently been added to RCI’s repertoire.

Flexibility and diversity seem to be at the forefront of RCI’s approach to timeshare, with the customer paying according to the time of the year and the destination. After an initial one-off payment, transaction fees are charged for each holiday. The transaction fee for an Indian holiday will be Rs 3,675, while an international holiday will cost Rs 9,450.

RCI has of late been seeking to broaden its timeshare appeal, with women at the top of the target list. The spokesperson explained: “We recognise that women will often be the ones choosing the timeshare location and planning the logistics of a family holiday, so we want them to not only be attracted to the timeshare concept, but also fully understand what is available.”