Timeshare Facts & Information

Realtors Study Timeshare Issue

2006-09-21T08:24:00.000-07:00

The South Carolina Association of Realtors is examining ways to beef up the state's timeshare laws, citing a recent series of articles by The Post and Courier that detailed a rash of complaints and lawsuits from buyers of the vacation properties.

South Carolina has more timeshare resorts than every state but Florida. It also has 32 pages of laws concerning the industry. But as business surged and a wave of new units went up from the Grand Strand to Beaufort, the state cut funding for oversight.

"We're very concerned about the apparent lack of investigatory ability," said Nick Kremydas, chief executive of the association, which is made up of about 20,000 real estate agents. "And we want to make sure our laws are as consumer-friendly as they can be, balanced with the interests of the industry."

The Columbia-based trade group plans to compare South Carolina's regulations to those in other states over the next few weeks. Kremydas said researchers may draft stronger measures for the General Assembly to consider when the legislative session starts in January.

"Maybe it's time to look at some additional changes," he said. "That's the good thing about our statutes and code of laws - as an industry changes, we have the power to change the rules to better fit it. ... I can tell you that the legislature would be very concerned about issues like the ones you all raised in the paper."

Ken Kitts, timeshare coordinator at the state Real Estate Commission, is now the only state employee keeping an eye on the industry, which in South Carolina comprises 14 developers and 130 resorts.

Two-thirds of the state's timeshare investigative staff has been laid off or reassigned since the late 1990s, meaning the commission no longer has enough workers on payroll to anonymously screen sales pitches.

The Post and Courier published a series of articles earlier this month detailing mounting complaints and lawsuits connected to the timeshare industry.

The reports pointed out that would-be timeshare sales representatives are no longer required to pass a 50-question test on how well they know South Carolina's timeshare laws. The state stopped those screenings in 2003.

Also, the series noted that South Carolina gives consumers five days to cancel timeshare contracts, a shorter period than other states allow.

Buyers in Florida, the nation's timeshare mecca, have 10 days to cancel a signed contract.

Arizona and Hawaii both give consumers a week to rescind. And the United Kingdom requires that timeshare sellers honor a 14-day cancellation period.

James Teodosio, a 77-year-old Charleston resident, was one of the aggrieved buyers who called the newspaper and the state Real Estate Commission this week in response to the stories. Teodosio spent almost $15,000 on a Myrtle Beach timeshare resort in 2002. He said he has never been able to make a reservation, and that each time he called he was told he was a little too late.

Although the developer is selling those same units for almost $22,000 today, Teodosio has had no luck in reselling his. "I'm an engineer," he said. "I should have some brains in my head. But I swear ... I don't know what to do with that thing."

Timeshare Improves The Vacation Experience For Owners, According to National Study Released By AIF

2006-09-12T04:30:00.000-07:00

Vacation owners report high satisfaction rates with their timeshare purchase, and over three quarters claim owning a timeshare has increased their looking forward to vacations, according to a new study released today by The American Resort Development Association International Foundation (AIF). Conducted by Ragatz Associates, Resort Timeshare Consumers: Who They Are, Why They Buy examines the demographics, buying patterns, and usage of vacation ownership based on surveys of 938 recent timeshare buyers and 1,547 owners who purchased prior to 2005.

By all leisure indicators, timeshare has improved the vacation experience for owners. The vast majority of all owners (80.3 percent) express satisfaction with their timeshare purchase; 75.7 percent say owning a timeshare has increased their looking forward to vacations, and 68.4 percent say owning a timeshare has increased the amount of time on vacations. A full 66.4 percent of all owners say timeshare has increased their learning experiences, and 52.8 percent claim owning timeshare has increased their health and happiness.

Approximately 25 percent of recent buyers expressed interest in purchasing additional timeshares--a sizeable amount considering the average American is only allotted two weeks of vacation leave each year.

"Consistently high satisfaction rates along with repeat sales to existing owners and owner referrals of potential buyers point to the premium value vacation owners find in timeshare," said Howard C. Nusbaum, ARDA's president and CEO. "The study findings also show that timeshare owners are committed travelers and savvy purchasers. By attracting a steady stream of repeat visitors who stay longer and spend more than the average traveler, timeshare resorts accrue a host of economic benefits to the surrounding region."

According to the study, the average timeshare visitor spends 8.6 nights per vacation in the resort area where their timeshare is located. The average timeshare visitor party spends $1,334 per timeshare vacation--an increase of 10.7 percent since 2002. The average size of timeshare visitor parties is 3.8 persons.

Of all owners, 35.8 percent personally used their own timeshare purchase during the past 12 months, while 47.4 percent exchanged or space banked it, 4.4 percent rented it out, and 2.9 percent gave it away. Only 9.5 percent of time owned by all owners went unused during the last 12 months.

Vacation owners are savvy travelers who shop around: The average recent buyer attended 2.6 sales presentations before making a purchase. Of recent buyers, 57.4 percent purchased directly from a developer; 24.9 percent purchased from a home owners' association; 10.5 percent acquired their timeshare as a gift, inheritance, or from some other source; and 7.2 percent purchased from a pervious owner.

Upscale Timeshare Outfits Are In A State Of Flux After A Cruel Summer

2006-09-06T12:49:00.000-07:00

It's been a rocky summer for destination clubs, the vacation interval alternative of choice for wealthy travelers. The announced merger of Quintess and Dream Catcher Retreats last week will hopefully take some of the sting out of the industry pioneer's filing for bankruptcy reorganization back in July.

What? You've never heard of destination clubs? Few have, given the elite nature of the business and the pricey entry fees. Quintess, for instance, charges $345,000 for membership. After that, high-rolling vacationers pay $21,000 a year in exchange for 30 days at any of the dozens of available properties in the Quintess portfolio.

At those prices, you're not expecting a run-down townhouse with a community pool or a dingy flat on the wrong side of town. Instead, Quintess uses the deposits to acquire upscale homes that average $3 million to $4 million apiece. If none of the exotic locales grab your fancy, maybe the 92-foot yacht will help you lose the landlubber in you. In a nutshell, it's a timeshare for the ultra-rich that often allows members to participate in the appreciation of its assets.

This summer's Chapter 11 filing by industry pioneer Tanner & Haley rocked the nascent sector. In its quest to avoid refusing member travel requests at properties that were already booked, Tanner & Haley entered into costly leases to offer compatible digs. It proved to be an unsustainable practice, and coupled with a few unsuccessful investments, it meant reorganization seemed to be the best strategy for the company to get back on its feet.

Last week's merger between Quintess and Dream Catcher may or may not be a response to Tanner & Haley's filing, but it may not be the last combination in an industry that remains just a few dozen entities strong.

Unlike conventional timeshare operators such as Sunterra, Silverleaf(AMEX:SVL), Bluegreen(NYSE:BXG), and Wyndham's (NYSE:WYN) Trendwest Resorts, destination clubs don't need thousands or tens of thousands of participants to be successful. Some have only dozens of members. In the larger clubs, memberships number merely in the hundreds. That has allowed for some creative travel clubs that specialize in golf course homes, vineyard estates, and even waterfront retreats for fly-fishing enthusiasts. Yes, fly-fishing.

Destination clubs are really just the logical step up from the timeshare industry that was once chastised for its shady sales tactics and hard-sell presentations. That was before companies like Marriott(NYSE:MAR), Disney(NYSE:DIS), and Hilton(NYSE:HLT) helped educate the market and polish the reputation of vacation interval outfits. Now let's see if one timely merger is enough to keep a niche business growing.

Timeshare Deal Oversight Gets Shortchanged

2006-09-05T04:28:00.000-07:00

South Carolina's timeshare industry may be booming, but the state agency that commission that is to look out for consumer interests in those deals has seen staff and budget cuts.

Only Florida has more time shares than South Carolina, but South Carolina Real Estate Commission has only one person keeps an eye on 14 developers and 130 resorts after layoffs and staff shifts.

That means the commission lacks enough workers to anonymously screen sales pitches.

"We only have time now to respond to complaints," Ken Kitts, the commission's time share coordinator, said. "The business has grown, and our staff has shrunk."

The business of selling timeshare points has grown, too. With that system, people don't buy rights to use specific property or a specific block of time. Instead, they're buying what amounts to a type of timeshare currency that they can use at a seller's resorts in the future.

It can be a tricky system.

While the Federal Trade Commission leaves time share regulation up to the states, South Carolina doesn't audit timeshare companies to see if the number of points sold is more than can be accommodated in their respective units in a given year.

Three years ago, South Carolina stopped screening timeshare promoters with a 50-question test on the state's timeshare laws.

By the timeshare industry's own reckoning, 15 percent of all timeshare owners in the country - nearly 600,000 households - are unhappy with their purchase.

South Carolina isn't making it easier for consumers to get out of soured deals. For instance, Florida has a 10-day window for consumers to cancel deals and Hawaii and Arizona give their consumers a week. In the United Kingdom there is a 14-day window. South Carolina give consumers five days.

The window is important because buyers often don't read contract details until they return from vacations. By then, the window may have closed, Kitts said.

The Legislature did pass a law this year that says an attorney paid for by the consumer has to be present at a time share closing. But the consumer can waive that.

One consumer protection is long gone. South Carolina began regulating the industry in 1981 and set up the Vacation Time Sharing Recovery Fund to reimburse consumers losing money to unscrupulous sellers. That fund once had $250,000 to help aggrieved time share owners, but it never was used to make buyers whole. The Real Estate Commission said the money was never needed and Legislators siphoned off the money for other projects.

"It was our hammer with which we'd put the time share industry on the anvil," Kitts said. "Over my time here, we have been successful in getting many problems resolved because of the cooperative nature of everyone. ...We didn't really feel we had to use it."

The industry should regulate itself, said Howard Nusbaum, president of the American Resort Development Association, the time share industry trade group.

"We were founded to protect the good guys, because there are still some bad guys. ... It would be counterintuitive to purposely have an industry that's trying to be unscrupulous."

Nusbaum said recent complaints and lawsuits come mostly from consumers who don't fully understand what they are buying.

"It's true of any industry," he said. "If I went and bought a brand new computer and didn't know how to use it, I wouldn't be too happy about it."

Byron Wiegand, a former time share developer who now owns a California time share resale firm, said there are "worms" in the industry, "people who have to steal" sullying the entire market.

"They're making so much money it's scary, but as far as the poor customer is concerned, I feel sorry for them," Wiegand said. "It's a shame because if they would straighten up their act, it's a good product. Underneath all this hocus-pocus, it is a good product."

Dallas Timeshare Firm Closes $128 Million Securitization

2006-09-01T04:41:00.000-07:00

Dallas-based Silverleaf Resorts Inc., in an effort to pay down debts, has formed a special purpose finance subsidiary and succeeded in issuing about $128 million of notes in a private offering and sale through UBS Securities L.L.C. to that newly created company.

The developer and operator of getaway and destination timeshare resorts in the U.S. closed on a term securitization through its subsidiary, Silverleaf Finance V, L.P. (SF-V), a Delaware limited partnership. SF-V was formed for the purpose of issuing the timeshare loan-backed notes series 2006-A. The series 2006-A notes were issued between the company, as servicer of the timeshare loans and SF-V, as issuer, and Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, as trustee.

"This is the second one we've been able to do and it allows us to access capital markets and fixes our rate," Thomas J. Morris, senior vice president of capital markets for Silverleaf told CPN. "This type of finance is a critical type of financing for our business. It fixes our rates while allowing us to continue to execute our business strategy."

This transaction lowers the cost of this debt from 8.0 percent floating to 6.7 percent fixed, Morris said. He added that Silverleaf plans to pursue similar securitizations if the market is amenable "as an additional form of liquidity. There is an unlimited interest that particular marketplace," he said.

The series 2006-A notes are currently secured by approximately $125.3 million in timeshare loans sold to SF-V by the company and one of its other fully consolidated special purpose finance subsidiaries.

The cash proceeds from the sale of the timeshare loans to SF-V have been primarily used to pay down $93.2 million in consolidated indebtedness to senior lenders. Approximately $24.8 million of the proceeds received by SF-V from the sale of the series 2006-A notes is being set aside for 90 days to finance SF-V's purchase of up to $33 million in additional qualifying timeshare loans from the company.

Hawaii Hotel Revenues Soar, Timeshare Purchases Down

2006-08-31T04:45:00.000-07:00

Hotels across Hawaii have commanded such high rates this summer that their room revenues are far above 2005 levels despite selling fewer room nights.

July occupancy statewide was 86.6 percent, down from 88.9 percent in the same month last year. But rates were up 12.8 percent, producing record room revenue growth.

Hotels sold 1,577,000 room nights in July, Hospitality Advisors President Joe Toy said Wednesday, down 5.4 percent from July 2005.

"The trend of declining room sales parallels the decreasing use of traditional hotels in favor of alternative accommodations, such as condominiums and timeshares," Toy said.

The Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism reported Tuesday that July visitor arrivals fell 1.9 percent from year-before levels.

"We are likely past the peak of the industry expansion that began in mid-2003," Toy said, but added, "we should continue to expect a record year in industry revenues for 2006."

Details from the July report:

Waikiki was 92.1 percent full in July, compared to 93.7 percent in July 2005, but room rates were up 13 percent to an average $163 a night, pushing revpar -- revenue per available room -- up 11.1 percent to $150. Overall Oahu revpar rose 10.7 percent to $151.
Maui was 85.1 percent full, the same as last year, but rates rose 14.1 percent to a countywide average of $269 a night, and Wailea room rates rose to a remarkable $429 a night. West Maui rates were $261 on average. Maui revpar was $229, up $29 from last year, but it was $349 in Wailea, also up $29.

Kauai was 81.1 percent full, compared to 75.6 percent a year earlier, while rates rose 8.8 percent to $203 a night. Revpar: $165, up $3 from last year.
The Big Island was 77.4 percent full, down from 81.7 percent a year ago, but room rates rose 9.3 percent to $194 a night. Revpar: $150, up $5.
For the first seven months of the year, statewide occupancy has been 81.8 percent, close to the year-before level of 82.2 percent, with average rates up $21 and revpar up $17 from last year.

What You Need to Know About TimeShares

2006-08-29T04:51:00.000-07:00

1. Timeshares are still a lousy investment. Forget what resort developers tell you. There's a glut of unwanted timeshares. Sell today and you can expect to get back only 30% to 50% of what you paid. But on the bright side, buying a previously owned timeshare could be a bargain because the largest depreciation has already occurred. You'll find listings of resale properties at Timeshare Users Group (www.www.eztimeshare.com; listings are free to view, but you must pay $50 for the first year of members-only information on local markets).

2. Selling agents may be of little help. You might be tempted to hire a company that promises to sell the timeshare on your behalf. But consumers have filed many complaints with the Better Business Bureau about companies that charge up-front fees and then fail to sell the properties. If reselling your timeshare is too much of a hassle, consider donating it with the help of the nonprofit Donate for a Cause. If you itemize, you can claim a federal tax deduction of the timeshare's fair market value (commonly $3,000 to $5,000), and the charity keeps nearly 65% of the proceeds of the timeshare sale.

3. Financing is a last resort. The cost of a one-week, two-bedroom timeshare in high season ranges from $10,000 in St. George, Utah, to $12,000 in Maui, Hawaii. If you can swing it, buy your timeshare outright. Banks are loath to lend money for timeshare purchases, and developers fill the breach with loans charging interest rates as high as 16%. Don't expect a tax write-off for your interest payments, either. These loans are usually unsecured, and interest payments on unsecured loans do not qualify for the home mortgage-interest deduction.

4. Trading spaces can be a headache. If you want to exchange your week for a week somewhere else, you could join a timeshare trading network. For example, Interval International lets you swap with about 2,000 resorts worldwide. Most such programs charge a membership fee of about $100 a year, plus a trading fee of about $150 per trade. Be aware that you may not get into, say, a Maui beachfront resort in January even if you plan a year ahead because such popular resorts are often overbooked. Luckily, trading networks offer an alternative: points that can be redeemed for hotel, cruise and other travel rewards.

5. A slice of a condo can be better than no condo at all. On the positive side, time shares are a convenient vacation option for many families. Condo-apartment time shares are roomier than many hotel rooms, and having a kitchen saves on pricey restaurant bills. What's more, timeshare resorts usually offer amenities, such as pools and tennis courts, that can make the average annual maintenance fee of $400 more palatable. Or you can enjoy those resort amenities without the commitment by renting a timeshare. In general, rental rates are cheaper than paying for comparable hotel accommodations. The largest timeshare rental listings site is www.eztimeshare.com.

Sticker Targets Timeshare Sales

2006-08-28T04:27:00.000-07:00

Upon request, visitors will receive "Thank you, I've already been asked" stickers from businesses which are members of the Chamber of Commerce.

According to Vickie Simms, executive director of the chamber, visitors frequently complain to the chamber about the "repetitiveness and behavior" of timeshare sales people who solicit on the streets.

"This is an attempt to alert the acquisition agents of the visitors' lack of interest in the offer which they are making. The purpose of this sticker is not to discourage the visitors from electing to tour a timeshare company but to prevent the same visitor from being bombarded by offerings as they walk down the street," said Simms.

Simms stated that Gatlinburg Chamber of Commerce realizes that timeshares offer an affordable vacation alternative for many, and that they "continue to contribute to the growth of Gatlinburg, but the continual offering of these promotions by off-premise contacts on the streets of Gatlinburg can often lead to a bad experience for our visitors."

The hope, said Simms, is that the program will alleviate the complaints and provide visitors to this area the awareness that the city of Gatlinburg and the Gatlinburg Chamber of Commerce are working diligently to resolve this issue.

"It is the hope of the chamber that those soliciting on the streets of Gatlinburg will acknowledge the visitors' wish to enjoy the streets of the city by avoiding those who wear the sticker. As the tourism industry is the lifeline of the business community, it is the chamber's goal to provide our visitors with the most gratifying and memorable experience possible," said Simms.

Tanner & Haley Bankruptcy Incenses Timeshare Industry

2006-08-25T04:43:00.000-07:00

When Tanner & Haley Resorts filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this summer, it put into question the business model in which the emerging timeshare club industry is based. Now the company is struggling to continue serving its 874 members even as it recently disclosed it suffered an operating loss of $64 million in 2005.

Just last week its founder and CEO Rob McGrath resigned and casting further down on the viability of Tanner & Haley, which enticed prospective members to join one of its three clubs with luxury vacations in such places such as Aspen and Cabo San Lucas.

To join destination clubs such as Tanner & Haley, new members provide the club with a deposit ranging from anywhere between $80,000 to more than $800,000 depending on the club. While consumers are promised they’ll receive the money back (less an administration fee that could be as high as 20 percent), this bankruptcy puts those deposits in peril for Tanner & Haley members. However, most clubs don’t actively market that members wanting to leave the club must wait for three new members to join. Additionally, members pay annual maintenance fees and daily use fees for access to each company’s luxury homes.

Many destination clubs base financial models on maintaining their timeshares with annual dues while member deposits are invested in real estate, which is then owned by the club rather than individual members. The club banks on the appreciation of real estate to make money.

Though the media and consumer market has lumped the destination club industry in with timeshare, it’s not an accurate assessment. Whereas timeshare has a real estate ownership component, destination clubs do not. So while timeshare or fractional owners actually own a portion of a deeded property, destination club member own nothing but the right to stay in their respective club’s homes.

And because destination clubs have been so closely linked with timeshare, the timeshare industry has been rallying for years to put into place consumer protections. At the American Resort Development Association’s (ARDA), President Howard C. Nusbaum has always feared that if and when one of these clubs went broke, the headline would read “Timeshare For Rich Fails,” casting a negative light on an industry that has worked diligently to foster a positive image. According to Nusbaum, when a destination club fails, the timeshare industry suffers.

“We believe this business model is fundamentally flawed,” Nusbaum told Hotel Interactive. “It is based on speculation [of real estate]. That scares us.”

Tanner & Haley got into financial hot water because of its guarantee to allow members to stay anytime, anyplace in one of its homes. If that home wasn’t available, the company would have to rent a suitable alternative, costing Tanner & Haley dearly as it scrambled to satisfy member demand by entering into costly short term leases.

Nusbaum is calling for the industry to be regulated like timeshare and have appropriate consumer protections. For example, he believes non-equity destination clubs should be required to have a third party insurance vehicle for membership reimbursements in case a club goes bust and also to be more transparent with their record keeping.

“We love entrepreneurship and we love new ideas, but we need to make sure promises that are made are promises kept. This model has no failsafe,” said Nusbaum.

Dr. Wayne Thorburn, CEO of the Texas Real Estate Commission and Commissioner of the Texas Appraiser Licensing and Certification Board agreed with Nusbaum’s assessment. His organization oversees and licenses all real estate transactions in the state, including any timeshare products that are to be sold or promoted directly to people in Texas.

He believes the destination club model does have its compelling side since it provides access to multi-million dollar homes and luxury hotel amenities, but insists regulation is necessary. He is calling for new rules to be put into place either under existing timeshare acts or separate legislation specifically written for non-equity clubs.

“It’s a little dangerous to be playing the real estate market and think appreciation of real estate is the way to make money,” said Thorburn “I am not surprised something like this happened.”

On its website, Tanner & Haley the company said it intends “to continue to meet substantially all travel commitments previously made to Members and to continue to provide Members with a wide range of destinations and services.”

The notice added they will use the Chapter 11 process to “stabilize the company’s finances, put the company on a sound financial footing and develop a more viable business model.”

Cool Off For The Night Before You Buy A Timeshare

2006-08-23T04:30:00.000-07:00

The sale of timeshares in the UK is regulated by the Timeshare Act 1992 (amended in 2001) and enforced by local trading standards officers.

Buyers must be given a 14-day "cooling-off" period' it is illegal for selers to take a deposit during this time.

Reputable agents, even within the UK, can be hard to find. And anyone contemplating buying a timeshare abroad should tread with utmost caution.

Buyers must make sure their money and the certificate of ownership are held in an independent, third-party account, and that the purchased "week" is free of al debt. Be aware, too, that there are no regulations about the ownership - rather than the sale - of timeshares. The Organisation for Time-share in Europe (OTE), the industry body, has a limited arbitration scheme for consumers. There is no clear-cut compensation scheme.

A New Type Of Timeshare: Stadium Seats

2006-08-22T04:42:00.000-07:00

Fractional ownership of luxury services has been growing rapidly in recent years. There's NetJets, which sells fractional aircraft ownership. Denver-based Exclusive Resorts sells luxury vacation rentals.

Now, Sports Shares, a Greenwood Village company, is applying the time-share concept to sports and entertainment venues.

Retired Denver Broncos wide receiver Ed McCaffrey is lending his celebrity status to the new company by serving as vice president, said Gary Ebel, a company spokesman.

Sports Shares plans to sell 40 memberships that entitle participants to four tickets at up to 35 events a year, plus concierge service and parking at the venues.

Those venues include a Pepsi Center suite, a Coors Field box and a Castle Pines Golf Course skybox, said Mike Regent, chief executive of the company, which is partly financed by Denver-based Tivis Ventures.

"It gives the members a chance to buy a luxury suite environment without buying the entire piece of inventory," Regent said.

Regent declined to disclose what a Sports Shares membership costs.

Annual rental of a Pepsi Center suite costs $115,000 to $250,000, according to the Pepsi Center website. Coors Field skyboxes cost about $50,000 to $130,000 per year.

approached the Broncos and was turned down, Regent said.
"We just don't do that," said Jim Saccomano, vice president of public relations for the Broncos. "We're fortunate enough to be in a sell-out situation all the time and have no need to have a partner to help us sell tickets."

Because Sports Shares sells memberships, it's not re-marketing Pepsi Center suites, so it does not violate a licensing agreement, said Paul Andrews, executive vice president of Kroenke Sports Enterprises, which owns the Pepsi Center, the Avalanche and the Nuggets.

Timeshare Trade May Be Best Strategy For Buyer's Remorse

2006-08-19T06:50:00.000-07:00

In the pressured environment of the 90-minute timeshare sales pitch and captivated by movie-theater scale videos showing idyllic getaways, many consumers who bought on the spot suffered serious buyer's remorse six months later. And then, they just wanted to get rid of the thing.

Although that sentiment is understandable, it's best to avoid acting in haste twice -- and to first consider trading. Here's why. Unloading a timeshare can take much time and effort, and sellers who don't want to hassle with the details may have to pay a hefty fee -- up to 25 percent of the purchase price -- to a resale agent.

The new era of timeshares -- and the allowable purchase structures -- feature far more flexibility than the timeshare of even 10 years ago. That's why a trade may be a better way to avoid losing one's shirt.

Two major time share exchange companies, Resort Condominium International (RCI) and Interval International (II), are making disgruntled time share owners a little happier. For a nominal annual membership fee (about $80), owners can trade their timeshare use time (not the ownership of their share) through these companies for time at a property that's either closer or more desirable.

The basic concept is this: RCI or II assigns a point value to a given timeshare based on its desirability (location, week of the year and unit size, among other factors). The timeshare is then color coded -- red for the most desirable (Aspen in December, for example), white for middle-of-the-road (the central coast in late autumn) and blue for least desirable (Orlando in scorching, muggy mid-September).

The catch is that participants can only trade straight across for similarly colored/rated vacation slot. And an exchange fee of about $100 is charged in addition to the membership fee. But that's still better than practically giving away a $9,000 purchase.

The choices through both networks are abundant, but RCI, the larger of the two, claims more than 2 million members and lists 3,500 resorts worldwide.

To make the exchange as advantageous as possible, consider the following:

• Recognize the true value of the timeshare being put into the pool (don't expect to obtain a nice "red" week for a white-level unit).

• Plan as far in advance as possible to allow for the most flexibility, up to one year with 45 days before a planned vacation at the minimum, or the pickings are likely to be very slim.

• Take advantage of incentives exchange companies offer; some allow members to trade in their timeshare week unused one year to bank more "points" on the trading market the following year.

No Timeshare Worries For Levy

2006-08-18T04:26:00.000-07:00

Developer Bill Levy put out a press release stating that construction on his controversial timeshare condo project on lower State Street will begin within 60 days, even though one of his key financers – Mountain Funding – has issued a notice of default charging that Levy and his partners are delinquent on a loan to the tune of $35 million.

The loan was issued last year to secure the property, which may be cleared to construct 62 Ritz-Carlton time-share units. Levy’s longtime partner Roy Millender stated he had hoped Mountain Funding would work out its differences with Levy privately, but pledged that the legal dispute “will in no way affect the construction financing or the progress and completion of the Ritz-Carlton Club in Santa Barbara.” Levy has caused City Hall a great deal of anxiety about the timeshare project’s financial viability many times already, repeatedly missing deadlines to begin construction and seeking extensions. According to Community Development Director Paul Casey, if construction does not begin by December 12, no more extensions are legally permissible and the timeshare project will officially be dead.

Tanner & Haley Timeshare Resorts CEO Resigns

2006-08-17T04:14:00.000-07:00

The chief executive of Tanner & Haley Timeshare Resorts resigned Tuesday, three weeks after the 62 corporate entities operating under that trade name sought bankruptcy protection, according to a published report.

Rob McGrath resigned from the Westport-based company, The Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site. McGrath, a former trader at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Nomura Holdings Inc., started the first destination club in 1998, offering different vacations to the wealthy.

The company's chief restructuring officer, Holly Etlin, said in a statement e-mailed to members Tuesday that McGrath "concluded that he could best enable the company he founded to successfully complete its financial reorganization by stepping down," The Journal reported.

Messages seeking comment weren't immediately returned Tuesday night by the company's media department in Kansas City, Mo., and reorganization media office in New York.

Tanner & Haley drew corporate executives, entrepreneurs, real-estate developers and other wealthy customers. Members of Tanner & Haley clubs vacationed in luxury homes around the world for deposits of between $85,000 and $1.3 million for more recent offerings.

The deposits were in addition to annual dues and property-use fees.

The company filed for bankruptcy protection on July 23 in federal court in Bridgeport. It disclosed an operating loss of $64 million in 2005.

As unsecured creditors, many of the 874 timeshare members fear they could lose most of their membership deposits. The deposits were refundable under certain conditions, but Tanner & Haley stopped returning deposits shortly before the bankruptcy filing, The Journal reported.

On Tuesday, the American Resort Development Association repeated its call for destination clubs to comply with timeshare regulations or support regulations that include a third-party guarantee of a membership refund promise and "comprehensive disclosures."

Citing the Tanner & Haley bankruptcy filing, the trade group said destination clubs that do not guarantee refund obligations or comply with state timeshare laws "pose serious dangers to consumers and to the integrity of all prepaid vacation products."

Timeshare Project Uproots Renters

2006-08-14T08:07:00.000-07:00

Timeshare units that may not be built for up to 12 years will cost two city women their homes by the end of the month.

Karen Adkins and Pamela Jenkins, who live on Penniman Road, said they received an eviction notice this week. The letter, from Colonial Penniman LLC, was dated July 31 and required Adkins and Jenkins to vacate the property by Sept. 1.

The women were puzzled because they didn't know what Colonial Penniman LLC was. Adkins said her landlord for the 17 years she's lived in the modest house on Penniman has been Hunter Vermillion.

Vermillion sold the property to Colonial Penniman in anticipation of the timeshare development.

Adkins works at King's Arms Tavern, and has worked for Colonial Williamsburg for 15 years. Jenkins works at Historic Jamestowne.

Adkins said she was surprised because based on their dealings with BlueGreen Corp., the company that will develop the 400-unit timeshare project that will take the land their house is on, they thought they had at least a year.

“This gives us less than a month,” she said.

The timeshare project has a buildout of 12 years.

Adkins and Jenkins were put in touch with BlueGreen executive Virginia Polinski by Kyra Cook, a neighbor on Penniman Road who's had concerns about the timeshare project. Cook said Friday that at a meeting with Jim Bennett, the spokesman for Colonial Penniman and Polinski, she brought up the fact that Adkins had lived in the house that was going to be demolished for the project for 17 years.

“She said she wasn't aware that anyone lived in that house,” Cook said. “But she said they weren't interested in evicting anyone right away because it was better for them to have someone in the house than to have it vacant.”

Cook said she informed Adkins of that and gave Adkins' contact information to Polinski.

Jenkins said she had talked to Polinski and that she said that if BlueGreen was their landlord, “we wouldn't just give you 30 days' notice.

“Then she kind of laughed, so I expected we would get 30 days' notice,” she said.

Adkins said they'd had a further conversation with BlueGreen to ask for an extension because, although they've found a new place to live, they can't move in there until Sept. 15.

“They said they couldn't do that,” Adkins continued. “It's not just that the new house won't be ready until September 15, we need that long to secure our belongings.”

She said she was done talking to them.

“I'm not communicating with them anymore,” Adkins said. “I can't spare the emotional energy. I've got to get ready to leave here.”

Reached for comment Friday, Polinski said corporate policy prohibited her from talking to the press. She referred all inquiries to a corporate spokesman.

Asked about the eviction and the denial of an extension, spokesman Lisa Thornhill said those were all good questions.

“Unfortunately, we can't answer them for you,” she said. “We aren't evicting anybody because we don't own the property yet. We haven't closed

Asked if getting the tenants out was a prerequisite for the closing, Thornhill said she didn't know.

When first contacted Friday, Jim Bennett, spokesman for Colonial Penniman, was unaware of the eviction notice.

Later, he said that he understood that evicting the tenants was “a legal matter that was necessary for the sale of the property.”

“I understand that the tenants have had some conversations with BlueGreen, I'm not sure how productive they were,” he said. “In any event, BlueGreen is not the owner of the property, Colonial Penniman is.”

Asked about the tenants' request for an extension until Sept. 15, Bennett said he couldn't answer for the owner of Colonial Penniman, who he declined to identify.

“It sounds reasonable to me,” he said. “But I can't speak for the owner.”

Bennett said the owner was out of town and that he'd get in touch with him next week.

Cook, who has been critical of the way Colonial Penniman and BlueGreen have operated, said this was another example of their not cooperating with people in the community.

“It's not so much the eviction that bothers me,” Cook said. “It's the way that it was done. Karen and Pam deserve to be treated with more dignity than that.”

Dubai Prepares To Pass First Timeshare Legislation

2006-08-08T04:37:00.000-07:00

The Dubai government’s Department of Economic Development (DED) is preparing to pass the emirate’s first timeshare law later this year. The groundbreaking legislation will pave the way for international timeshare brands such as Marriott Vacation Club International (MVCI) to enter the burgeoning hospitality sector in the emirate, and will provide yet another revenue avenue for would-be investors.

Timeshare professionals from 19 companies, including the two largest timeshare exchange companies RCI and Interval International, have been working with the DED since 2003 to create a first draft of the timeshare legislation, which was submitted for approval at the end of June.

“The DED asked [the timeshare] industry to form a work group to take a look at the first draft legislation and make comments. We have just completed that. It is a very good draft. We made suggestions on how to change the draft to tighten it up,” said Vivienne Noyes-Thomas, managing director of RCI Middle East.

“We are making a unified effort from an industry standpoint to create a timeshare legislation that protects the consumer’s rights as well as offering the legitimate developer the right to develop their business,” added David Clifton, managing director, Europe, Middle East, Africa & Asia, Interval International.

The aim of the legislation is to avoid some of the mistakes made in Europe in the 1980s and 1990s with regards to timeshare marketing.

“The EU got it wrong. The developers there never embraced regulations early on. Instead they fought it. The EU overreacted by bringing in legislation against taking deposits,” Clifton told Hotelier Middle East.

“With the Dubai regulations, this will stop the bad people from coming in. Also the quality of product here will be superior. It is an upscale vision. Then there is Dubailand, which is aiming at a younger audience. There is no question that we will see timeshare there. We will see it all over Dubai,” he stated.

The first DED draft looks at how to protect the consumer, by offering a cooling-off period on all contracts, while enabling sales teams to still take deposits. The law will also provide protection for purchasers investing in properties still under construction, in the form of an Escrow account or bank guarantee.

Operators will have to get a licence to run a timeshare resort and to sell it. They have to be bonded to the amount of AED1 million (US $275,000).

“There has to be disclosure in all documents: disclosure of what you are selling, and if you are offering an inducement to join. This legislation is great; it is very laudable. We hope to get it ratified as soon as possible,” said RCI’s Noyes-Thomas.
Operators are also keen to see the legislation get passed. MVCI has been in negotiations with Al Futtaim to sign an agreement to operate and market a timeshare resort at Dubai Festival City for the past 12 months, but is holding off on inking the deal until the timeshare legislation is passed.

“Our Festival City announcement is dictated by legislation,” admitted Ed Kinney, vice president, corporate affairs and brand awareness, MVCI. “That [will be] determined by the ability for the legislation to be formalised and executed as quickly as possible. Without that, the ability for companies such as us to commit to that market is damped somewhat.”

When the new legislation will come into effect is still not certain, although Interval’s Clifton is hopeful that the new law will be in place by the new year. “We are hopeful that we will see timeshare legislation as soon as possible. However, the reality is that Dubai has to finish its land law first,” he said.

Escape From Timeshare Hell

2006-08-07T06:22:00.000-07:00

Despite their unwillingness to travel just weeks after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Dowell Multer and his wife made the trip to their mid-October timeshare at the LaCabana Beach and Racquet Club in Aruba. "Things had changed a lot," Multer says. "It was a much quieter place." The couple vacationed there for two more years before deciding they did not want to return.

But after three years on the market, Multer, who is now 73 years old, still hasn't found a buyer. Granted, there was interest from companies that specialize in timeshare resales, but they all demanded hefty upfront fees. "One person wanted $1,500 upfront and swore up and down it's a great market," Multer says. Another asked for $599, promising to advertise the property world-wide. A third wanted $300. Multer politely declined. Yet, with the $900 maintenance fee due each year, he's desperate to sell. "Right now, we would be very happy if we could just give it away to somebody," he says.

The Multers aren't alone. While there are no official statistics on the number of timeshare owners looking to unload their investment, the sheer size of the marketplace suggests there are thousands — if not hundreds of thousands — of unhappy timeshare owners looking to get out.

With timeshares, you typically buy the right to stay at a resort for a week each year, as long as you live. (And because this is a deeded property, your timeshare will be passed over to your heirs after you die.) That may sound great at the developer's presentation: Buying a timeshare from the developer directly usually comes with incentives like discounted weeks at the resort or free lunches, and is often something of an impulse purchase. But it also means you've bound yourself to an annual maintenance fee, which can run as high as $1,500 and can increase if the timeshare management decides to do improvements upgrades on the property.

Needless to say, life doesn't always agree with such arrangements. People's circumstances change and, for one reason or another, they can no longer use their timeshares. That's where reality kicks in: Selling the timeshare is tough. Unfortunately, recouping your original costs — especially if purchased from the developer — is next to impossible.

Successfully unloading your property is a matter of adjusting your expectations and knowing what your options are when it comes to the sale. Here's some advice:

When trying to sell your timeshare, going to your resort is a logical first step: Some resorts have buy-back programs, where they will offer to buy your timeshare week or points at a certain price. The practice, known as "right to first refusal," is meant to help preserve the value of timeshare properties, explains George Marine, a real-estate investor and timeshare owner from Long Island, N.Y. What it basically means is that if you want to sell your timeshare, the resort will offer to buy it back at a certain price, typically lower than the purchase price but still higher than what the owner may get at the resale market. While most brand-name resorts — such as Disney and Marriott Vacation Clubs — have right of first refusal clauses in their contracts, how often they exercise it will vary by resort.

If your resort doesn't have a right of first refusal or any other resale program, they may at least refer a reputable broker or resale agent.

However you approach the resale of your timeshare, one thing's for sure: Never pay an upfront fee to a broker. "This is a wide-scale scam," says Caroline Lindholm, president of the Greater New York Timeshare Owners' Group (GNYTOG). "There are so many agencies out there that will take $395 or so, and promise you the moon. And the prices [they say you can get for your listing] are totally unrealistic."

Pat Teal, a 72-year-old timeshare owner from Myrtle Beach, S.C., learned that the hard way. Back in 2003, she contacted several resale companies about selling her timeshare at the Fairfield Beach Ocean Ridge in South Carolina. She was quoted a $300 upfront fee, which she paid using a credit card, and a $200 commission after the sale was complete. But two months later she called to inquire about any interest in her property, and the company had disappeared. "I kept calling and calling, but I couldn't get a hold of them," she says. (According to Better Business Bureau records, the company — Freedom Resorts International in Hudson, Fla. — has gone out of business.) Teal figured out her $300 fee was a lost cause, but imagine her dismay when her credit card was charged another $200. She appealed the charge with the credit-card company and her $200 was refunded, but still, the experience was sobering. "I would be more than happy to pay a commission, once the timeshare sold, but I hesitate to pay money upfront again," she says.

The only fee you should feel comfortable paying upfront is a small charge — usually around $20 to $50 — that some online timeshare services (such as www.Eztimeshare.com or www.us-time-share.com ) charge to list your property, says President Howard Nussbaum, president of the American Resort Development Association (ARDA), an industry group. "If you're dealing with a reseller, make sure they're a licensed agent and they don't make money from upfront fees instead of actual sales."

Marriott International Offers Second Phase Of Timber Lodge Timeshare Resort

2006-08-04T05:00:00.000-07:00

A bed is not just a bed when you're traveling. And just to prove it, Marriott International has not only replaced its bedding at all its hotels. It sells the feather beds billed as some of the most fluffy, sinking sleep aids available today.

The beds have even made it to South Lake Tahoe, where Marriott Vacation Club - a subsidiary of the world's giant hotelier - has set up in its first two phases of Timber Lodge at Heavenly Village near Stateline. The third phase will begin construction in summer of 2007.

A vernacular filled with 300-thread-count sheets, feather duvets and matching duvet covers have become a part of the Marriott timeshare life. A guest getting between the sheets will find the hotel chain has also upgraded from five down pillows to three down and three euro pillows. The hotelier once boasted 200-thread-count linen.

Lauren Epstein owns one week a year of a Timber Lodge unit and waited long and hard for the chain's new feather beds to make it to Tahoe. She learned about them on the Internet.

"A bed is important to me. When I'm not at home and comfortable with my own bed and I'm on vacation, the bed needs to be comfortable and the bedding needs to be right or I don't sleep under the covers," the Los Angeles woman said, while she sprawled out on the comfy bed. She arrived a week ago and has enjoyed a good night of z's ever since.

The second phase will add 192 timeshare of these villas to add to the Marriott's weekly options in South Lake Tahoe. This includes the three-bedroom villas that allow for separate groups.

"You can split these into two, and you have a guest room," Marriott Timber Lodge marketing team leader Tania Pilkinton said on a tour this week.

Some units offer three bedrooms that can be split into two separate quarters with a guest room that also comes with a pull-out sofa bed.

Refrigerators and microwaves and other accents give the units the amenities of a full-service vacation home - all in a traditional timeshare package.

With mahogany-looking furniture and recessed lighting, it's the spare-no-expense offering that Marriott plans to sell in its next round of sales. Prices begin at $14,650 per deeded week. The three-bedroom villas start at $27,000 - something new to the second phase in the $250 million public-private timeshare redevelopment project next to Park Avenue.

Timeshare Boat Tragedy

2006-08-03T04:51:00.000-07:00

A holidaymaker has died after falling from a narrowboat and becoming trapped in its propeller on a canal near Lichfield.

The 59-year-old man was on a timeshare boat holiday with his wife, daughter and son-in-law when he plunged into the water and became caught under the vessel at Alrewas.

Paramedics battled to save him but he died at the scene, on the Trent & Mersey Canal alongside The Old Boat restaurant, off Kings Bromley Road.

The man, from Somerset, was manoeuvring the Canaltime Narrowboats Timeshare boat below a lock when he fell into the water at about 4pm on Tuesday.

A member of his family and a fellow boater managed to pull him out of the water and onto the canal bank where paramedics battled to save him but he died at the scene.

Fellow timeshare holidaymaker Julian Yates, who was on another Canaltime boat behind, was one of the first people to arrive at the incident. He said:"The man on the back of the narrowboat had somehow pitched into the water and was trapped under the boat.

"The paramedics were here very quickly and they did all they could to save him but, unfortunately, he died. It is very sad and upsetting.

"I didn't see how he fell into the water but I think he was probably trying to moor up in front of the lock and got into a bit of a muddle.

"The boat was across the canal when I saw it, so he may have been trying to reverse and then the boat bumped the bank when he went forward, which could have been enough to tip him into the water."

Staffordshire Ambulance spokesman Bob Lee said:"It is a rare occurrence to have a boating incident like this. Generally, boating is quite a safe pastime."

The County Air Ambulance, two land ambulances, a doctor, the paramedic response unit, fire crews and police were all called to the scene. A Staffordshire Police spokesman said there were no suspicious circumstances.

Officers cordoned off the scene while inquiries began into how the incident happened, and health and safety officers from Lichfield District Council have launched an investigation.

Representatives from British Waterways and the Canaltime Narrowboats timeshare company also attended the scene.

Mick Finlan, who lives alongside the canal, said: "I don't think we've ever heard of an accident like this happening on the canal here before. It is all very sad."

Tim Matthews, Environmental Health Manager at Lichfield District Council, said: "On Tuesday August 1, our Health and Safety team were called out to an accident on the canal at Alrewas, where a man tragically died.

"We are currently examining the facts surrounding the timeshare death, and in the case the accident occurred during a work activity, we will consider carrying out an investigation under the Health and Safety at Work Act."

Brit Girl, 6, Burned Alive At Timeshare Resort

2006-08-03T04:45:00.000-07:00

A BRITISH girl was burned alive when a prop exploded during a fire-eating act at a holiday timeshare resort.

Eden Galvani-Skeete, six, was engulfed in flames in front of her mum and other tourists.

Three other British children and several adults were injured when a fireball shot into the crowd.

Some leaped into a pool to douse their blazing clothes — but chlorine in the water made their skin blister even more severely.

Fire-eater Tahir Akalin, who was unlicensed, will be quizzed by cops on suspicion of causing death or injury as a result of negligence when he has recovered.

Eden, from Ilford, East London, was on holiday with mum Helen Zachariou and an aunt at the Gemini Park timeshare resort in Altinkum, Turkey.

She was among up to 40 guests watching Akalin in a bar and restaurant.

When a baton he used as a prop failed to light, a passing waiter doused it with ethyl alcohol Akalin used in his act, causing the blast. Eden was rushed to hospital, where she died.

Injured sisters Shona, and Sarah Hunter, 13, from Carlisle, Cumbria, were still there yesterday where mum Kathryn was keeping vigil. Another British child was still in hospital, but all the adults had been released.

One witness, named Mustafa, said: “When the fire-eater appeared on stage many children ran to the front for a better view, as the timeshare resort was packed.

“When the waiter tipped the bottle of alcohol on the baton and there was a huge explosion.

“Flames tore into children and adults standing nearby and their clothes caught fire. They were screaming from the pain and terror. They looked like they had been in a bomb blast.”

Mustafa, who was selling timeshare at the Aegean Sea resort, added: “One little girl was lying motionless. Her body was charred from head to foot.”

Neighbours near Eden’s Ilford home — which had a bunch of pink roses outside — described her as “bright and bubbly”.

One said her mum, also known as Ellie, went to see them on her return home.

She said: “She was crying and whispered, ‘My darling Eden has been taken’. She told us Eden bore the full brunt of the explosion.”

Shona and Sarah’s dad Mark Hunter, 42, said: “Sarah has second degree burns to 30 per cent of her body. The backs of her legs are badly burned and she is in a lot of discomfort.

“Shona suffered burns to her legs and a burn right across the left side of her face. They just really want to go home.”

The timeshare resort is run by Premier Homes, a Turkish-based company run by UK businessmen. Some timeshare flats belong to holiday firm Seasons based in Laugharne, Carmarthen.

Managing director Michael Foundly said: “We’re shocked.”

Timeshare Crusader To Speak At Convention

2006-08-02T04:49:00.000-07:00

Lisa Ann Schreier, a.k.a. "The Timeshare Crusader" and author of both "Surviving a Timeshare Presentation...Confessions from the Sales Table" and "Timeshare Vacations for Dummies," will be speaking at THETRADESHOW Consumer Day on Sept. 10, 2006, at the Presentation Pavilion in Orlando.

According to Schreier, "Surviving a Timeshare Presentation...Confessions from the Sales Table" created a stir upon its release when it revealed the average price of a timeshare for the first time to the general public. "Consumers need to know what the average price is because without that information it is next to impossible to make an educated choice about purchasing the product," said Schreier. She followed the success of her first book with "Timeshare Vacations for Dummies," a more in-depth book about timeshares, exchanging and financing. Schreier says she is neither pro- nor anti-timeshare, only decidedly pro-consumer.

"Timeshare can be a great product for some people and a total waste of money for others. Since most timeshare purchases are made during a 2- to 3-hour timeshare presentation or ‘pitch’, it’s vital that consumers have the information that they need ahead of time so that they can ask pertinent questions and make informed choices. There is no such thing as the ‘best’ timeshare location, type or brand. There are a multitude of products out there and ‘best’ will be different for each individual. I`ve been extremely fortunate to have earned the trust of the public by refusing to be aligned with one specific timeshare, or even getting involved with any actual buying or selling," said Schreier.

Schreier is a guest lecturer at both the University of Central Florida and the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. In addition, she has been a frequent guest on many radio stations including National Public Radio, WOR-AM in New York City, "The Frankie Boyer Show" in Massachusetts and the ABC Radio Network. She also has written articles for Grand Magazine, the in-flight publications of both AirTran and Alaska Airlines and was recently featured on a segment of the Showtime series "Penn and Teller`s Bullshit!" In April, Schreier was a guest speaker at the Miami Herald Travel Show, and she also has addressed the Chicago Adventure and Luxury Travel Show.

Timeshares Seem To Be A Money Pit With Few Returns

2006-08-01T04:44:00.000-07:00

You can't walk through the lobby of any Orlando hotel these days without seeing signs for reduced rates or free tickets to the area's amusement parks. Of course, there's a hitch: You have to hear the pitch of salespeople who want you to buy a timeshare.

The dream they're selling is having a place at a luxurious resort where you can vacation each year. You buy either a specific week or points that can be exchanged for any week. There are people who adore this system, so much so that they buy multiple weeks at various places.

They like that it forces them to take a vacation when they may not otherwise have left town. Other people love that you can buy a share in a particular place but use it like a voucher for another place anywhere in the world.

Owning a timeshare means having a perpetual obligation. You own it forever, and you can pass it on through your will. It's fine as long as you want it. But that's the end of the good news.

The shock sets in when people see their maintenance fees go up or get hit with assessments that leave them with no rights to appeal. When you buy a timeshare from a developer, most of what you pay for is marketing, sales, promotions and commissions. Almost none of the money goes to the value of the timeshare. Typically, timeshares lose 80 percent of their value immediately. What other purchase would you want to make that loses that much?

Another problem arises when you want to sell. Most people find that it's almost impossible to do. I get a lot of calls and e-mails from people who want to give their timeshare away, and nobody will take it! Because they lose so much value and are so difficult to sell, I consider timeshares to be a defective purchase.

People who are still sold on the idea would do well to buy one from someone who's desperately trying to get rid of it. Some buyers have found good deals on eBay, but I'd suggest doing a lot of study on the timeshare resort before you buy.

Holiday Releases Mega Marketing Timeshare Report

2006-07-28T04:53:00.000-07:00

Holiday Equity announced the release of preliminary results of their privately funded timeshare marketing study.

David Skinner, Holiday's President, stated, "Unlike studies by industry groups that focus on buyers and the reasons they love timeshare, Holiday chose to turn the tables and focus on non-buyers and their opposing views.

Skinner stated the primary question Holiday addressed in the research was: "With 110 Million adult households in the US, and after nearly 30 years of active timeshare sales, why are there only a mere 4 percent that own timeshare?"

The comprehensive Holiday study followed four integrated tracks. The first classified a database of 14,000 buyers and non-buyers by demographics using the PRIZM system developed by Claritas. PRIZM (Potential Rating Index for Zip Markets) attributes 66 cluster codes of socioeconomic characteristics to each data entry.

"It is so detailed," Skinner said, "it will show your family grouping, the car you drive, and the magazines you read."

This was followed by two online surveys of owners and non-owners, their vacation preferences, timeshare awareness and product opinions.

The final phase, a battery of live and online focus groups, probed the social and behavioral interactions between timeshare owners and non-owners when presented with different sets of vacation alternatives.

"The consumers in our focus groups were incredibly candid," Skinner notes. "They shared several levels of reasons why they love and hate timeshare, and they gave us some valuable insights on how we might want to position the product to best appeal to a broader segment of the market."

After six months the Holiday study is nearing completion, and already striking differences with commonly held industry beliefs are evident.

As David Skinner said, "While the recent American Resort Developers Association report concurred with our averages, we wanted to look deeper than just averages. For example, we were able to identify details that indicate many timeshare owners are among the wealthiest consumers in the country, and two of the Prism clusters dominated the owner mix by 300 percent compared to general population distributions. These are significant findings!"

"Our challenge now," Skinner said, "is to fully digest what we have learned and develop an action plan that draws on the new insights provided by the four tracks in this research. We are optimistic that we and our affiliates will find this to be one of the most valuable tools in our strategic arsenal, and will prove to be a true competitive advantage in the timeshare marketplace."

Timeshare Is Now A Reality, Costa Del Sol Project Inaugurated Yesterday

2006-07-27T04:46:00.000-07:00

With President Fernandez’ attendance the timeshare project was inaugurated yesterday the Costa Del Sol in Juan Dolio.

Coast del Sol is a hotel, real state and timeshare project where US$14 million were invested.

Constructed in 28,000 square meters, it integrates hotel rooms “sold” to interested tourists and administrated by the Embassy Suites Los Marlins that will rent them with the services proper of a beach tourist center.

In Luis Jose Asilis, project president’s opinion, the concept creates tourism of permanent character, non-seasonal; because the room owners can visit the country as many times as they want but, while they are not using it, the property can be rented as any hotel would, the owner’s proportional earnings after paying for operational costs, represent an investment return.

The tourist structure, of 140 timeshare rooms, restaurants and bars, will offer its facilities to the Metro Country Club members and the room’s owners will be able to enjoy the golf course.

Asilis informed that all Costa del Sol rooms are sold.

Royal Oasis Timeshare Owners Take Legal Action

2006-07-25T07:29:00.000-07:00

Timeshare owners at the closed Royal Oasis filed a class action suit against the resort owner in a Florida Federal Court on four counts, including breach of contract.

The petition has been at least six months in the making and names Sunrise Properties Limited, Driftwood Freeport Limited and Driftwood Hospitality Management, LLC. as the defendants.

The owners say they have essentially been excommunicated from the resort since November 2004 and are fed up as their attempts to reach the resort have gone unreturned.

The Crowne Plaza Golf Resort and Casino at the Royal Oasis suffered two hurricanes in September 2004 and closed down.

In a November 4, 2004 letter, timeshare owners learned that the resort had anticipated re-opening the vacation club on June 1, 2005, but that never materialized.

Some owners were also informed that there was a hold on their timeshare points.

Desperate for answers, after not hearing anything for several weeks despite countless calls, e-mails and letters, timeshare owners reached out to this daily, The Bahamas government officials and even Prime Minister Christie.

Heading the list of plaintiffs which includes hundreds of other timeshare owners in the suit is timeshare owner Robert Snee of Massachusetts.

The 13-page legal document lists the four counts as breach of contract, breach of the implied duty of good faith and fair dealing, unjust enrichment and for a declaration of Snee and the class' ownership rights and interests in their timeshare units.

The Royal Oasis property includes a casino, country club and tower and is the second largest resort on the island.

Government is seeking out a buyer for the defunct resort and, at last report, there were two.

Attorney Carlin Phillips, of Phillips and Garcia, P.C. Counsellors at Law of Massachusetts, in an interview with The Freeport News, said with the sale in limbo, they believe the timeshare owners have at least a lease-hold interest and maybe even some kind of property interest in the timeshare units.

He pointed out that a lot of the owners who paid cash in advance for their timeshare are out thousands of dollars with contracts bought up for years.

"We're trying to assert their rights for monies they have lost in the past and what they will lose in the future," said Phillips. "Because if the resort is not going to be developed, they're losing year after year."

Snee purchased his unit back in November 2001 at the Vacation Club at Bahamia for $6,000 and his membership agreement entitled him to all the advantages and benefits of the club for 21 consecutive years.

After paying the balance of the purchase price in March 2002, he owned his unit and his rights don't expire until after the 2022 occupancy.

But he is not alone.

For some time, many timeshare owners were afraid to stop making payments to their maintenance fees after the closure of the resort for fear they would lose their points and their timeshare altogether.

There was, however, the hope the resort would reopen soon.

According to the claim, the November 1, 2004 letter from the defendants revealed that the members who lost their week would have their weeks replaced and that they were required to continue paying monthly payments and maintenance fees.

Pointing out the defendants never repaired or reopened the resort, the suit revealed the timeshare owners have not been notified about the status of their units and their rights.

It adds that the timeshare owners have been given no assurance that their timeshare interests will be protected if the property is sold.

According to the suit, a clause in the contract reveals that the membership agreement states that should the resort be delayed from performing any obligations by reason or as a result of any peril and in the event the timeshare owner is unable to use his unit as a result of damage to the unit, the resort — at its discretion — will provide either an alternate accomodation or refund one-21st of the price paid by the timeshare owner for each unit week the timeshare owner is unable to use it as a result of damage from an insured peril.

A Timeshare Q & A

2006-07-24T04:45:00.000-07:00

Q: My ex-husband and I purchased a timeshare many years ago. When we divorced, the timeshare was forgotten about and never addressed in our divorce mediation. We used our timeshare once. I thought he was keeping up with the payments, but he wasn’t.

We’ve been sued for almost $5,000 in payments. I can’t afford a lawyer and haven’t been able to contact the timeshare’s lawyer. What can happen?

A: You owe this money, and because the time-share company has sued you, it will start to affect your credit history and credit score — if it hasn’t already.

You must answer the lawsuit and contact your ex-husband to work out how you are going to pay off this debt. You must also figure out how you and he will get rid of the timeshare.

Although you can’t afford a lawyer, at least consult with one for an hour or so to learn what you’ll have to do to defend yourself. Or, if you truly don’t have a dime, contact your local legalaid society, but pay off that timeshare.

Gov’t Looks At Timeshare Rules

2006-07-21T05:15:00.000-07:00

The Cayman Islands Government has asked the Attorney General to look into the possibilities of regulating the timeshare industry in the aftermath of the failure of Indies Suites, Leader of Government Business Kurt Tibbett said.

“We certainly would like some way to protect timeshare owners in cases like [Indies Suites],” Mr. Tibbetts said.

Indies Suites failed after Hurricane Ivan because the operators were about 50 per cent underinsured and could not afford to rebuild the facility. The former timeshare owners of that property publicly called for some regulation in Cayman’s timeshare industry after they had to negotiate a compensation settlement for about 20 cents on their dollar invested.

Tom McCallum, director of The Reef Resort timeshare property in East End, said its owners would like to see regulation.

“Here at The Reef, the Thompson Group would be in favour of consultation between the private sector and the government that would lead to effective and efficient regulation of the timeshare industry,” he said. “Fair legislation and regulation always favour those who do business in a fair and ethical manner, hence the Thompson Group are very much in favour.”

The Cayman Islands Real Estate Brokers Association would like to see regulation as well.

“CIREBA agrees that the legal community should devise a means whereby the owner’s right to use [as with a timeshare] can be registered and protected,” the association said.

President James Bovell said timeshares are not the general market of the CIREBA members, but confirmed that members are allowed to handle re–sales. There are only six timeshare properties listed on CIREBA’s website.

Although Mr. Tibbetts did not get into any specific elements of regulation, the Indies Suites group had suggested at minimum timeshare operators should be required to have adequate insurance coverage to rebuild their property if destroyed.

The former Indies Suites club members would also like to see timeshare owners have a registered interest in the property. Because they were not registered, the former Indies Suites owner was able to sell the property to a third party without consulting with, or even telling the club members of the sale until months after the fact.

“There’s no protection for timeshare owners here,” said Mr. McCallum. “The laws do not allow for the subdivision of property to that extent.”

Mr. McCallum thinks it would be good for business to give timeshare owners a registered interest here.

“We’d love to be able to say, ‘your timeshare is registered in the Cayman Islands’,” he said.

Mr. McCallum said there had been discussions with the government years ago about this issue. However, he said the sheer volume of past timeshare sales “would instantly double the number of land owners in the Cayman Islands” if they were all registered.

Rod Broome, a former Indies Suites timeshare owner who represented about 230 other owners during the civil action against the former owners, was happy to see the Government respond to the issue.

“We are glad to see that the Cayman Government is finally going to act on matters related to the timeshare industry and take some action to protect the rights of timeshare owners in Cayman,” he said, adding that it is hoped any new regulations are enacted promptly.

“While for the ex–Indies Suites club members it is too late, for the Cayman timeshare industry this would be a big boost as we believe this would be the first of its kind of action in the worldwide industry to level the playfield between timeshare resort owner/operators and resort club members.”

Baby Boomers, Empty Nesters Lead In Timeshare Vacation Ownership

2006-07-20T04:31:00.000-07:00

The American Resort Development Association (ARDA) International Foundation has released preliminary results of the new 2006 Timeshare Resort Owners: Who They Are Why They Buy study. The study of 938 recent timeshare buyers was conducted by Ragatz Associates and will be officially released in August.

Of recent buyers, only 18.5 percent are under 40, whereas 30.4 percent are 60 and over (and 8.8 percent are 70 and over), according to the study. Another 23.0 percent are in their 40’s, and 28.1 percent are in their 50’s. By comparison, among all owners, 9.3 percent are under 40, 40.2 percent are 60 or over (15.5 percent are 70 or over), 21.0 percent are in their 40’s, and 29.5 percent are in their 50’s.

Only 31.4 percent of recent buyers have children under 18 years of age living at home. For all owners, this proportion is even lower at 24.9 percent. This figure is down from 36.4 percent for those purchasing in 1996 and 34.3 percent of those purchasing in 2002, in accord with the aging baby boom generation.

The study showed a dramatic increase in the number of single females as recent buyers with the proportion of single females increasing from 8 percent in 1996 to 12.7 percent in 2005, a 58.5% increase. At the same time, the percentage of single male buyers has remained fairly consistent, with 4.1 comprising new buyers in 1996 compared with 4.3 percent in 2005. Overall, nearly one in five new buyers is single (17%).

The study also showed timeshare owners are:
• 83.0 percent are couples, whereas 17.0 percent are singles;
• 31.4 percent have children under 18 living at home; and,
• 41.5 percent are in their 40’s or younger, whereas 30.4 percent are in their 60’s or over.

“With the profile of the average timeshare buyer becoming increasingly diverse across population segments, this study underscores the flexibility and value of vacation ownership products for a broad range of consumers and lifestyles,” said Howard C. Nusbaum, ARDA’s president and CEO. “This study will be of great interest to those in the industry in terms of how timeshare is marketed and to whom. The owner base is shifting in accordance with the general population with an increasing number of empty nest couples and single women.”

Findings are based on two surveys conducted of resort timeshare consumers, including:
Consumers who purchased timeshare during 2005, or “recent buyers:” This survey involved mailing and e-mailing 10,000 questionnaires to a random sample of recent buyers who purchased in the U.S. in 2005, with names and addresses being obtained from RCI. A total of 938 responses were obtained for a response rate of 9.4 percent. This provides a 95 percent confidence interval of +3.2 percent for results overall.

Consumers who purchased their timeshare prior to 2005, or “all owners:” This survey involved mailing and e-mailing 10,000 questionnaires to a random sample of RCI members who have owned their timeshare in the U.S. for at least one year. A total of 1,547 responses were obtained for an overall response rate of 15.5 percent. This provides a 95 percent confidence interval of + 2.5 percent for results overall.

The American Resort Development Association is the Washington D.C.-based professional association representing the vacation ownership and resort development industries. Established in 1969, ARDA today has nearly 1,000 members ranging from privately held firms to publicly traded companies and international corporations with expertise in shared ownership interests in leisure real estate. The membership also includes timeshare owner associations (HOAs), resort management companies, and owners through the ARDA Resort Owners Coalition (ARDA-ROC).

The ARDA International Foundation (AIF) conducts research and develops education programming for the timeshare industry. The Foundation’s mission is to “support, conduct, and disseminate research and technical studies that will enhance and improve knowledge for the public and the industry, and develop educational resources that will optimize value, operations, acceptance, and service for the timeshare industry and the public.”

Turn Timeshare Tours Into Vacations To Remember

2006-07-19T04:44:00.000-07:00

We've all seen the offers. Fabulous vacation packages in exciting destinations with wonderful resort accommodations - all at a price that's too good to believe. So what's the catch?

The truth is there really is no big catch. Typically, all that's asked is that you give up a very short amount of time to preview a beautiful vacation resort. And for those willing to set aside the time, the rewards can be great.

Whether you are a couple looking for a romantic getaway or a family in need of a vacation that offers more than a cramped hotel room, a timeshare vacation may provide the perfect opportunity for the vacation of your dreams.

You can enjoy beautiful resort accommodations, discount attraction tickets and more -usually packaged neatly into one grand vacation - at one equally grand price. Sure, you'll have to set aside time out of your vacation one morning to participate in their resort tour. But why not simply make that tour part of the whole vacation experience?

In today's travel economy, the timeshare concept is probably more widely accepted and more beneficial than ever before. Timeshare offers a one-of-a-kind opportunity to change the way you vacation. And timeshare tours are not the nightmare you may have heard about in the past. In fact, you may actually find that a timeshare vacation really does work for you and your family. And if not, you have nothing to lose. All you have to do is take the tour, say "no" and still enjoy a fabulous vacation!

At the very least, you can save hundreds of dollars off your vacation. Forget about the small hotel rooms. Spread your family wings in a spacious resort villa with all the comforts of home from a full kitchen to Jacuzzi tubs and big screen TVs. And if timeshare does suit your needs and budget, you'll put yourself in a whole new world of annual vacations that you never before dreamed imaginable.

Picture yourself in Orlando enjoying the magical wonders of Disney. After a long day in the parks, you could return to a roomy, comfortable suite where the kids can go one direction while the adults enjoy a quiet space all to themselves. Tired of eating out every meal? Fix your own meal in the kitchen, hit the pool or spa, and relax the night away in complete bliss.

There's no denying that a timeshare resort vacation is an exceptional opportunity. And whether you choose to make it a permanent fixture for your family or a one-time experience, chances are, it's a vacation package you won't regret . . . and certainly one you won't soon forget.

Know Red Flags Before Committing Timeshare Purchase

2006-07-18T04:36:00.000-07:00

Timeshares and camping clubs are becoming popular alternatives for many Americans and can be great ways to enjoy a much-needed vacation. But, like everything else, it is important to do some research before you “show them the money.”

A timeshare is the right to use and occupy a unit in a building on a periodic basis, generally for a period of one week annually. A camping club allows consumers to keep a trailer, tent, camper or similar equipment at a land-based site for a designated period of time.

Indiana law gives the purchaser the right to cancel a timeshare or camping club purchase within three days after the execution of the sales contract. Sundays and legal holidays do not count in computing this period. Developers must provide purchasers with a cancellation form, and the cancellation notice is effective on the date postmarked.

If you are thinking about one of these two options, here are some guidelines to follow:

♦Resist high-pressure sales. You are under no obligation to make a purchase because you are given a prize, a free dinner, or a reduced-price vacation as an incentive to attend a sales presentation.

♦Read the entire contract and any literature you are given and understand what you are purchasing. Not all timeshare properties are of equal value, depending on their location and the time of year you are purchasing.

♦Ask others you know who have a timeshare or are in a camping club if they are happy with the guidelines of their contract, and find out as much as you can from them. This will give you the information you need to ask the questions you might not have considered.

♦Get a reliability report from the BBB about the company before you attend the presentation.

♦Verify everything before you pay. Be cautious about prepaying for multiple years. Timeshares, campgrounds or travel clubs may offer to sell membership vacation accommodations for five years or more. Take into account your physical and financial health, a company’s solvency, potential rising membership and maintenance fees, and the often poor appreciation of such investments, and take your time before committing.

When considering any vacation promotion, here are some “red flags” that can signal fraudulent acts. Be wary of salespeople who use high pressured tactics such as:

♦Demanding your credit card number before explaining all the conditions of an offer.

♦Requesting that you identify yourself by your credit card number (a sign of possible misuse of your card).

♦Refusing to provide all the information about the total cost of a vacation or travel offer.

♦Postcard or fax promotional mailings that require you to pay a fee or to purchase membership in a travel club to claim a vacation or travel prize.

♦Low rates on air travel requiring you to purchase an additional ticket for a companion.

♦Offers by companies attempting to undermine U.S. postal authorities by requiring a messenger or courier to deliver the timeshare package to you in exchange for your payment.

Legal Rights For Timeshare Purchase

2006-07-17T04:55:00.000-07:00

You may have a cooling-off period if you have entered into a timeshare agreement.
However, these agreements are complicated by the issue of whether you signed up in the UK or abroad.

If signed in the UK, the cooling-off period is 14 days but if it was signed anywhere else in the EU then the cooling-off period is just ten days.

People also need their wits about them as many companies badge timeshare agreements as "holiday clubs" to get around the legislation.

Know your rights before you sign

l Don't simply assume that you have the right to cancel the contract.
l If you are at all unsure, do not sign the agreement.
l Check what you are being asked to sign and make sure that you can see the whole document.
l Check that the cooling-off period is actually stated in the agreement.
l Be sure that you actually want the goods or services being offered.
l Don't hand over a deposit unless you are sure that you actually want to enter into a contract.
l Remember that by paying a deposit you are entering into a contract.
l Make sure that you read all the terms and conditions of the contract.
l Ensure that if you do want to cancel, or send goods back, you do so within the timescale stipulated in the agreement.

Timeshare Company, Sunterra Offers SkyMed Emergency Service

2006-07-14T04:38:00.000-07:00

Sunterra Corporation, a timeshare ownership industry, has entered into an agreement with SkyMed International Inc, to provide Club Sunterra members with a medical air repatriation services program. Club Sunterra members now can purchase SkyMed emergency services on a per-trip basis or can buy an annual membership. This program is available to North American members who are vacationing at a timeshare resort located in North America.

Should a Club Sunterra timeshare member become critically ill or injured while traveling more than 100 air miles from their home SkyMed will provide medically equipped air ambulance jet service to transport that member home to his or her trusted health care provider rather than to the nearest medical facility. Now this is a safe timeshare deal.

Are Timeshares Good For Business?

2006-07-12T04:45:00.000-07:00

Timeshares are big business in greater Williamsburg, well over 3,000 units and at least another 400 coming.

But it's a business with a seamy underside and one that some say cannibalizes our motel rooms.

The unsavory element is the operation of “off-site personal contact,” or OPCs. They are sales reps who hang around shops hoping to entice tourists into a sales office with free tickets to local attractions.

“Those are called premiums,” said Ernest Liberator of Vacation Time Inc., who specializes in timeshare marketing. “It's almost a prehistoric approach, and it's intrusive.”

Fully 11 of 31 timeshare developments in Virginia are in the Williamsburg area, giving the industry its highest exposure statewide.

Liberator said the reps have to pay the businesses where they stand outside.

“It's what I call a replacement fee,” he said. “It's paying the business to replace the business they've driven off or the people who may not want to enter a business with someone loitering around outside.”

Chuck Davis, who operates Timeshare Resale Williamsburg, said the timeshares can afford it. “They can make a lot of money,” he said.

Davis said the OPCs get paid a fee for everyone who shows up for a sales interview as well as a small commission on sales.

“They're gypsies,” he said. “The same people you see lurking around outside 7-Eleven now will be lurking around a ski lodge up north this winter approaching people loading skies into their cars.”

Davis feels they give Williamsburg a bad name. “There are thousands of people who have bitter feelings about Williamsburg because of their experiences with timeshares,” he said.

Motel operators and others resent that timeshares do nothing to help promote Williamsburg tourism, since they're exempt from the room tax. Timeshares reply that they pay plenty of real estate taxes and advertise hundreds of resorts heavily.

Others in the business community have a more positive view of timeshares and their impact on the economy.

“Timeshares are a very important part of our tourism business here,” said Dick Schreiber, president of the Greater Williamsburg Chamber & Tourism Alliance. “Close to 20 percent of our visitors stay in timeshares. Only 50 percent stay in hotels, and the average stay in a timeshare is six days as opposed to an average hotel stay of two days. Timeshares are very important to us and should not be dismissed out of hand for any reason.”

Timeshares have toned down their tactics over the years. They no longer accost people in parking lots near supermarkets.

Liberator said he always advises his clients to use less “invasive” marketing strategies. “You want the customer to ask you for the information,” he said.

That information will lead the customer to timeshare salesroom. Those who have experienced a timeshare sales pitch know the high pressure.

“They're not popular,” Liberator said of timeshare salesmen. “They're not as unpopular as lawyers or reporters, but there's some distrust.”

Then why does it work?

Davis hasbeen in the business over 30 years. “That's one of the mysteries of my life. People are gullible. And they expect the people they meet to be honest. They are ill prepared to deal with someone who's dishonest and manipulative.”

Schreiber said all of the timeshare operators shouldn't be tarred with the same brush.

“I'm sure there are some whose methods are not as refined as we might like them to be,” he said. “But there are many others who are very responsible members of our business community.”

Outright misinformation is against state regulations, said Mary Broz, who oversees consumer protection for the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, the state agency that oversees timeshare sales.

The regulations are not exactly Draconian.

“The policy decision that the General Assembly has made in this area is in the direction of disclosure. After that, it's ‘buyer beware,'” she said.

She pointed to a seven-day “cooling off” period in which timeshare buyers are allowed to cancel the transaction at no penalty.

She said consumers who believe they have been deceived should contact her agency. They will investigate the complaint and forward it to the Board of Real Estate for action.

Broz said complaints about timeshares have ranged from 59 to 117 per year over the last six years. Most are complaints about the actions of timeshare boards and are similar to complaints the agency fields about condominiums, she said.

Broz said the consumer's only resource in many of these cases is through the courts, by bringing a civil action against the developer or the board.

Davis said Virginia is behind many other state's in regulating timeshare sales. For instance, he said Virginia does not require those working in a timeshare salesroom, the ones actually making the sales pitch, to have a real estate license.

“That's not to say I haven't heard lies told in salesrooms in Arizona, where you do have to have a license or in Hawaii, where the laws are very strict, but there's a limit to the lying,” he said.

He said requiring a real estate license to sell timeshares builds in disciplinary framework, because those engaged in dishonest or unethical practices can be stripped of their licenses.

“It is long past time that Virginia tightened the regulation of this industry,” Davis said.

Davis makes his living as a broker for those who want to resell their timeshares. He said depreciation is significant.

“It's like buying a Cadillac and it drops $10,000 in value the minute you drive off the lot,” he said.

He said that nearly half of the salesroom price of a timeshare is marketing and sales costs. Thus, customers who want to resell have to do so at a steep discount.

Timeshare Company Opens In New Mexico's Biggest Metro

2006-07-11T04:42:00.000-07:00

Trendwest Resorts has opened its first sales center in Albuquerque at 6700 Jefferson St. NE. The timeshare business, which is part of Cendant Timeshare Resort Group of Orlando, Fla., has hired 25 employees in sales, marketing, telemarketing and administrative positions.

Earlier this year, the owner of the Conejos Office Park, where Redmond, Wash.-based Trendwest is located, decided that its 8,000-square-foot building, called the Conejos Executive Offices, was better suited for one lease, rather than 15. In mid-January, a letter notifying the tenants about the closure of the office park was sent out to the tenants at the time, giving the businesses more than two months to find another location. The 15 businesses were either on six month or month-to-month leases.

Trendwest first approached Vista Hills Partners, the owner of the five-building office park last October. Greg Foltz of Coldwell Banker Commercial - Las Colinas represented Trendwest in the lease.

"Albuquerque, in particular, is a key market since we have timeshare resort properties in the surrounding states and our presence enables us to provide residents and visitors an opportunity to purchase a lifetime of vacations," says Rich Folk, senior vice president of sales for Trendwest Resorts, in a news release.

Trendwest's network operates 59 WorldMark timeshare resorts in the U.S. and international locations such as Mexico and Australia. Trendwest is the exclusive developer and marketer of WorldMark, The Club, whose clients purchase ownership interest in the timeshare club through Trendwest.

Dewey Beach To Re-Examine Timeshare Ownership In Resort

2006-07-10T04:51:00.000-07:00

Dewey Beach may no longer welcome timeshare ownership in the resort.

Hotels and motels, too, could lose the ability to convert to condominiums.

Dewey commissioners will consider the options at a Friday meeting at 6 p.m. at the Lifesaving Station on Dagsworthy Avenue.

Commissioners normally would not try to regulate property ownership, said Dewey Mayor Courtney Riordan. But in this case, timeshare owners could tilt town elections.

Commissioner Dale Cooke proposed stopping the part-ownership setups as a way to block that possibility. A single unit's several part-owners -- a group that may spend little time and harbor no real concern for the town -- could alter elections in mobilized group efforts on certain issues, Cooke said.

That's a situation that happened a few years ago, Riordan recalled, noting the more than 100 votes from the 48-unit Royal Surf Club timeshare complex.

"Nothing but a headache and a heartache for the town of Dewey Beach," Cooke agreed.

Yet Dewey needs its nonresident voters to fairly represent a town with 1,300 properties and only about 100 voting residents, Riordan said.

Other Delaware coastal towns also let nonresidents vote, unlike most municipalities.

Letting timeshare owners cast ballots in Dewey elections, though, relies on an outdated property-based voting system, Riordan said. "One man, one vote," he added.

Both Riordan and Cooke are up for re-election of their two-year terms in September.

Commissioners at Friday's meeting will also take another stab at keeping hotels and motels from converting to condominiums, a move now blocked by a moratorium.

Cooke was part of a Town Council that in 2004 passed a law allowing such switches. Since then, four hotels and motels in town chose that option. Riordan had opposed the measure and in 2005 joined with a group of residents and two newly elected commissioners to sue the town over it.

The Chancery Court lawsuit charged that it broke Dewey's zoning rules by allowing higher density limits in the new hotel room-sized condos.

A Chancery Court judge dismissed the case, saying that the law's effects did not show harm to the town. Following that decision, Riordan proposed changing Dewey's charter to let those unhappy with town decisions petition for public votes on issues -- a topic that the council will also consider at next week's meeting.

Commissioners late last year had directed the town's Planning and Zoning commission to consider revoking the condo-conversion law.

That body disagreed, deciding to let it stand. Commissioners have since appointed several new members to the seven-member commission, after five terms expired in the spring. Let the timeshare owners vote.

Rethinking Timeshares

2006-07-07T04:50:00.000-07:00

WHEN LYNDA BETTCHER visits her daughter in New York City this August, she and her husband will stay in a one-bedroom suite at the four-star Affinia Dumont hotel, complete with a living room, a kitchen and a bathroom fully stocked with Aveda products. The cost? Orbitz.com and the hotel's web site advertise rates from $312 to $519 a night, but the Bettchers' nightly rate will be just $287.

Their deal: They purchased a timeshare. Timeshares — which are basically vacation condos used for a specific period of time each year — aren't typically praised for their cost savings. The industry has long been slammed for its high-pressure sales tactics and exorbitant prices and fees. In 2002, consumers paid an average $14,500 to purchase a timeshare week, according to a 2003 report (the latest available) by RCI, a timeshare-services company. And that doesn't include the annual maintenance fees that often run as high as $1,000, paid whether you use the timeshare that year or not.

But the industry has been evolving, and thanks to new sales strategies and a robust secondary market, there's absolutely no need to pay thousands of dollars upfront. You're also no longer tied to one week in a specific locale. With points programs, for example, you can now choose from properties located world-wide, provided you have the number of points necessary to redeem for your location, time and length of stay.

Here's how Bettcher got her deal: Earlier this year, the 55-year-old teacher from Portsmouth, N.H., purchased a 30,000-annual-points package for the one-time cost of $1,000 on Holidaygroup.com, a timeshare resale marketplace, and eBay. The annual maintenance fee for the package is $600, which makes her total outlay for the first year $1,600. (Each year afterward, the family will only pay $600 whether they actually use their 30,000 points or not.) For this year's vacation, Bettcher redeemed the points for two separate stays at the Affinia Dumont, one three-night stay in early August and the other a four-night stay later that month. She then rented out the three-night stay for $450, bringing the family's timeshare expenses this year down to $1,150. Next year, should the Bettchers decide to rent out part of their redeemed points again, their vacation may cost close to nothing.

Granted, there are setbacks to this arrangement. For one, points need to be redeemed well in advance should the Bettchers have their heart set on a specific time and location. And if some time in the future they find themselves unable to use up their points and cannot rent out the timeshare, the $600 maintenance fee will still be due.

Needless to say, timeshares aren't for everyone. Before you buy, you need to research a myriad of packages and locations. And ideally you should have the ability to plan your vacations at least a year in advance.

Here's how to make timeshares work for you:

Know What You're Getting Into
Timeshares should not be considered an investment. In fact, folks who buy timeshares directly from resorts — that typically happens after a sponsored "tour," which may or may not include a discounted hotel stay or other freebies (breakfast, for example) — should never expect to recoup their original cost if they sell, says Ted Toal, a fee-only Certified Financial Planner (CFP) in Annapolis, Md. "The purchase price, especially if you buy new, is inflated," he says. "Most people then finance it — and then have maintenance. The truth is, you can never expect to recover that price."

And you shouldn't always assume that a timeshare will be cheaper than staying at an equivalent hotel. Scott Leonard, a fee-only CFP in Redondo Beach, Calif., and a timeshare owner through the Marriott's Vacation Clubs program, estimates that his $1,300 annual maintenance fee is comparable — if not more expensive — than what his family would pay if they stayed at a regular hotel. Still, timeshares work out better for his family. "We have three young kids, so we don't want a hotel room. We want the kitchen and family room," he explains.

Don't Buy Direct
With as much as 50% of a timeshare's price going to cover developers' marketing costs, timeshare prices are seriously inflated, explains Bill Rogers, founder of the Timeshare Users Group, or TUG, an online community where people can exchange, trade or simply share information about timeshares.

You can find much better deals on the resale market, namely at web sites like tug2.net, RedWeek.com and eBay, where owners post timeshares for sale, rent and exchange.

Consider this: the average price for a timeshare week (or the equivalent points package) at the Hilton Grand Vacations Clubs, for example, was $24,000, according to a 2005 Bear Sterns report on the timeshares industry. RedWeek.com currently features Hilton resales for $12,000 or less.

Negotiate
The good news: The resale market is booming. On its web site, TUG recently featured nearly 1,900 "for sale" ads for timeshares in the U.S. and abroad. RedWeek.com has more than 5,000 ads. A recent search on eBay yielded nearly 900 results.

Give yourself time to find a location or program you like. Then, negotiate. "Most sellers are pretty desperate and they want to drop [their timeshares]," says Toal.

Bettcher, who has been buying and selling timeshares for the past eight years, advises buyers to be patient. "You should pay what you want to spend, not necessarily what the person is asking," she says. If they don't agree to your price, let it go. In time, the right deal will come along.

The best time to negotiate is late fall, according to Bettcher. "Most fees are due on the first of the year, so start looking in October or November. That's when [owners] are getting anxious to sell and are willing to drop their price," she says.

Rent Instead
Renting is a great way to try timeshares without the responsibilities of ownership. "If I were to do timeshares today, rather than buy I'd rent from owners," says TUG's Rogers.

To get the best deal, especially if you're headed to a popular destination, start your search early. John Locher, vice president of RedWeek.com, recommends starting a minimum of two months in advance.

If you're uncomfortable dealing directly with the timeshare owner — after all, you'll be expected to send the money in advance to someone you've likely never met — consider using a "vacation escrow" service. RedWeek.com, for example, uses the escrow services of First American Title Insurance. You'll pay an extra $100.

Timeshare Company Sunterra Says Nasdaq To Delist Stock

2006-07-06T04:52:00.000-07:00

Timeshare vacation company Sunterra Corp. on Thursday said a Nasdaq panel denied its request for continued listing on the stock market after it failed to file its quarterly report in time.

Sunterra also said the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission was conducting an informal inquiry with respect to recent events regarding the company.

The timeshare company's stock would be delisted effective July 7, it said in a statement.

Hilton Subsidiary Plans Manhattan Timeshare Site

2006-07-05T04:27:00.000-07:00

HotelBusiness.com, quoting New York press reports, said the project would supplement fractional ownership units located in the top floors of the Hilton New York in 2003.

The site is reportedly on West 57th Street, near Carnegie Hall.

No date for the start of construction nor a project cost were provided.

Orlando-based Hilton Grand Vacations Co. develops, markets and operates 27 vacation timeshare resorts in select vacation destinations. The company also manages and operates two club membership programs: Hilton Grand Vacations Club and The Hilton Club, providing exclusive exchange, leisure travel and reservation services for more than 85,000 timeshare club members.

Hilton Hotels (NYSE: HLT) maintains a corporate headquarters in Memphis managing three brands: Embassy Suites, Homewood Suites and Hampton Inn. The Memphis operation employs about 1,000 people and is also the base for the company's information technology division.

No Escape: Many Americans Each Year Fail To Use Allotted Timeshare Days

2006-07-03T04:42:00.000-07:00

Scott Camp has enough leftover time to play hooky for more than a month, and his two weeks of paid vacation are only partly used.

The 35-year-old Tucson delivery driver is among the one-third of workers who do not use all of their timeshare days, according to an online survey, mostly because taking a break seems like a hassle. Nationwide, workers are expected to abandon an average of four vacation days per person this year, one more day than last year, according to the Harris Interactive survey commissioned annually by Fast Track, an online travel agency.

Camp will get even more time next year for his 10th anniversary with his company, Prudential Overall Supply. So far, he's not sure how to use up all that time. But this year, he's taking his kids to some theme parks and taking his fiancee to their timeshare, he said.

"I don't always use my block," he said. The time he does take "is enough time to recoup, and it's more important for me to be here and take care of the customers. Fill-ins don't get it done -- let's put it that way."

Scheduling problems and finding a reliable replacement at work are common reasons for skipping vacation.

"If your excuse is you have to stay because you're indispensable, you need to know it's OK to take some time off," said Loretta Love Huff, an executive coach and consultant at Emerald Harvest Consulting in Phoenix.

About 19 percent of workers have canceled or postponed vacation plans because of work, even though 36 percent said they feel better about their job and more productive upon returning from vacation, according to the survey.

After getting wrapped up in day-to-day tasks, it can help to take a break, Huff said.

"People need time to rejuvenate and stand up and pull their heads out of the sand," she said.

Another common reason for skipping out on your timeshare is timing, she said. Few companies have extra people, so anything unusual that comes up can make it a bad time to leave work. You never know when it will be a good time to take vacation, so just take it, Huff said.

"Life is for living, not just making a living," said Mert Ingvoldstad, owner and career counselor at M.I. Career Counseling Associates in Tucson. "Time to just be, without having a supercharged agenda, is really important."

Overworked people are more stressed and less healthy, she said.

"The words 'grim determination' and 'burnout' come to mind," Ingvoldstad said.

"To some people it's like a badge of honor, but to me, it's like insanity. It just seems so out of balance. If you think about a top, it can keep spinning until it gets out of balance and then it topples."

If just asking for time off is the hard part, try stating what you want, maybe using a phrase like "It's really important to me," or "This is something I need to do," Ingvoldstad said. And expect that your manager will agree with you, so you don't have a negative or apologetic tone, she added.

Malta Tourist Authority Takes On The Timeshare Touts

2006-06-30T04:44:00.000-07:00

Too many incidents of tourists being confronted in the street while on holiday in Malta has led to the Maltese authorities taking action against the timeshare companies who employ sales staff to seek out possible visiting buyers.

Complaints have risen in recent years from holiday makers who have had their time on the island spoiled by being approached on a daily basis to attend presentations - that can last up to four hours -in the hope that some will buy into holiday property ownership and timeshares.

But the Malta tourist authorities have seen the damage it is doing to the island's economy, and have decided to act.

'It has come to the stage in Malta', comments Roger Munns of Malta travel guide YourMalta, 'that some holiday makers are being approached on a daily basis - sometimes twice a day - by timeshare touts who get paid a commission for every potential buyer they persuade to take to a presentation. As well as the feeling of not being able to go out without being accosted by these people some were giving verbal abuse to those who declined, or simply followed them down the street after being told no - and hounding tourists'.

With the tourism market vital to the Malta economy, the Malta Tourist Authority recognised that some visitors would be so put off the island by high pressure sales people that they wouldn't return - potentially losing Malta millions in lost revenue from repeat visitors.

'In today's world,' explain YourMalta, 'Malta has to compete with new destinations in Europe as well as Spain and her islands. Cheap Malta flights aren't in themselves enough to sustain tourism at reasonable levels anymore, although this will be welcome, but the trick of sustained tourism is to have repeat business, and timeshare touts bothering visitors to the island are enough in some cases to make sure that repeat visits don't happen.'

The legislation the tourist authorities needed to be able to protect the tourists has recently been passed, and the Malta Tourist Authority is planning to outsource security patrols to police the timeshare touts. And in a clever move designed to enforce the legislation effectively, the Malta Tourist Authority are being paid around 3000 Euros for each rep the timeshare companies employ for a bond that will allow them to work in a regulated way. Instead of waiting to take each incident through the courts the MTA will be fining the companies found breaking the rules and taking the money out of the deposited bond money, with the timeshare companies having to make it up immediately to the required amount.

What Time Is It? It Is Timeshare Time!

2006-06-29T04:44:00.000-07:00

Many owners of timeshares are looking at selling them, or renting them out at reduced rates. This could be a much cheaper alternative to luxury hotels.

Moreover, many of these timeshares have full kitchens, and sometimes 2-4 adjoining bedrooms, pools, playgrounds, arcades, washers & dryers and more; helping you reduce your food and entertainment costs as well. For example, with RCI.com, a major timeshare company, you don't have to be a member to get access to all of their reviews of properties. Most of us have had the "pleasure" of sitting through, at least, one timeshare presentation…but don't knock it…sitting through the presentation in itself is another cost-saving strategy. One hour at a presentation, even if you don't purchase a timeshare, could save you over 50% on your hotel costs. And you usually walk away with vouchers for local entertainment, like horseback riding, scuba lessons and theme park discounts. So try a timeshare today.

Marriott Plans St. Kitts Timeshares

2006-06-28T04:42:00.000-07:00

Marriott International plans a vacation timeshare development on St. Kitts, its fourth timeshare property in the Caribbean.

Marriott's Marriott Vacation Club International will develop the complex on the same property as the St. Kitts Marriott Resort & Royal Beach Casino. The eight, three-story buildings will contain a total of 88 two- and three-bedroom timeshare units. The timeshares will sell for $16,400 to $69,500 per week, depending on the size and season.

Marriott Vacation Club International also has two timeshares on Aruba and will open one later this year on St. Thomas. Marriott International also operates 15 hotels in the Caribbean.

Marriott (NYSE: MAR) entered the timeshare business in 1984 when it acquired a resort on Hilton Head Island. It now runs about four dozen timeshare properties throughout the United States, Europe and Asia.

The company gets about 25 percent of its income from continuing operations from its timeshare business.

In addition to the St. Kitts property, Marriott expects to bring properties on line this quarter in Kapalua, Hawaii, Miami Beach and San Francisco.

Fire And Rain At Timeshare, Cause For Refund?

2006-06-27T04:32:00.000-07:00

Callicoon - First, there was fire. Yesterday, the Villa Roma Timeshare Resort was hit by flooding.

A flash flood hit the timeshare resort at about 1 p.m. Debris from upstream washed uprooted trees and branches down Jones Creek, which runs through the resort property. The debris hit a hallway bridge that connects a block of timeshares to the building that houses the indoor pool, game rooms and clubhouse.

The force of the debris sent water blasting through one wall and out the other side, back into the creek.

The hallway bridge was closed for renovations from the April 12 fire that destroyed the timeshare resort's main building.

Guests watching from the adjoining glass-walled hallway were transfixed by the high, dark water rushing past.

"It was so scary. It was like a little tsunami," guest Tracey Lutz said. "It made a big pop, and then the water was rushing through."

At that point, everyone ran for the game room - uphill.

As the flood started, Susie Miller of Montgomery said, her sons, 11-year-old Anthony and 10-year-old Joseph, were in the hallway with their 7-year-old cousin, Luis Bruce, watching the rushing water. They realized the water looked bad, and the older boys told Luis to run. Then the hallway wall gave.

It was scary, Luis said. "And there was a kid on the (shuttle) bus, crying."

The Ernesto building, which houses one wing of timeshares and abuts the creek, was evacuated. A propane line broke, and workers were fixing that by mid-afternoon.

The floodwater washed across the property, leaving mud piled in the bumper-boat pond, on the bocce courts and in the outdoor pool, turning it deep brown. But the rec building was OK. Kids played in the game room and swam in the indoor pool as men on excavators cleared branches from the creek.

Operations Manager Luis Alvarez said there were more than 700 guests in the timeshares and a smattering of hotel guests yesterday. Other timeshare buildings also had some flooding. The Villa Roma should be back up to speed for the busy July 4 weekend, Alvarez said.

Timeshare owners, such as Miller, were angry after clerks told them they couldn't get a refund for lost amenities. Miller pays $600 per year in maintenance fees for a double unit. Margaret Goolic of New Jersey, who has been coming to a Villa Roma time share for 10 years with her husband, wants a refund for her timeshare.

"For the rest of the week, what are we supposed to do? Sit in our rooms and watch TV with the kids?" Goolic said. "We could do that at home."

Hotel Inventory Slips 5% As Condos, Timeshares Expand

2006-06-26T05:05:00.000-07:00

The number of Hawaii hotel rooms dropped another 5 percent in 2005 while the number of timeshares, condominium hotels and even rented rooms in private homes continued to grow, according to a new state report.

The rate of decline slowed, however, from 2004, when the number of hotel rooms fell 11 percent.

The number of timeshare units rose 16 percent last year and so-called "condotel" units were up 9 percent. The shift in supply and increase in demand also pushed hotel room rates up, with 47 percent now charging more than $251 a night, up from 44 percent in 2004. Ten percent cost $500 or more per night, up from 8 percent in 2004.

For the first time, the report also made note of the number of hotel room conversions during the year, with 511 rooms being switched to condos.

Hawaii had 72,889 rooms available last year, up 275 from 2004, according to the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism's annual Visitor Plant Inventory report, which is to be released next week.

According to estimates, another 7,000 units -- approximately half of them condos and half timeshares -- will be added by 2010.

The numbers confirm the continued segmentation of visitor accommodations, the increased interest by visitors to find alternatives to traditional hotels and erosion of the market share held by full-service hotels and resorts. The increase in timeshare and condotel developments, in which visitors own the rooms in which they stay, is likely to add to the continuing debate on whether expansion of that market is good for Hawaii.

The fractional ownership model has been a shot in the arm for owners and operators of aging, outdated buildings, who can finance upgrades by selling individual rooms for upward of $200,000 or more. Investor confidence in Hawaii also is at its strongest level since the 1980s. More than $3.5 billion in hotels have changed hands since 2003, with an estimated $1 billion in room renovations.

"For the first time, we have visitors who have some element of ownership in Hawaii," said Joe Toy, president of Hospitality Advisors, a Honolulu-based travel consulting firm. "There is a chance that they would bring a better sense of stewardship and pride than other hotel visitors who come in for brief periods."

But on the downside are millions in lost tax collections that aren't applied to condominiums and a tightening hotel inventory than makes it challenging for visitors to plan trips.

"The issue of visitor capacity is going to become more pressing," Toy said.

Maui County commissioned Toy to review the impact of hotel conversions on the Valley Isle and expects to initiate or change county laws based on the results of his study.

Another trend documented by the new state study found that more visitors are staying in "individual vacation units" -- rooms in private homes and vacation rentals advertised online.

Between 2004 and 2005, these accommodations increased 31 percent to 2,438 units from 1,867 in 2004. On Oahu, there are 316 such units, a 16 percent increase from 2004; Big Island, 756 units, up 70 percent; Kauai, 763 units, up 35 percent; Maui, 570 units, 4 percent; Molokai, 30 units, down 3 percent; and three on Lanai. Timeshare still putting up the money.

Revenue From Timeshare Market Increases

2006-06-23T04:52:00.000-07:00

Revenue from the timeshare market increased by close to 70 percent during the 2005/2006 fiscal year, "substantially" exceeding expectations, according to Minister of Financial Services and Investments Vincent Peet.

Government officials had projected that collections in this area would have climbed to $600,000 during that period, but that figure ballooned to $813,647.10.

In 2004/2005, revenue was $483,250, according to the minister.

He said that while no new timeshare properties were added in 2005, the application submitted by Taino Beach Resorts in Grand Bahama is currently being reviewed.

Additionally, he said the first 100 percent fractional timeshare resort, the 80/50 Club in Exuma, is expected to open for business in late 2006.

Baha Mar is also expected to have a "significant" timeshare component, according to the minister.

Kerzner International’s fourth quarter results for 2005 indicated that company officials had already begin planning the next phase of their Harborside timeshare development, only months after laying out the welcome mat on the resort’s latest expansion.

At that time, Howard Karawan, president of Kerzner International’s Destination Resorts Segment, revealed that Harborside’s first phase was already sold out and that its second phase was 37 percent purchased.

According to the most recent statistics, The Bahamas welcomed an estimated 40,000 timeshare visitors over the past year.

"The American Resort Development Association indicates that the typical timeshare purchaser spends approximately $3,600 per one week during their stay at a timeshare property," Minister Peet told House members.

"As such, timeshare visitors alone contributed an estimated minimum of $144,000 million to the Bahamian economy, based on a one-week stay only, although a substantial number of timeshare visitors stay up to three weeks."

Based on the minister’s figures, the timeshare industry directly employs a minimum of $2,000 full-time Bahamian workers.

"The year 2006/2007 should be exciting for the timeshare industry in The Bahamas. The launching of the amended Timeshare Act is the number one priority for the timeshare department," the minister said.

"In addition, the department has met with representatives from Marriott Resort and Bella Vista Group (affiliated with Four Seasons Hotel), all respected companies, who have expressed an interest in operating timeshare properties in The Bahamas."

House members also heard that the Island Seas timeshare property in Freeport, Grand Bahama has submitted plans to expand its existing timeshare property.

"They have recently begun construction and estimate that approximately $4 million will be invested to add an additional 50 units to the resort. Approximately 250 Bahamians will be employed in the construction and operational phases," Minister Peet added.

Tips On Buying A Timeshare

2006-06-21T04:39:00.000-07:00

Do not consider timeshares a financial investment. They are a method for buying future vacations.

Never purchase a timeshare without having a lawyer review the contract.

Resist high-pressure sales tactics and free gifts that entice you to sign on the spot.

Never purchase a timeshare without first visiting the property. Look for signs of good property management.

Make sure the timeshare is associated with an exchange company if you want to trade in your timeshare.

Make sure the time-share will meet your needs 10 or 20 years down the road as the vacation needs of your family evolve.

Understand that timeshare maintenance fees may increase over time.

Why Timeshare Owners Buy Multiple Weeks

2006-06-20T04:36:00.000-07:00

More than 68% of timeshare owners own more than one week. Although the vast majority of first-time owners purchased retail, from the developer, most 2nd and 3rd week buyers have learned a valuable lesson and looked to the timeshare resale market.

Recent interviews of timeshare buyers by Jack Smith, founder of independent timeshare consulting firm Timeshare Days, and author of Timeshare Nights, reveals key reasons for purchasing multiple timeshare weeks.

"Most of the timeshare owners that I interviewed said that the number one reason for purchasing more timeshare was that they really enjoyed timeshare vacations and didn't want to go back to the "old" way of renting a hotel or motel," says Schreier. "They said that despite what people who 'don't get' timeshare say, it's a great product."

While many owners choose to own in a few different locations worldwide, one of the participants owns six weeks at two resorts not even 3 miles apart from each other in Orlando. "Living in Central Florida, that surprised me," said Lisa, "but then you realize that for many people, this really is the vacation capital of the world."

"Like all businesses, the key demographics of the timeshare business are changing -- we're so happy Jack is helping us to better understand the wants and needs of a new breed of timeshare buyer."

This is the best of of a series of research reports that Mr. Smith will be authoring. His next piece investigates timeshare "resorts" that aren't really resorts at all, a common scam among less-than-conscientious timeshare developers.

Timeshares Put Squeeze On Hotels

2006-06-16T04:40:00.000-07:00

For months, Orlando hoteliers have worried about a pair of seemingly conflicting facts. On one hand, they keep hearing estimates of record numbers of tourists coming to the state. On the other, their occupancy rates are falling.

Where, they ask, are all these people sleeping?

Cars? Campgrounds? The homes of friends or relatives? Timeshares?

The answer appears to be: timeshares.

In 2001, 10 percent of Orlando visitors stayed in timeshares. Last year, that number had increased to 15 percent.

That steady shift in sleeping preferences could have significant ramifications, not only for hotel-occupancy rates, but for the county's resort tax. The pool is used to pay for things such as the convention center and is being eyed for the new downtown performing-arts center and an arena for the Orlando Magic.

Because timeshares count as real estate, they generally are exempt from the tax, a 5 percent charge on short-term rentals. The exemption, however, does not apply to those units rented out like hotel rooms.

Overall collections have remained strong in recent months, but hoteliers have warned that it's only because they've been raising room prices to offset declining occupancies -- and that there are limits to that tactic.

"That has played itself out," said Ron Caimano, a longtime hotelier and general manager of the Embassy Suites hotel at Jamaican Court.

Last year, the average price for a hotel room in Central Florida surged nearly 6 percent over the previous year. And it's up 9 percent through the first three months of the year, according to Smith Travel Research, a Tennessee-based company that tracks national hotel trends.

Still, Orange County's resort-tax shepherd isn't ready to sound the alarm. Though collections took a 2.1 percent dip in March, they are still up 3.1 percent for the first six months of the fiscal year.

"I'm not going to say it's threatening the resort tax. But everything that is a change in the market, we are going to pay attention to," Comptroller Martha Haynie said. "It is such a critical revenue source."

Watching that shifting marketplace, Haynie said she'll take a look at how her auditors are deployed, perhaps to keep a closer eye on timeshare operations that are taxable.

'A lot of timeshare'

As far as hoteliers are concerned, every person who buys a timeshare is one fewer potential customer for the area's 110,000 hotel rooms. Further, those tourists are guaranteeing that their many future trips will be hotel-free.

"There's a lot of timeshare out there. And there's a bucket load more of it coming," said Caimano, who also is on the board of directors for the Central Florida Hotel & Lodging Association.

Among those leaving the ranks of hotel guests last year was Valerie Hines, 36, of Kenosha, Wis.

After years of staying in hotels in the Disney and Universal areas, Hines and her husband decided early last year to take the plunge and buy into the Disney Vacation Club.

"The fact that we went so much -- it just made sense," said Hines, who already has trekked back to Orlando half a dozen times since buying the Disney timeshare. "In the long term, we knew we'd be saving quite a bit."

The timeshare trend might be good for visitors, but hoteliers and the county's resort-tax collectors are worried.

Hotel-occupancy rates have been on the decline since August of last year and are down 7.6 percent through the first three months of this year, according to Smith Travel.

Just as timeshares are capturing a larger piece of the tourist pool, hotels are watching theirs shrink. Last year, 62 percent of visitors stayed in hotels, compared with 67 percent the previous year, according to D.K. Shifflet & Associates, a travel-industry consulting company in Falls Church, Va.

"The condos, the timeshares -- everything is an alternative to hotels," said Scott Brush, a Miami-based hotel consultant. "It's got to have some effect on the hotel business."

Long time in the making

It is a shift that has been taking shape for some time. Ironically, it has been assisted by the hotels themselves -- most of them rent lobby space to timeshare marketers, who troll for customers. Some hotel chains also see the benefit of the transition because they own some of Orlando's timeshare resorts.

From 2001 to 2005, the number of timeshare units jumped to 19,099 from 15,157, a 26 percent increase, according to the Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau. Hotel-room growth, on the other hand, has been fairly stagnant during the same five-year period, growing only 2 percent.

"We're starting to see the outcome of all that development that's taken place," said Kelly Repass, the bureau's research director.

Though timeshares -- typically sold in one-week increments -- are generally exempt from the resort tax, there are exceptions.

Some resorts, particularly those owned by larger hospitality companies with enormous booking engines, treat unsold units as hotel rooms, making them taxable. The same goes for individual owners who rent their timeshares to friends, family or strangers.

It is not known what percentage of resort-tax collections come from such rentals. But there is little reason to think the county is getting everything it has coming to it.

"It's difficult to track this. We have to rely on folks to be honest," said Claudia Rilea, an audit supervisor in the Orange County Comptroller's Office. "There can be so many private transactions that go on."

And there are likely to be many more in the years to come. Time sharing has come a long way from its shadier, early days, in part because of the legitimacy granted by hospitality heavyweights -- Disney, Marriott and Hilton, for example -- that have gotten into the business.

"The acceptance by the consumer marketplace is so much greater than it was even five years ago," said Ed Kinney, a vice president with Marriott Vacation Club International, which has 1,900 units in the area and 200 others under construction.

Secondhand timeshares

It isn't just the resorts themselves that are experiencing a surge in sales activity. More often, consumers are seeking out timeshares on the secondhand market -- free of the high-pressure tactics used by many resorts.

Tom Yeary has been running the Timeshare Store, an Orlando real-estate company specializing in resales, for more than a decade. In the early days, it was just Yeary and his wife. But they've added five employees through the years to keep up with the demand.

"We sell more every year," Yeary said. "I went from five days a week to seven days a week keeping the office open."

And although hoteliers and tax collectors may lament the rise of the timeshare beast, it isn't a bad development for the tourism industry as a whole. After all, the purchase of a timeshare essentially guarantees a tourist will be back time and again.

Consider Cindy Bartz, 49, of Wichita, Kan.

Before buying a timeshare five years ago, she and her husband traveled to Orlando about once every two years, staying at a variety of midrange hotels.

Now, they come at least twice a year. And all that money they used to spend on hotel rooms isn't staying in Kansas.

"We end up spending more on food, souvenirs, collectibles and that sort of thing," said Bartz, a respiratory therapist. "If anything, we spend more with our timeshare."

Viva Timeshare! Bluegreen Enters Las Vegas

2006-06-15T04:42:00.000-07:00

The Boca Raton-based timeshare resorts and communities firm said the land is near the intersection of Tropicana Avenue and Paradise Road.

Bluegreen said it to begin construction on the resort property and open its initial timeshare sales operations in Las Vegas during the third quarter.

"Establishing a presence in a mega-market like Las Vegas is a key strategic growth initiative for Bluegreen Resorts," said George F. Donovan, Bluegreen president and chief executive officer. "Las Vegas attracts approximately 43 million visitors a year and is one of the top three prime western markets for timeshare sales."

Bluegreen said it plans to build a seven-story resort with about 240 two-bedroom timeshare units for availability through the Bluegreen Vacation Club in the fourth quarter 2007.

Planned resort amenities include a pool, spa, game room, pool bar and heath club.

Also, Bluegreen said it has negotiated an option to buy an additional 4 acres of adjacent land, already entitled for development of 240 more timeshare units.

In addition to building resort timeshare units, Bluegreen said it also plans to develop about 48,000 square feet of commercial space for a restaurant and retail center and an 18,000-square-foot preview center.

Bluegreen said it expects to start its Las Vegas sales operations in July. The company predicted the sales and marketing efforts in Akita Plaza to initially employ about 45 associates.

Bluegreen said it is also pursuing marketing opportunities with a variety of local timeshare businesses.

Join A Timeshare Tribe

2006-06-13T04:36:00.000-07:00

Tribewanted.com is a new concept in timeshare vacations that combines the traditional location-sharing arrangements with a tropical island. The catch is that all participants in the "tribe" are responsible for overseeing the eco-friendly development of a Pacific Island. Essentially, it's a real life variation on Survivor, with teamwork, construction and a tropical island, but without the contests and voting, though there will be a documentary crew on site taking weekly videos of the people and the project.

For $220 to $660, you can join for 1-3 years and visit the island, near Fiji, for 1-3 weeks (airfare is not included). During your visit, you will be filmed while you participate in the development of a sustainable timeshare village community. Broadcasts will be put on the Tribewanted website for other participants to view. The fact that members must work together in the building process and the development process - from selecting island locations to which buildings will have solar panels - is where the "tribe" concept comes from. There will be a local tribal chief overseeing the project.

500 timeshare people have signed up so far, and there is room for 5,000 to work on the project in total. It seems like a good choice for the adventurous, but not the ultimate in comfort yet, if you prefer to take more relaxing timeshare vacations.

At the end of the three year building period - which is when Tribewanted.com's lease on the island expires - the island will be returned to the local community. Depending on what kind of work is done by the "tribe," it could be Fiji's next hot timeshare resort, or it could just be some fun memories for those who participated.

Phil Mickelson Buys Penthouse Timeshare

2006-06-12T04:55:00.000-07:00

Phil Mickelson has not yet won the Claret Jug although the American now owns timeshares with a view over the Old Course at St Andrews.

Mickelson put down $3.4 million for nine weeks use annually of a penthouse at a private club and timeshare residence, a spokesman for the US golfer said Friday at Westchester Country Club, where he is competing at the Barclays Classic.

His rooms will look down upon the first and 18th holes of the Old Course. The six-storey building is currently a dormitory for the University of St Andrews and renovation work is expected to be completed in 2008.

The next British Open at St Andrews will be in 2010, the 28th time it is staged at the Scottish course.

The 35-year-old Mickelson has twice won the Masters, his second green jacket coming last April in Augusta, and took last year's US PGA Championship.

The closest he has come to lifting the famed jug awarded to winner of the British Open was in 2004 when he finished third.

There is nothing like a Scottish timeshare!

Timeshare concept Hits Water Here New business Aims To Cut The Cost Of Boating

2006-06-09T04:37:00.000-07:00

You've heard of a timeshare condominium. How about a timeshare of a boat?

The trend has been taking off in East Coast vacation havens such as Miami, Cape Cod and Virginia Beach, even in other countries such as Great Britain. Now, one local business hopes Rochester's proximity to Lake Ontario will bode well for the concept here.

The Fleet Boat Club so far is offering timeshares in two power boats — a 21-foot Monterey open bow and a 23-foot Chris-Craft cuddy cabin. A sailboat will be added this summer.

Ken Dens, a boat owner for 17 years, opened the business last month at Southpoint Marina on Irondequoit Bay in Penfield.

Dens said he brought the concept to Rochester because there is "not one right boat."

"Different boats are needed for different things," Dens said. "Sailing, fishing, and other activities require different kinds of boats."

Memberships range from $2,800 to $3,650 a year and can be bought for one, three or five years. Weekday-only timeshare memberships start at $1,800.

The idea is that a timeshare offers more flexibility and guaranteed time than renting a boat — and is more cost-effective than a loan for a $20,000 to $30,000 boat plus the cost of renting a slip.

"Owning a boat is a fairly expensive proposition," Dens said. "It can cost up to $8,000 a year for five years."

But Dave Willis, general manager of Bryce Marine in Greece, said that timeshare boating companies often show inflated costs for owning a boat.

"From a business perspective, timeshare boating is more logical in a year-round market," Willis said. "It will be much more difficult in Rochester because this is a seasonal market."

Kyle Schmackpfeffer, who recently sold his boat, which cost $6,000 a year to maintain, thinks timeshare boating is worth a try. He said he enjoys the Monterey because of its powerful V-8 engine and the spacious cockpit.

"It's great not having to take care of a boat," Schmackpfeffer said. "Before I had to hook my boat up to the truck. Now I just drive down to the marina and go."

Members of the Fleet Boat Club must be at least 25 years old and have a New York state boater safety certificate. If business takes off, the timeshare club plans to add locations on Canandaigua Lake and Sodus Bay.

Timeshare For Sports Suites Spreads Across California

2006-06-08T04:24:00.000-07:00

Just one year after Owner's Pass, LLC opened for business in the San Francisco Bay Area, Owner's Pass today announced that it offers timeshares of luxury suites in sports stadiums throughout all of California. Today most sports suites are sold as complete seasons affordable only to large corporations and the very wealthy and are often under-utilized. With Owner's Pass, small and mid-sized businesses can afford to entertain clients, prospects, employees, and recruits in luxury suites at a variety of sporting events year-round.

By offering timeshare packages for luxury suites, Owner's Pass dramatically lowers the entry price compared to full suite ownership and helps companies create a package of games that spans the entire calendar year and all pro sports. For example, an Owner's Pass package can be customized to a company's schedule and locations to include a few games at each of the San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Lakers, San Jose Sharks, and San Francisco 49ers, to name a few.

"We use our Owner's Pass timeshare to entertain clients at the Dodgers, Angels, Lakers, Clippers and Kings," said Art Boren, President of Pacific National Group. "Owner's Pass helps us get the most out of our investment because we can choose the games that work with our schedule and even switch games if our schedule changes. Without the timeshare option, the cost of a luxury suite would have been prohibitive."

Traditional full-suite memberships are estimated to have less than 50 percent utilization. Owner's Pass offers scheduling flexibility so companies can select and change games to suit their needs, leading to a 100 percent utilization rate among Owner's Pass members. In addition, full suite memberships purchased directly from a venue only offer events during that particular sporting season, whereas Owner's Pass members enjoy sporting events year round with one membership.

"Timesharing is a proven business model that has been successful for other expensive assets such as vacation real estate, corporate aviation, and, luxury yachts. We saw the opportunity to extend that model to sports where companies were losing tens of thousands of dollars to under-utilized suites," said John Arledge, CEO and founder of Owner's Pass. "It has struck a chord with companies across the state. Every one of our first-year customers renewed and in just one year of operation we're now meeting demand for sporting events across all of California's major sports venues."

Owner's Pass currently offers timeshare packages of luxury suites including all of the following teams and stadiums:

-- SF Giants -- AT&T Park
-- Oakland A's -- Oakland Coliseum
-- Golden State Warriors -- Oakland Arena
-- San Jose Sharks -- HP Pavilion
-- SF 49ers -- Monster Park
-- LA Dodgers -- Dodger Stadium
-- LA Angels -- Angels Stadium
-- LA Clippers -- STAPLES Center
-- LA Lakers -- STAPLES Center
-- LA Kings -- STAPLES Center
-- Anaheim Mighty Ducks -- Arrowhead Pond
-- San Diego Padres -- Petco Park

Pricing varies by region due to cost variances of the underlying leases; however, Owner's Pass offers timeshare memberships with as few as five events beginning at $25,000. Memberships can be customized with any number of games and ratios of sports. All timeshare memberships include preferred parking, premium catering, open bar, and options for playoffs, special concerts and entertainment events. Without Owner's Pass, a luxury suite for only one stadium and one season is approximately $200,000 per year, and owners do not benefit from the multi-sport, year-round, flexible schedule.

Resort Company Plans Condos, Timeshares, Hotel In Sedona

2006-06-06T04:45:00.000-07:00

It's a rare find by any measure: 21 acres of buildable land in the heart of a renowned tourist destination.

ILX Resorts bought the scenic land in Sedona last fall for $8.4 million from the federal government. Now, the timeshare resort company, which owns the abutting Los Abrigados Resort & Spa, wants to cash in on the valuable site of scenic red-rock vistas.

It announced plans to build 90 timeshare units, a 12-unit hotel and nine luxury condominiums as well as a public park.

Company executives expect the proposed development, called the Villages at Heritage Park, will be the resort company's largest project.

On Friday, ILX Resorts filed with the city of Sedona an application to change the community's master plan, needed to accommodate the development. That triggers a months-long public vetting process that could stretch to mid-2007 or longer before a shovel of dirt is turned, said John O'Brien, Sedona's community development director.

Executives of the Phoenix company say they are familiar with the Sedona community's concerns about the impact such a development could have on the exclusive area.

Chief Executive Officer Joseph P. Martori said the timeshare project would include an "inviting design" that touches on the area's history. And in a nod to the community's concerns about growth, Martori said about 60 percent of the development will be left as open space. The company did not reveal an estimated project cost.

"We know there is a no-growth element in the community," Martori said. "I think it will defy logic if they turn this down."

The jewel of the public space will be Heritage Park, a public park that will include a former U.S. Forest Service ranger station. Also, several acres of open space will be kept as natural preserves.

ILX Resorts also bought an additional acre of land where it plans to build a small facility for Sedona Project, a consortium of Colorado State University, Northern Arizona University, the University of Arizona and other universities seeking to research agricultural and environmental sustainability.

The new timeshare resort will share common-area amenities such as a lobby and restaurants with the company's abutting resort, Los Abrigados Resort & Spa, according to Chief Financial Officer Margaret Eardley.

"That area in particular is considered the heart of Sedona," said Barbara Litrell, president of Keep Sedona Beautiful, a community organization. "We want to make sure it is consistent with the environment and the surroundings. ... We would hope they do the right thing."

O'Brien said the public will have ample time to weigh in on the development, which he described as the city's largest commercial project in about three years.

ILX Resorts' filing triggers a 60-day review period to allow all interested parties to comment on the proposed plan change. The city's staff will later review the plan and comments.

A City Council vote is scheduled for September.

If the company wins a master plan change, it then must seek zoning allowances for timeshare units, a hotel and luxury condominiums. The city may not vote on any zoning changes before summer 2007, O'Brien said.

ILX Resorts, along with partner James Bruno Enterprises of Chandler, emerged as the winning bidder for the prized site after last year's federal auction held by the U.S. General Services Administration.

The site includes a former U.S. Forest Service ranger station southeast of the city's intersection of Arizona 179 and Arizona 89A.

The federal government auctioned the land to raise money for other administrative facilities at another site. Looks like Yogi might be buying a timeshare after all.

Timeshare - A Solution Or A Problem

2006-06-05T04:57:00.000-07:00

Over the years we have all sat back and read numerous 'letters to the editor' written mainly by visitors from the UK, and who have come to Malta looking for a peaceful holiday but instead have experienced various incidents of harassment, been sworn at, or on occasion, even threatened with physical violence by some timeshare representatives.

The major and professional timeshare resort operators have found a different method of marketing and are selling their product very successfully, instead of the now familiar outside public contacts (OPCs) harassing our guests on every street corner. The timeshare touts, or again as they are better referred to by most visitors, lager louts, have, over the years, done untold damage to the tourism industry and they have got a lot to answer for.

The only people who are still holding back from addressing the problem of OPCs are some of the timeshare resort owners who are hiding behind these marketing firms run mainly by doubtful characters and thereby allowing this arrogance to carry on unabated.

In real life there should be no need for any new laws - does it need an 'act of Parliament' to be courteous to our visitors? If these resort owners/operators use the same standards of service in procuring timeshare sales as they offer in their resort/hotel's facilities, there will be no issue. They are the ones who are accepting double standards and are ultimately benefiting from these sales and it is they who should act more diligently and be held responsible.

The Government has recently proposed a new law under the Malta Travel & Tourism Services Act (Cap. 409) to regulate timeshare promotion, however this is Malta and things are done to appease half a dozen individuals, who have friends in high places.

I read through a draft copy of this bill and regret to note that if and when implemented all it will do is play for time and give more space to the timeshare owners - there is not one clause that will change the poor mentality of the OPCs, and they will carry on chasing visitors on our streets.

The predominant objection has recently appeared to be the MEPA permits for placing some booths in prominent tourism areas. The idea behind these booths is to restrict the OPCs to selling timeshare within a prescribed number of metres, and although this situation is not perfect, it is the lesser evil.

This would have stopped our visitors from being harassed on our streets and will again stop the harassment of those tourists who refuse to agree to play one of their silly scratch card games or whatever other incentive they offer.

This scratch card method, along with free bus time-tables, are used to get our visitors to accompany the representatives to one of the timeshare complexes to receive their "prize" but where, in reality, they are then treated to a few hours of 'hard sell technique' in the hope that they will buy a timeshare slot in their resort.

Again, all these sales techniques are currently carried out under licence by the Malta Tourism Authority. Some of these visitors are stopped by as many as six different sets of OPCs in a half-kilometre stretch, and that is when the clients generally lash out. Even if the OPCs' approach is polite, repeating the same "thank you but no thank you" message six times every few metres, it leaves the clients exasperated and, on many occasions, they understandably lose their temper.

The only solution is for the buck to stop with the resort owners/operators who must stop hiding behind marketing companies and be held responsible for the way in which their particular resort is marketed.

We cannot continue to allow these owners/operators to use the excuse that timeshare produces 10 per cent of the tourism market, as a reason to harass the other 90 per cent of tourists who are not associated or interested in timeshare.

Timeshare may well suit many people and certainly seems to be lucrative for the hotel owners/operators and it does bring many people back to Malta year after year.

So if the product is so good then why do the timeshare sales people not just say "we are selling timeshare in whatever resort, would you be interested in coming to have a look?" Some of the timeshare resort owners have succeeded. What are the remainder waiting for? If one has faith in one's product, then one should have no hesitation in promoting that product truthfully from the start. It would be very interesting to find out from the relevant authorities what tax contribution these OPCs are paying into our tax system.

Commission Acts To Address Gaps In The Timeshare Directive

2006-06-02T04:58:00.000-07:00

The Commission is today launching a wide public consultation on the Timeshare Directive (94/47/EC). Timeshare contracts entitle consumers to spend a period of time (at least one week) in a holiday property for at least three years. The Timeshare Directive sets minimum standards for consumer protection throughout the EU, such as ensuring that consumers receive adequate information on the property. The legislation also seeks to prevent “pressure selling” by allowing for a cooling-off period where withdrawal is possible and money deposits are not allowed. However, some operators have introduced new timeshare-like products which take advantage of regulatory loopholes, leading to a number of complaints by consumers. “Consumers should have every confidence that they will not be taken for a ride if they opt for a timeshare formula or similar products” said Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner, Markos Kyprianou. “I want to make sure that unscrupulous traders do not take advantage of potential clients – many of whom sign up to these products after falling in love with a holiday resort.”

Since the Timeshare Directive was adopted in 1994, a number of new products have come onto the market, such as contracts which are similar to timeshare, but where the contract is for 35 months (so-called “timeshare-like products”). Other new products include “travel discount clubs”, whereby consumers pay a membership fee – sometimes as much as €20,000 - to access a booking site promising discounted air tickets and accommodation. However, some consumers are finding that the accommodation does not reach the standards promised. These new products fall outside the scope of the Directive and allow some operators to take advantage of regulatory loopholes.

The 9-week consultation is being launched along with a discussion paper, which explores a series of timeshare-related regulatory problems - identified in close cooperation with key industry and consumer groups. These mainly concern the scope of the timeshare legislation, including issues such as re-sale and exchange of timeshares. Other issues addressed include information requirements, professional and financial requirements of operators, systems of arbitration and redress, and criminal sanctions for infringements.

The Timeshare Directive is one of the eight directives which are encompassed by the review of the consumer acquis, which is currently being undertaken by the Commission. Cross-cutting issues will be examined in a horizontal context. However, some of the problems related to timeshare and certain other holiday products require more urgent action. This is why the Commission has decided to launch a separate consultation on the review of the Timeshare Directive.

On the basis of the outcome of the consultation, the Commission will come forward with proposals to address any existing gaps.

Timeshare For Tour

2006-05-30T05:10:00.000-07:00

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.”

Our Timeshare In The Sun

2006-05-24T04:37:00.000-07:00

IT consultant Matt Dimbylow, 35, and his wife, Emma, realised they could afford a luxury villa rather than a basic apartment in Portugal when they came across the concept of timeshare ownership.

They bought a share in a three-bedroom, three-bathroom furnished villa with its own pool on a golf development in the Western Algarve at Parque da Floresta for £75,000 two years ago.

The Dimbylows, pictured with their two daughters, Lauren, four, and two-year-old Ella, can use the villa for two weeks at Easter and two weeks in August. This is not timeshare as you own your portion of the freehold and profit from any increase in the property's value.

The couple, who also run a football coaching scheme called Socatots in Cheshire, have seen the value of their timeshare increase by £20,000 already. Last July they bought a quarter share of a beach house being built nearby at Salema by the same developer, Vigia, for £114,000.

Matt says: 'The properties are in an area of the Algarve which is mostly a National Park, so it can't be over-developed.'

His annual maintenance fees are £1,175 for the villa and £2,000 for the beach house. They raised the money to buy the properties by tapping into the equity of their home in Northwich, Cheshire, using a Flexible Advance on their Nationwide mortgage.

Timeshare began in the U.S. and is also common in the Caribbean. The main drawback is that you can't get a mortgage on part of a freehold so you have to have funds available or release the equity in your main home. Check the contract to see when you can use the property and how much rent you can get when you don't use it.

Simon Conn, of Conti Financial Services, says: 'It's a good stepping stone to buying a place abroad outright. It's becoming more common in Europe, but you should be aware that it could take longer to sell than normal should you want to cash in your share.'

Raymond and Kathryn Finch are buying a new townhouse in Spain with an initial payment of just £2,000. The couple, with their 15-year-old son, Jason, and a daughter, Hayley, 22, are selling their home in Grays, Essex, and moving to Los Altos, near Torrevieja on the Costa del Sol.

The three-bedroom end-of-terrace house sold by Parador costs £140,000, including fees and taxes, and should be completed at the end of the year. They have a new type of loan from Spanish bank BBVA which releases payments in two stages during the building process.

The Finch family are moving to a newly-built home in the Spanish CostasTheir two-year, interest-only loan for £55,000 is charged at around 4.8% This sum and the remaining £85,000 will be repaid when their £175,000 Essex home is sold later this year.

Raymond, 53, says: 'My brother and his wife already live near our new home. We saw the Los Altos development when we were visiting in November last year and fell in love with it. We looked at loans from two British banks before Parador put us in touch with BBVA.'

Property developers such as Parador and Noray, which sell new homes along the Spanish coastline, have linked up with BBVA to lend British home-owners up to 40% of the purchase price for two years to cover payments during the building period.

The loan's interest rate is variable, with 1.9% being added to the European inter-bank rate, the euribor (currently 2.9%), making for a current rate of 4.8%.

Interest is paid quarterly and the loan can be repaid early without penalty. Your UK home is used as security and your existing mortgage and the new loan can't add up to more than 70% of your UK property's value.

Once the Spanish property is completed, you can take out a new mortgage, if necessary. The danger is that if the developer goes bust or the building work is delayed, the Spanish bank could call in the second charge on your British property, putting it at risk.

Beware The Hard Sell In Soft Whites Could Mean Timeshare

2006-05-23T04:54:00.000-07:00

The caller ID can tell you when those timeshare solicitors are on the other end of the phone, but who would suspect fresh-looking men and women wearing white tennis outfits on the beach?

During the Memorial Day weekend, Sunterra, a timeshare vacation-ownership company with 89 resorts in 13 countries, will deploy guerrilla-marketing teams, courtesy of PJ Inc., New York, at beaches on the coastlines of New Jersey, Florida and Texas.

They will carry Sunterra see-through beach bags and distribute packets of suntan lotion with a blue Sunterra hanging card asking, "Where will your next vacation be? Come vacation with us." The card also lists the company's phone number and the Web address www.sunterragetaways.com. Radio spots in those markets also will support.

"We have an exciting timeshare product that is attractive to families who spend time at popular beaches, and we are taking our message to them, on the beach," Dave Lucas, Sunterra evp and CMO, said in a statement. "In doing so, we hope to drive traffic to [the Web site] and gain important information about public perception of timeshares and vacation habits so we can reach new customers in a way that traditional timeshare marketing cannot."

Large New Luxury Timeshare-Hotel Planned In Old Part Of Park City

2006-05-22T11:47:00.000-07:00

Work has begun on a timeshare hotel in the old part of Park City, and it's unusual in several respects.

Called The Sky Lodge, it's the first such timeshare hotel in that part of Park City, which was created in the mining days and still has many original buildings. The 76 timeshare units have been sold in five shares, with the maximum prices hitting $2,000 a square foot. That price is on par with Aspen, reports the developer, Bill Shoaf. Fifty percent of the timeshare units have been pre-sold.

Second, because it is surrounded by older buildings, the developer was forced to accommodate them by step-backs in the hotel's height. Among the other buildings are an old railroad depot, a coal and lumber station, and even a tack shed that, in a curious shift, is to be moved and transformed into a Japanese-inspired spa.

The project is expected to yield $3.9 million directly and indirectly in taxes for the town. In addition, for every timeshare unit sold, the developer has committed $1,000 to the Performing Arts Foundation. Shoaf told The Park Record that such properties should be active participants in their communities. Timeshares do help the community.

New Law Shifts Burden Of Timeshare Taxation

2006-05-19T10:08:00.000-07:00

A recently enacted statute, LD 1857, is good news for Wells and any other town in Maine that contains time-share vacation units. The law, signed by Gov. Baldacci in late April, changes the way property taxes are collected by towns from the owners of the timeshare.

As a result of the change, the entity that manages the timeshare units is now responsible for collecting taxes from the individual owner. In the past, towns had to collect them directly from the owners. With a timeshare, there could be as many as 100 owners for each unit.

“There are roughly 2,500 timeshares in Wells,” said Town Treasurer Leo Ouellette. “We had to send individual bills to each of them. I had [budgeted] more than half of one staff person’s time doing [the bills for timeshares].”

Ouellette said his department’s work involved sending out tax bills and dealing with the matter of foreclosures. “We send the bill to the timeshare owner,” he said. “Often the letter will come back marked ‘addressee unknown.’ The managing entity often doesn’t know the address. If they haven’t paid by the 12th month after billing, we put a lien on the property and then the owner has another 18 months to pay. We send another notice at the end of the 18 months, and if that’s not paid after 60 days, we foreclose.”

If the town forecloses, it becomes the owner of the particular week that had been the subject of the lien. That’s not necessarily a good thing. As a result, the town becomes responsible for the common expenses of the timeshare association, since the town is the owner.

Town Assessor Tanya Freeman explained that some of the tax assessments are so low that they are less than the fees the town incurs through ownership. “At the Nautical Mile, for example, it’s $31.56 per unit per year in property tax, on average,” Freeman said. “The lien fee is more than that. But, you can’t not tax something. That’s why we had to have this legislation.”

Recently, the town negotiated an agreement with the Nautical Mile to sell back 37 foreclosed units at a price of $100 each. “The town has been hands-on in running the business,” said Selectman Jim Spiller. “We had to go after each one. Often the value of the timeshare is less than it costs us to collect the taxes.”

Freeman noted that the 2,500 timeshares in town represented over 17 percent of the town’s 14,000 property tax accounts. “Until we change ownership issues, we have to have an account for each one,” Freeman said of the assessment process. “But, once they’re set up, they’re not a bother. There’s work only when the ownership changes or there’s a reassessment.”

Under the new law, the town would still individually assess each timeshare unit, but the managing entity would be responsible for collecting the tax and maintaining escrow accounts of the money until the town billed for it.

“We’ve worked on [this issue] ever since I’ve been in Augusta,” said Wells State Representative Ron Collins. “Every term there’s been a bill set forth to address the issue. There are a lot of timeshares in Wells, but there are also all over the state. This is not unique to Wells.”

Spiller agreed the effort to change the law had extended over time. “We’ve been monitoring this for a long time, and trying to get it through,” he said. “This should save the town a tremendous headache.

“This empowers the [condo] association to collect taxes on behalf of the town and get into the lien process itself. There’s another piece of legislation that would make it a lot easier for the association to take a timeshare back for lack of payment.”

Hundreds Of Jobs Face The Axe At Lancaster Timeshare Company

2006-05-18T07:51:00.000-07:00

JOB cuts are planned at a Lancaster timeshare firm which lost more than £30million last year.

Sunterra Europe – with headquarters in Caton Road and a payroll of 260 – has warned that costs have to be cut significantly. A company report says up to
£6.3million should be set aside for redundancy payments across the firm. Chief executive David Harris – with an annual salary of more than £200,000 plus bonuses – has already departed.

Sunterra Europe is a subsidiary of the Las Vegas-based Sunterra Corporation. American bosses brought in consultants to look at the loss-making European business, which has 34 resorts.

Nick Benson, worldwide president and chief executive, said: "The company (Sunterra Corporation) has decided to make some significant changes in its European operations.
"The European business will be reduced and unnecessary and duplicative costs will be eliminated or reduced.

"New member marketing programmes will be curtailed, management streamlined and infrastructure reduced."

The plan aims to produce "substantial" cuts in European costs by August this year.
Sales, marketing and advertising were areas where "improvements" are required.
Company documents refer to 13,000 unsold timeshare weeks on the books of the European operation.

Spending of up to $12million is expected in connection with the changes, which follow depressed market conditions. Sunterra Europe marketing director Jim Shannon said the company was reviewing its European operation.
"We are looking at a number of proposals. We have entered a consultation period with people who might be involved."

Mr Benson – formerly Lancaster-based as Sunterra's European chief – was spending time in the city each week seeking to resolve the problems.

The firm went through a redundancy programme last year.
Sunterra Corporation, which is among world leaders in timeshare, has been advised by the consultants to concentrate on its strengths in North America.

The corporation emerged from bankruptcy under US law in July 2002. Sunterra Europe moved its headquarters from Pine Lake, near Carnforth, to Citrus House in Caton Road, in 2001. It has pledged to maintain services to members, despite the cuts.

Meanwhile the company has voluntarily handed over $3.1million (£1.63 million) to Spanish tax authorities with another $900,000 (£474,500) expected to follow. This was in respect of past underpayment of tax.

Gas Prices Take a Vacation With Timeshare Gas!

2006-05-17T04:35:00.000-07:00

With warm weather, Memorial Day and summer vacation on the way, government officials are scrambling to provide quick relief from soaring gas prices. But a Seattle-based timeshare company has beaten the bureaucrats to the pump. By offering free $110 gasoline gift cards to their customers with every purchase, Holiday Group, a timeshare resale company, hopes to provide some vacation relief.

"Though timeshare resales are as much as 60 to 80% below resort prices, this special offer makes vacationing this Memorial Day even better," says David Skinner, Holiday's President. "We're doing what we can to ease the consumer's burden so they can vacation more. Everyone could use a break."

Gas prices usually peak around Memorial Day, just as drivers prepare for a long vacation weekend. Today, the national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline hovers around $2.90 -- up 72 cents from a year ago, according to the Energy Information Agency. A $3 average is not far away -- which could prevent many people from driving over the Memorial Day weekend and on through the summer.

Skinner believes people don't need to curtail their vacation plans over the price of gasoline. "The whole purpose of a timeshare vacation is to eliminate stress," he notes. "People are really stressing about the price of gas ... and we want to help them relax."

Even with the rise in gas prices, timeshare resales continue to thrive. And as more and more people feel the pinch at the pump, $110 worth of free gasoline becomes an appealing incentive to consider a timeshare as a vacation alternative. Between May 12th and May 29th, customers who purchase a timeshare from Holiday can say "fill it up' and they'll receive a free gas card.

Dream’ Vacation Is A Timeshare Nightmare

2006-05-16T04:55:00.000-07:00

AT YOUR SERVICE: I paid $5,500 to Worldwide Dream Vacations of Branson as part of a timeshare contract. I was to get discounts on hotels, vacations, cruises, resorts and a $5,500 rebate. The $5,500 rebate would be returned by Rebates International.

I received notification that I was overdrawn on my credit card because Rebates International had submitted a claim for $11,000. Eventually I was credited for the $5,500 overcharge. I didn’t get a reply after mailing the materials for the rebate and a second mailing was returned undeliverable.

I then received a letter from a law firm that stated it was the court-appointed receiver in an action filed by the state of Oklahoma Department of Securities v. Sunset Financial Group, which included Rebates International Inc. and other entities.

The law offices reported that there are more than 600 rebate claims totaling about $2 million. The lawyer said that no funds would be disbursed until the court authorized a distribution. Am I the victim of a timeshare scam? — R.J., Overland Park

DEAR R.J.: According to Worldwide, it paid Rebates International for your rebate. The company reported that the Oklahoma Securities and Exchange Commission sued Rebates International in 2003 for allegedly selling unlicensed securities. The lawsuit was settled in 2004.

The company said it understands that there was no wrongdoing found on the part of Rebates International; however when the lawsuit was filed the company went out of business.

The court in Oklahoma will decide what happens regarding the timeshare rebates, we were told. Worldwide Dream Vacations said it had no idea how long this would take.

We would caution consumers about getting involved in these types of offers. Often by the time you are ready to use the vacation, the company has gone out of business. Also, if you do research, you would probably come out better paying for the vacation trips outright than trying to use these coupons or other incentives that you’ve purchased.

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Take care with a timeshare

Be careful when buying a timeshare. Thoroughly check out the company and compare prices. Be cautious about a company offering incentives to buy a timeshare. Check out any offers through a third party with your state attorney general’s office and the Better Business Bureau.

Cendant Renames Timeshare Subsidiary

2006-05-15T13:09:00.000-07:00

The Cendant Timeshare Resort Group Inc. has changed its name to take advantage of the Wyndham brand Cendant Corp. acquired earlier this year.

The Orlando-based timeshare company and parent of Fairfield Resorts and Trendwest Resorts has been renamed Wyndham Vacation Ownership Inc.

The company says the name change is in anticipation of Cendant's planned spinoff later this year of its entire hospitality services division, which includes the timeshare group as well as other hospitality-related businesses such as hotel lodging, vacation exchange and condo rental businesses.

Upon completion of the planned spinoff, Cendant's hospitality services division will become Wyndham Worldwide.

Wyndham Vacation Ownership will continue to market and sell vacation ownership interests under the Fairfield and Trendwest brands. The two account for more than 140 timeshare resort properties and more than 750,000 owner families worldwide.

The company says using the Wyndham brand will enhance its visibility in the marketplace while preserving the equity of its current brands.

Additionally, Cendant (NYSE: CD) also says its Wyndham Vacation Ownership's consumer finance division, currently named Cendant Timeshare Resort Group-Consumer Finance Inc., is scheduled to be renamed Wyndham Consumer Finance Inc. in about one month.

New Getaway Lesson: Don’t Rent It, Own That Timeshare

2006-05-10T04:52:00.000-07:00

Time to buy and exchange your vacation this summer... in short, Timeshare. Timeshare simply means owning your vacation accommodation, be it a studio unit or a two-bedroom unit in a resort.

Depending on the size of the accommodation and the season, the price ranges from Rs 70,000 to Rs 4.5 lakh for a period of 25 years to a maximum of 33 years.

“Currently, there are two lakh timeshare owners in India. The industry is registering an annual growth of 18-20%,” says Radhika Shastry, director-India & Malaysia, Resort Condominium International (RCI).

Around 15,000-17,000 families are expected to become timeshare owners by ‘06 end, she adds. About 67 timeshare resorts in India are affiliated to RCI compared with mere three resorts when RCI began its operations in India in 1992. And there are 58,000 RCI timeshare members compared with 1,000-2,000 members in the initial years.

“With increasing disposable income and attractive airfares, holidaying as a concept is gaining popularity thereby contributing to the timeshare growth. RCI timeshare membership is growing annually at the rate of 15-18%,” says Ms Shastry.

However, the concept of timeshare is more popular in western states, 42% of RCI members are from the western states particularly people from Gujarat and Maharashtra who prefer to travel in groups as timeshare becomes an economical way of holidaying, she adds. North contributes 26% to RCI membership, south 25% and east 7%.

So if you want celebrate Christmas every year in a particular resort in Goa without the hassles of getting a confirmation, just become the timeshare owner of your unit. And if you want to spend your vacation in different countries, get yourself enrolled at any timeshare exchange companies like Resort Condominium International (RCI) and Interval International (II).

For instance, if your home resort belongs to a timeshare exchange organisation, you can bank your timeshare week with the organisation and exchange it for a week in another timeshare resort in India or abroad for a fee.

Apart from the exchange’s subscription fee and the one-time purchase cost for which, you are entitled to a week’s vacation accommodation every year in your home resort, you also have to pay the annual maintenance fee.

Rise of Condo-Hotels, Not Timeshares Brings Fears

2006-05-09T04:24:00.000-07:00

With the Coachella Valley on the cusp of a proliferation of condominium-hotels, some are expressing fears their presence might also cause a decrease in transient occupancy taxes, a key source of funds for desert cities.
Some valley cities aren't waiting to find out what the impact will be and are drafting ordinances that they think will address any shortfalls.

Indian Wells is about to see construction begin on two condo-hotel projects, not timeshares Remington Las Montañas Resort & Spa and Fairmont Residences, with units priced in the $750,000 to $900,000 range.

The city has drafted ordinances to help preserve transient occupancy tax revenues.

Bed tax is important because the lion's share of a city's general fund is derived from those revenues, helping to pay for city services, salaries and infrastructure. The dollars also filter into tourism promotional efforts to keep desert timeshare resort communities in the forefront and attract more than 3.5 million visitors annually.

The Indian Wells ordinances define the condo-hotel in such a way to ensure it:

Is labeled as a commercial property, so it cannot be used as a permanent place of residence.

Limits stays by condo unit owners to no more than 60 cumulative days in a calendar year.

Requires each unit to be made available as a rental or timeshare unit for guests, subject to tax, at least 304 cumulative days of a calendar year.

Indian Wells Councilwoman Mary T. Roche looks upon the 60-day concession on bed tax - set at 9.5 percent in Indian Wells - as a trade-off to attract high-caliber hotel resort development.
"There is no lost revenue,'' said Indian Wells City Manager Greg Johnson. "We look upon these projects as an enhancement."

Indian Wells is projecting it will collect $5.2 million in bed tax revenue this fiscal year. "We think, in Indian Wells, with these two condo-hotel projects, alone, we're looking at driving up the TOT somewhere in the neighborhood of $2 (million) to $3 million."

It will likely prompt a hike in the average daily rate charged by nearby hotels, Johnson said, and bolster sales in the lifestyle centers around it.

The cities of Rancho Mirage and La Quinta are paying close attention.

La Quinta Mayor Don Adolph said city officials are mulling the prospect of weaving a type of homeowner's association fee into a proposed condo-hotel project at SilverRock Golf Resort into the revenue equation for condo-hotel buyers.

Under this scenario the dues would be calibrated against hotel occupancy rates, and would go to the city whether the units were rented out, or not.

Rancho Mirage City Manager Patrick Pratt anticipates reviewing some form of condo-hotel legislation, as well.

The Lodge at Rancho Mirage, which is owned by GenLB-Rancho, a partnership led by Gencom Group of Miami, has said it wants to reshape its timeshare resort into a renovated, three-floor hotel with about 122 hotel-condo units and villas.

Palm Springs Finance Director Craig Graves said the city has not specifically focussed on the issue.

But it is looking for ways to capture revenue from private investors or small groups who rent out homes or condos as timeshare units.

"Everyone is talking about it,'' said Tim Ellis, general manager of Palm Mountain Resort, Palm Springs. "It's a new inventory coming into the marketplace."

The trend is becoming so prevalent, in fact, Hospitality Design Expo in Las Vegas dedicated a special educational session to the topic.

Howard C. Nusbaum, president and chief executive officer of Washington, D.C.-based American Resort Development Association, which represents the vacation ownership and timeshare resort development industry, said these sessions are important because myths about lost bed tax revenue pop up from time-to-time.

Quite the contrary, Nusbaum said. "Mixed use is becoming the name of the game."

Nusbaum said there are tradeoffs that should not be overlooked. He said a study in South Carolina showed that timeshare operators brought 10 people into the resort hotels for the one person who bought a unit. That one buyer, tended to spend more while on vacation because their lodging was pre-paid, and that those who came and didn't buy stayed in hotels and spent money on tourism activities.

"This is good for all the cities,'' Ellis said. "It's new inventory coming into the market place," which drives up the attraction level of the valley as a whole.

I would rather them build more timeshare units.

Timeshare Property Tax Rates Reflect Priorities

2006-05-08T04:30:00.000-07:00

The Maui County property tax system has evolved over the years as county leaders recognized changes in the way properties were used.

The County Council establishes the tax rates, set at so many dollars per $1,000 of assessed valuation, based on the overall worth of the timeshare property as determined from the selling prices of comparable property.

Maui County recognizes 10 different classes of property, setting different rates based on use. Homeowners get a preferred rate, proposed to be $2.50. Agricultural and conservation lands also get lower rates, to support farmers and ranchers and land kept in open space.

Income-producing properties as timeshares have the highest rates. At the top of the scale are timeshares, reflecting a general belief that the use takes more from the community than it returns. Hotels have a lower rate because they provide more residents with income in the form of paychecks than do timeshares.

Timeshare units and condo units used by the owner part time and rented most of the time are basically investments. One of the costs of that investment is the property tax.

The No. 1 priority is to keep the taxes for family homes as low as possible. As for the other timeshare properties, let the buyer beware.

Salamone: Timeshare Reseller Offer Too Good To Be True

2006-05-05T05:17:00.000-07:00

Question My husband and I own a timeshare. We rarely use it, so we decided to sell it. An advertisement we got in the mail claimed they would help us sell the timeshare. My husband contacted them and was told it would cost $500. You guessed it; we went ahead with it.

I've since read this is a big mistake. My husband tried to call but they do not return our calls. Can we contact our credit card company and cancel this? Is there any recourse? Thanks.

Answer Maybe. If this is a recent transaction, then you should fire off a letter to the credit card company. Explain what has happened and request a credit. Did you have a contract with this reseller? Did you try contacting the reseller by letter?

This is the timeshare information that will help you get a refund for your timeshare listing.

State, Timeshare Group Disagree Over How To Count

2006-05-04T06:55:00.000-07:00

Did Hawaii timeshare visitors spend $112 or $160.10 a day in 2004?

A long-running discussion between the state and the timeshare industry on the methodologies they used to calculate spending concluded that there were differences that couldn't be reconciled.

The two groups crunched the figures again and, while they came up with new numbers, they still didn't agree; the state said $90 and the industry group $111.

"There's no way to reconcile," said Pearl Imada Iboshi, the chief economist of the Research and Economic Analysis division of the Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

"We have agreed to disagree," she said. "We figured out what the differences in timeshare spenders are and figured we can live with them."

The state and the American Resort Development Association Hawaii have gone back and forth on who had the right numbers after they came out with conflicting reports on the scope of timeshare visitor spending two years ago.

At stake was the credibility of both agencies. Some believed ARDA had an agenda because it was championing the cause of timeshare visitors and trying to prove that they were not cheapskates, as timeshare detractors have sometimes claimed.

The resort association's report said timeshare visitors spent about $160.10 a day during their vacation. State economists calculated that each timeshare visitor spent about $112.

The source of the problem was found to be the maintenance fee, an average of $600 annually, that timeowners paid. ARDA included this as a more than $30 expense per day for each visitor while the state didn't include these numbers.

"The question was whether or not to include timeshare maintenance fees and it merited a fair amount of discussion," Iboshi said. Those timeshare fees all add up.

Royal Oasis Timeshare Co. Faces Class Action Suit

2006-05-03T05:22:00.000-07:00

The government is a month past the promised deadline to update the public on the sale of the Royal Oasis in Freeport and angry timeshare owners of the resort have in turn retained legal counsel.

A source close to the timeshare project told the Freeport News several weeks ago that Harcourt Developments, a Dublin-based property management and construction company, was in negotiations with the government of The Bahamas for the purchase of the hurricane ravaged timeshare resort.

However Obie Wilchcombe, Minister of Tourism, was only willing to say two months ago that the investor that is interested in the Royal Oasis was of sound international reputation and that the sale was imminent. Further Mr Wilchcombe said that there would be some indication of the prospective buyer, but was reluctant to be more forthcoming at that time, as previously a deal to sell the Royal Oasis Timeshare over a year ago fell through with the same company.

According to the Freeport News, Bradley Roberts, Minister of Works, followed on Mr Wilchcombe's heels and said that an announcement or update on the sale of the timeshare property would be made by the end of March.

To date there has been no word. Timeshare owners of the resort have taken action however. Several weeks ago, several of the timeshare owners were demanding answers on what the future of the Royal Oasis would be. Many of the timeshare owners are growing more agitated with concern over their investment in the property. Several weeks ago one of the owners told the Freeport News, "We seem to be in the middle of a struggle between Driftwood and the government as each tells us to call the other. We hear rumours of a sale and that once that happens our agreements could be fulfilled with that new owner. That the timeshare resort will be rebuilt bigger and better than before, this all sounds good, but we cannot trust any of that information as treatment to date has been unbelievably terrible

"I can't understand why the Bahamas government completely ignores...that I am one of many timeshare owners who have the same agreements which translate into tourism dollars for the Bahamas. I can't understand why they ignore or disregard this fact."

Driftwood Freeport Ltd, the owners of the Royal Oasis, reportedly pegged the price of the resort at $29 million. However the most recent reports on the pending sale indicated that the prospective buyer was willing to bring only $24 million to the bargaining table. The source close to the project told the Freeport News at the beginning of April that the $5 million difference in the ask and bid price was holding up the negotiations.

In the meantime, it was reported that the timeshare owners have identified a law firm that would represent them in a class action suit against Driftwood. "Our patience is running thin in the face of more reports of Driftwoods' continuing downward spiral and the lack of a sale or any information how that sale would affect our agreements," this timeshare owner told the Freeport News a few weeks ago.

Timeshare Becomes A Quick Growing Industry

2006-05-02T04:46:00.000-07:00

Anxiety beset Donna Iker when she bought a timeshare apartment at Sheraton Vistana Villages on International Drive five years ago.

"I told my husband that I thought it would be too much," said Iker, 57, of Fort Worth, Texas. "We are raising two grandchildren, and it just seemed difficult. But now I think it was the best thing I have ever done."

Initially, she wondered whether the investment would fit her family's lifestyle. And she remembered hearing about timeshare deals gone bad, leaving buyers remorseful and angry. But today, Iker has nothing but good things to say about the decision.

Much has changed since real estate developers began selling real estate in increments of time in the 1970s. Buyers today commonly do business with large corporations, some of which are subsidiaries of the best-known operators in the hospitality sector.

In the past 20 years, timesharing has developed into one of the fastest-growing segments of the real estate industry, with a double-digit annual growth rate and an international presence. Many of the top sales companies have key operations in Central Florida, the industry's home base.

"Central Florida is the time-share capital of the planet, no question about it," said Jim Lewis, general manager of Disney Vacation Development, Walt Disney World's timeshare unit. "It has been a great business for us."

The division has five timeshare resorts at Walt Disney World and two others, one in Vero Beach, the other in Hilton Head, S.C. Disney's sales record demonstrates the power of selling real estate in the fourth dimension: 100,000 buyers have a stake in just 2,000 vacation apartments.

The growth of Disney Vacation Club, as the division is known, mirrors the industry's growth. Major hospitality companies, including Starwood Resorts, Cendant, Hyatt and Marriott, have timeshare operations. In 2004, the most recent year for which statistics are available, there were 1,668 timeshare resorts in the United States owned by 3.87 million households. The number of owners increased 13.8 percent between 2003 and 2004.

Central Florida had 74 resorts, according to the American Resort Development Association (ARDA), a trade group representing time-share developers. That represents nearly 20 percent of the resorts in Florida.

Concept has changed

For developers, selling a condo in 52 weekly intervals can reap big profits. ARDA says that the average price for one-week interest in a U.S. timeshare unit is $15,789.

The proposition seems as attractive to buyers as sellers. Real estate prices in top vacation locales have soared, drastically limiting the number of people who can afford second homes in such places. But timeshares bring down the cost, and limit the overhead, for those who plan to use a vacation home for only a week or two a year.

"The attitude now is why buy a whole pizza when you only need a slice," ARDA President Howard Nussbaum said. "The idea of shared use is more accepted today than it once was."

Baby boomers are more inclined to buy time shares than their parents were for a number of reasons, Nussbaum said. They are less wedded to the idea of exclusive ownership, he said, and like the flexibility that timeshares offer.

In the 1980s, most buyers purchased a condo that they could use one week a year, period. The concept has evolved since then. Today's timeshares are more like currency -- a unit owner can generally stay anywhere in a resort, or trade his time for a vacation at a property elsewhere.

"We have exchange opportunities that allow people to stay at any of 500 other resorts around the world," said Disney's Lewis.

Peter Yesawich, chairman of the Maitland travel marketing firm Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown & Russell, said acceptance of timeshares is spreading.

"We estimate that 14 percent of the leisure-travel population is interested in purchasing vacation time," Yesawich said. "That's about 9 million households, and that number has gone up 3 percentage points in the last 12 months, which is statistically significant."

Yesawich said the biggest reason people want to buy timeshares is the ability to take vacations in a variety of locations.

"The concept of shared ownership, whether it is ownership of an aircraft or of a condo, is becoming mainstream," said Franz Hanning, head of Cendant Corp.'s timeshare division in Orlando. "We have adapted to the vacation habits of our customers."

Timeshare Tourists

2006-05-01T04:34:00.000-07:00

With the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) just around the corner, it’s no surprise that lots of research pointing to novel leisure vacation ideas is popping up.

So, when research extolling the virtues and value of owning timeshare properties hits you, there’s a certain sagging feeling of heard-it-all-beforeness.

Ask any UK expat over a certain age what they think about timeshare properties and you’ll get looks of horror, long intakes of breath and reminders of how often the word ‘timeshare’ rolled of the lips of Anne Robinson, the Rottweiler presenter of UK consumer issues show, Watchdog.

Timeshare has had a dodgy reputation in the past, particularly in European locations such as Spain, where Brits bought up 1,000s of them with no knowledge of the nightmare’s they were getting into. But of course, it’s all different out here, so let’s have a look.

Of course, the one thing the timeshare concept has in its favour is that hotel room rates in the UAE are soaring and holiday accommodation in hotspots such as Dubai are in short supply.

So the prospect of timeshare and shared ownership properties could be the answer for many regional holidaymakers.

At least that’s according to a new study which claims to show a growing number of people turning to shared ownership options, when owning a second or additional home in a destination location, such as Dubai.

The research, which was made available yesterday at a conference held at the Burj Al Arab, in Dubai, was commissioned by RCI Middle East, part of the world’s largest holiday exchange and rental travel group, the RCI Global Vacation Network.

Most research undertaken by coroporate entities are basically designed to tell us what the company wants us all to believe, and rarely is it the case, which is why most research ends up in the bin.

However, RCI has at least bothered to interview the minimum number of required candidates to get the message across to us that timeshare is where it’s at.

RCI claims to have interviewed 1,000 candidates in its research, which formed the basis of a programme for an audience of high profile executives from around the world, says RCI.

Stephen Holmes, vice chairman of Cendant Corporation, parent company of RCI, provided the keynote address, along with Awadh Al Ketbhi, director of conventions at Dubai’s department of tourism and commerce marketing.

The research focused on the burgeoning Arab tourist market and the holiday preferences of Arab travellers. More and more of them expressed a preference to holiday within the region, which is worth knowing for all those involved in the local hospitality and leisure sectors.

RCI says it undertook fieldwork during March across a sample of nearly 1,000 high-earning nationals from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran, Egypt and the UAE.

It engaged the Pan Arab Research Centre, (PARC), to conduct face-to-face interviews, which were then analysed and edited by NorthCourse Advisory Services.

If you’re not very wealthy, this is where you should stop reading, because the research apparently revealed one astounding fact - that the concept of shared ownership products is ideally suited to the higher income Middle Eastern national.

Also, that many Saudi and UAE nationals are more inclined to consider buying a timeshare property over and above other options.

Longer stay purchases, known as practional ownership, typically involving a share of a larger number of weeks rather than just one or two, were also a major preference, especially amongst Kuwaitis and Egyptians.

So that kind of blows out your chances if you’re strapped for cash and want a holiday retreat that also works as an investment.

According to the study, the entire sample travels regularly and holiday choices are largely based upon destinations that offer good family solutions and shopping rather than activity and adventure tourism.

Food and fine dining is definitely high on the agenda for all respondents in the survey. Topics of particular focus during the research were four leisure travel options - family holidays, religious travel, big trips and festive travels.

The clear leader is family holidays, with many travelling in larger groups, with extended family, friends and household staff.

“The larger, more luxurious type of accommodation found within shared ownership developments, can fulfil these requirements perfectly, according to RCI’s news release on the research.

Notably, 40 per cent of Saudi nationals take household staff away with them, and 46 per cent of UAE nationals take their parents. Unsurprisingly, Dubai, and the UAE as a whole, are the most popular destinations for all nationalities, especially when considering a timeshare purchase.

RCI believes that the potential to grow the timeshare market in the Gulf is significant - the Middle East market alone could support $540 million in annual timeshare sales.

With regard to fractional ownership, the most attractive locations were Dubai, Sharm El Sheikh and Mecca. Although this is a smaller market in terms of volume, gross annual sales are estimated at $642 million, greater than for timeshare due to higher-value properties.

RCI says that another exciting new shared ownership product is the religious timeshare, which it says got an extremely positive response among Muslim communities, who all have a common interest in travelling to Mecca.

RCI says the findings of its research clearly demonstrate the major potential for timeshare ownership developments within the Middle East.

However, as with any investment deal, timeshare ownership may sound like a dream holiday/investment solution, but as many Europeans have found to their cost, there can be a downside that needs to be properly explained by those promoting them.

Timeshare Owner Appeals For Tax Rate Cut

2006-04-28T04:47:00.000-07:00

A timeshare owner protested the highest tax rates in the county Wednesday night during a public hearing on county real property tax rates for the 2007 budget – which does not include any reductions for timeshares.

Part-time Kihei resident Richard Ellis said the tax rate on his timeshare condominium “is not” a real property tax rate.

Ellis and his fellow timeshare owners pay the highest real property tax rate, $14 per $1,000 valuation.

But he said a homeowner living right next to him qualifies for the lowest rate, $3.50, which Mayor Alan Arakawa has proposed to cut to $2.14.

Ellis disputed the argument that timeshares generate more profits than hotels and said they do not have amenities that hotels provide.

But hotel/resort properties are taxed at a lower rate, $8.30.

Ellis was one of two people to testify at the Maui County Council public hearing on real property tax rates for the fiscal year 2007.

In the council Budget and Finance Committee’s continuing review of the proposed budget, Chairman Dain Kane proposed a higher tax rate for homeowners, $2.50, but recommended the council also increase the home exemption by $100,000 to offset soaring property values.

Council members offered no comments during the hearing on what actions they may take on tax rates or other measures affecting real property tax revenues.

During the hearing, the only other person to speak was Haiku resident Melissa Prince, who said she is with the tax reform group COMET, or the Committee For More Equitable Taxation.

She said the group believes that the county’s circuit breaker option for low-income homeowners and increased homeowner exemptions fall short of what is needed to provide tax relief.

They “are not tax reform,” Prince said, and called for lower tax rates as the primary way to relieve soaring tax bills.

She said there also needs to be tax relief for landlords who offer long-term affordable rentals, which do not qualify for the lowest tax rate.

The rate for improved residential properties is $5.86, with both Arakawa and Kane recommending slight cuts in the rate but no exemptions for long-term rentals that don’t qualify for the homeowner rate.

After the hearing, Prince said that COMET considers the mayor’s and Kane’s proposals “diddling” with taxes

Although no one appeared at the hearing Wednesday, the Hawaii Committee of the American Resort Development Association provided a written statement urging a reduction in the tax rate for timeshares. The committee is the trade organization for the timeshare industry in Hawaii

It called for a tax rate that matched the rate for hotels and resorts, noting that timeshare users also contribute to the economy with their spending.

“Timeshare units comprise only about 8 percent of the total visitor accommodations on Maui, but bring over 100,000 visitors who spend over $150 million in Maui’s economy annually,” the organization said.

Timeshare Tricksters Still Rampant Today

2006-04-26T09:03:00.000-07:00

They use some of the oldest tricks in the book, but timeshare scam operators continue to ensnare thousands of British holidaymakers each year.

While there appears to be a greater awareness that timeshare scams still exist, scammers are devising increasingly ingenious timeshare scams to combat this growing awareness.

People were misguided in thinking that timeshares were good investments. Most people only get back 20% of the price paid, when they sell their timeshare, says the report.

Common scams include enticements such as 'free' holiday offers using scratch cards, a disregard of current cooling-off rules, and 'cheap' loans that turn out to be expensive on return to the UK. All timeshare scams.

"Buying a timeshare is a crap shoot, with companies using unethical selling techniques to tie people into deals on the spur of the moment.

But, even when a timeshare company is legitimate, there are high management fees, and problems selling make buying a timeshare for some people a stressful and expensive process.

The Timeshare Directive offers a degree of cross-border protection to consumers.

If you sign a timeshare contract in the EU or European Economic Area (including the Canaries, pus Cyprus and Malta, " it must conform to a number of rules such as a minimum 10-day cooling-off period.

However, the directive has only limited powers, primarily because the legal definition of a timeshare is currently very narrow.

Legally it only covers contracts of more than three years and a minimum period of a week.

This means that companies have started selling timeshare schemes of under 35 months -with the option to extend for more years - and 'time' on narrow boats and cruises, said the report.

Share schemes and property bonds are also not covered by existing legislation, and neither are boats or cruises.

One attraction of timeshare investing is that the cost of future holidays is paid upfront with a lump sum. However, there are often high additional charges.
The most common way for people get stung is with high maintenance fees, which are paid to a management company that runs the resort. The timeshare owners or tenants have little or no control over fee hikes.

Timeshare Employer Offers $250,000 For Missing Orlando Woman

2006-04-25T04:37:00.000-07:00

An employer of a missing woman offered a $250,000 reward for the safe return of the woman three months after she mysteriously disappeared in Orlando.

Timeshare and real estate mogul David Siegel made the offer with the Kesse family outside his company Monday.

Siegel said the reward money is on behalf of Westgate Resorts Co., which is the timeshare company that employed Kesse.

"He said you can call it a timeshare reward or you could call it a timeshare ransom but the money is only for Jennifer's safe return," Local 6 reporter Louis Bolden said.

"I've been watching this family for three months standing on street corners and beating the bushes and doing everything they can to get her back and I feel terrible what they are going through and I wanted to put up this reward," Siegel said.

"Obviously, (Siegel) has a very big and warm heart and understands that abduction of a human being is a very serious act," Jennifer's father, Drew Kesse, said Monday.

The timeshare collected reward will be available for one month, Local 6 News reported.

On May 24, Seigel will pull the $250,000 reward for good, Bolden said.

The Kesses have set up a tip line at (407) 722-2162.

The timeshare reward has nothing to do with Crimeline, but the family also said residents may also phone tips to that number at (800) 423-TIPS.

Newport Timeshare Set To Re-Open After Fire

2006-04-24T10:25:00.000-07:00

Guests staying at a Newport timeshare are evacuated after fire breaks out inside.

It happened Saturday night at the "In A Long Wharf."

Though the fire was contained to three timeshare units, four floors of the building sustained damage. Timeshare guests were temporarily moved to the Fairfield Resort across the street. The inn is re-opening this morning, and some guests who arrived in the city by the sea aren't letting the fire spoil their timeshare vacation.

Don Guarino, Timeshare Guest:

"Well I don't think they want us to go in the building if they thought it would catch fire again. So, Ii'm not really worried about it. "

No one was hurt, but the flames caused about half a million dollars in timeshare real estate damage.

The cause of the timeshare fire is under investigation.

Timeshares On The Rise Once Again

2006-04-21T04:13:00.000-07:00

According to a United States’ survey, timeshares are becoming increasingly popular among Americans, something that is borne out by local timeshare properties on Grand Cayman.

Fully 14 per cent of active leisure travellers in America are now interested in purchasing timeshares according to the Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown & Russell/Yankelovich partners 2006 National Leisure Travel Monitor.

“This represents a four–point increase over the percentage recorded in 2005, and translates into a potential market of 9.2 million households on a national basis,” said a press release.

Chairman of the Board of Morritt’s Tortuga Club Ltd., Morritt’s Grand Resort Ltd. and Morritt Properties (Cayman) Ltd. Steve Minotakis said timeshares are certainly on the rise. Morritt’s Tortuga has been in existence since 1989. It is based on 100 per cent timeshares.

“We are very excited for the future. We see the trend of timeshares continuing if not increasing,” he said.

“There is value in Morritts and in Grand Cayman,” he said, explaining that owning a timeshare becomes a family event and a tradition that can be passed onto the next generation. The Morritt’s Resorts are exclusively timeshares.

“Sales are actively growing for a number of reasons,” he said.

“Timeshares are more popular now and people know what they are and the value that they offer.”

Hurricane Ivan gave the developers an opportunity to improve the wooden structure at Morritts Tortuga, he said.

Morritts Tortuga consists of 120 units, with an addition of up to 80 units being built. It originally had 177 units.

Morritts Grand Resort has 40 units operational. In another five to seven years this will be extended to 65 or 70 units.

Eventually there will be about 265 timeshare units between the two resorts.

Of the 160 units on stream between the two Morritt’s properties, they are between 70 per cent and 75 per cent sold to membership.

Mr. Minotakis asserts that the very fact that Morritts Tortuga is in re–development phase is an indication that it is not only building a better product for its clients, but of adding on extra units for future clients for which they have seen a need.

Typically 80 per cent to 85 per cent of owners are US citizens.

Pre–construction sales are getting more brisk as construction progresses with Morritts Tortuga, he said. Meanwhile the resort continues to look for a timely insurance settlement.

Initially, the under–insured Indies Suites cast a dark shadow over timeshares on Grand Cayman, he believes, but most people will realise that not all companies are like that, he said, explaining that Morritt’s has adequate insurance, a board of directors, regular business meetings and actively strives to keep its clients happy.

Tom McCallum of the Reef Resort agrees that timeshares are indeed becoming increasingly popular. Making up part of the resort are 30 two–bedroom condos dedicated to timeshares – they are 70 per cent sold out on average during the year.

The Reef Resort also offers varied investment options, from individual weeks, through quarter shares, to whole ownership options and will have 83 condos in all when development is finished.

Timeshare owners at the resort can come and use their share, rent it through the resort, or exchange it through an international exchange network.

The Reef consists of a mix of studio suites, one and two bedroom luxury condominiums.

Mr. McCallum said that if guests like to return to a timeshare resort, while the cost of hotel rooms go up every year in line with inflation, buying a timeshare allows the buyer to lock in the cost, with only maintenance payments going up in line with inflation.

Reef Resort timeshare owners get a special deal, in that when the contract ends, in 2050, the property will be put on the open market when the owners will get 80 per cent of the proceeds.

Timeshares are more a lifestyle than real estate decision for buyers, he asserted.

At the Grand Caymanian Resort, Stephen Taylor, one of the owners of the marketing company contracted by the resort, Back to Cayman Ltd., said 99 per cent of its timeshare membership is US based.

“The market continues to grow and grow as word gets out about the value in timeshares,” he said.

What had been negative in the past has now become a stable product in which people’s confidence has grown. There is also much more familiarity with timeshares now, he said.

Between membership and members’ friends the resort is pretty full most of the time, along with some other guests.

The resort consists of 40 two–bed units for which a section can be locked off to make a studio bedroom and a one–bed apartment.

In the next couple of years it is hoped to break ground for the next phase (a mirror image of the first), something that is testament to the demand for the more or less exclusively timeshare property.

Membership in the first phase is over 50 per cent sold out. When this reaches 75 per cent work will begin on Phase Two. If there is availability on rooms they can be rented out at a nightly rate also.

In the five years the resort has been open the curve in sales has been rising faster in more recent years, said Mr. Taylor.

Although sales are still very good, the number of tourists coming here affects the timeshare resort, as it means there are not as many to show around the property, but as numbers pick up it should bring things back to pre–Ivan levels, he said.

80% Vote For Shopping Timeshare Holidays

2006-04-19T04:25:00.000-07:00

Research to be unveiled at a major leisure real estate industry symposium in Dubai on 29 April will confirm that the vast majority of Gulf Arabs rate shopping as their number one priority when they go on holiday. No wonder therefore that the malls of the region are flourishing and increasing in parallel with the number of mixed-use real estate developments.

The research was commissioned by RCI Middle East, part of the global RCI Global Vacation Network, the largest vacation exchange and vacation rental organisation in the world and conducted across a sample of nationalities including Saudi Arabians, Kuwaitis, Emiratis, Iranians and Egyptians.

According to Ms Vivienne Noyes-Thomas, Managing Director of RCI Middle East, “the main purpose of the research is to quantify the potential pan-Arab market for luxury timeshare, fractional ownership and other types of shared ownership in leisure developments in the region. There are numerous superb timeshare projects in the planning stages, but now we can qualify what the consumer is really looking for and what this product can deliver in increased returns for developers and operators.”

A preview of the findings reveals that the potential value of this timeshare market, Arab nationals purchasing various types of shared ownership, is conservatively estimated at well over US$1 Billion. “The research is still being finalised so it’s too early to be fully precise at this stage”, said Ms Noyes-Thomas, “but this news will be welcomed by the many industry delegates already signed up for our Symposium, ‘New Horizons in Shared Ownership’, taking place at the Burj Al Arab.”

Whilst more familiar timeshare models are well represented in the research, other new products are also explored. Possibly one of the most exciting of these is the new trend for what is known as religious timeshare. A number of major projects are already underway in the Islamic centres of Makkah and Madinah and the research indicates these are likely to be highly popular amongst Muslim pilgrims.

Other more broadly based examples include the new Fractional Ownership category. Typically this is characterised by upscale properties such as exclusive villas, apartments or even yachts that appeal to discerning buyers seeking longer periods of ownership. Findings indicate a desire for periods of 2 - 3 months, giving the potential for say 4 owners to share the rights to an individual property.

Another pattern that the study has quantified is the regional preference to holiday close to home. The domestic tourism market in Saudi Arabia is understandably vast, with nearly half the Saudi respondents expressing a preference to holiday within the Kingdom. But the market potential is also significant in the UAE where a large proportion of nationals claimed to holiday at least three times a year.

Not surprisingly, timeshare destinations in the UAE are also very popular choices for all those interviewed. Most respondents expressed confidence in Dubai as a place to make a timeshare purchase, far more so than present capacity allows, thus providing a reassuring note for developers planning to include this model in the many mixed-use projects coming on-stream in the Emirate.

Expedia and Hyatt Extend Long-Term Timeshare Partnership

2006-04-18T04:40:00.000-07:00

Expedia, Inc., the world's leading online travel company, today announced that it has extended its partnership with Hyatt Hotels & Timeshare Resorts. The new agreement builds on 10 years of association between the two companies. Under it, Expedia® and Hyatt continue not only as distribution partners, but also as marketing partners.

From being the first hotel company to join Expedia in a marketing partnership to being the first to participate in our direct connect program for hotels, Hyatt exemplifies the long-term, mutually beneficial relationships Expedia strives for with our partners," said Paul Brown, president, Partner Services Group, Expedia. "Expedia is increasingly strengthening its hotel supplier relationships through long-term contract commitments, helping our partners to expand their businesses, and ultimately bringing value and convenience to travelers."

This agreement expands Hyatt's current partnership with Expedia, allowing Expedia to better market and distribute Hyatt timeshare inventory. Hyatt will benefit from new business terms plus Expedia's online travel expertise and broad reach, while Expedia customers gain broad access to Hyatt inventory and rates.

Said Tom O'Toole, senior vice president, Strategy and Systems for Global Hyatt Corporation: "We have enjoyed a long and fruitful relationship with Expedia, and this agreement further solidifies our relationship. We are pleased to be working closely with Expedia to build business for Hyatt timeshare properties."

Easy Online Timeshare Resales At .coms

2006-04-18T04:27:00.000-07:00

For years and years the big question between timeshare owners has been how to sell their timeshare weeks. As there are only a few companies that run a affordable resales operation it has often been impossible for owners to sell.

The Internet giant EZTimeshare has provided a timeshare website where sellers can list their weeks for sale and buyers can browse the enormous range offered and find the timeshare that best fits their need without paying out expensive commissions and listing fees.

One couple told us of their experience owning a timeshare in Orlando for 10 years. They had advertised thier week with a resale company in the paper but had heard nothing for over a year. The couple's son put in on Many sites just before Christmas and within a week they sold it for a fair price and were really happy with the deal.

The Internet site, which has been online since 2002 is an excellent site for finding the best timeshare deals around.

Local Hotels Reflecting New Trends In Timeshare Tourism

2006-04-17T10:42:00.000-07:00

Bermuda’s hotel sector is reflecting new trends around the Caribbean with its shift towards condo hotels, timeshare and fractional ownership for holidaymakers.
That’s the view of global financial company KPMG following a region-wide hotel and tourism conference held in Bermuda at the start of the month.

The company revealed the results of its banking investment survey to delegates at the Tenth Annual Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Investment Conference held at the Fairmont Southampton Hotel.

Commenting on the results, KPMG’s Steve Woodward said: “While the survey was primarily on the Caribbean region it is interesting to note the number of similarities facing lenders in the competing jurisdictions.

“Issues such as hotels with condo, timeshare or fractional elements are a ‘hot topic’ across the region and this is consistent with Bermuda’s current environment.”
The business practice director said: “Tucker’s Point Club was Bermuda’s first fractional ownership development, and a number of other local hotel operators, such as the Fairmont Southampton, Ariel Sands and the Wyndham Hotel have recently announced major re-developments which include some element of fractional ownership scheme, condo hotel, private residence or vacation club in their plans.”

He said the increasing popularity of condo hotels, timeshare and fractional ownership showed a trend towards higher quality tourist expectations and said this was attractive to hotel operators looking to diversify and improve what they have to offer.

Mr. Woodward added: “The payback period from a timeshare scheme is usually shorter and there will be other benefits to the hotel as owners make use of the hotel’s facilities including restaurants, bars and spas.”

Timeshare Thoughts

2006-04-14T08:56:00.000-07:00

A survey by Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown & Russell/Yankelovich Partners found that 14 percent of leisure travelers are interested in buying a timeshare, up from 10 percent last year. That translates into a potential market of 9.2 million households.

State, Timeshare Group Spar Over How To Count

2006-04-13T09:21:00.000-07:00

A long-running discussion between the state and the timeshare industry on the methodologies they used to calculate spending concluded that there were differences that couldn't be reconciled.

The two groups crunched the figures again and, while they came up with new numbers, they still didn't agree; the state said $90 and the industry group $111.

"There's no way to reconcile," said Pearl Imada Iboshi, the chief economist of the Research and Economic Analysis division of the Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

"We have agreed to disagree," she said. "We figured out what the differences are and figured we can live with them."

The state and the American Resort Development Association Hawaii have gone back and forth on who had the right numbers after they came out with conflicting reports on the scope of timeshare visitor spending two years ago.

At stake was the credibility of both agencies. Some believed ARDA had an agenda because it was championing the cause of timeshare visitors and trying to prove that they were not cheapskates, as timeshare detractors have sometimes claimed.

The resort association's report said time-share visitors spent about $160.10 a day during their vacation. State economists calculated that each timeshare visitor spent about $112.

The source of the problem was found to be the maintenance fee, an average of $600 annually, that timeshare owners paid. ARDA included this as a more than $30 expense per day for each visitor while the state didn't include these numbers.

"The question was whether or not to include maintenance fees and it merited a fair amount of discussion," Iboshi said.

With Hotels Out Of Reach, Timeshare Is In

2006-04-11T07:12:00.000-07:00

When hotel rooms cost a pretty penny, it makes sense to buy the room itself — or a portion of it — rather than merely renting it. That is the principle on which the timeshare industry works, and these days the business is booming. Many leisure travellers, fed up with ever-rising hotel tariffs, are investing in buying timeshares in resorts instead.

Says Radhika Shastry, director, global business group, at Resort Condominiums International (RCI), a company which enables timeshare owners to swap ownership rights in various resorts: “The increase in hotel room rates across the country is certainly one of the key factors driving growth in the timeshare industry in India.”

Five-star rooms at business or leisure destinations that used to cost under $ 100 before 2002 now cost 30-80% more, depending on season and location. “In such a volatile market situation, a timeshare owner benefits. More so when the timeshare owner looks at availing himself of a family holiday irrespective of lean or peak season,” says Faizan Pasha, director of sales and marketing for The Luxury Club in Mumbai, an upper-end timeshare company.

Clocking in a sales volume of Rs 250 crore in the year to December, 2005, the timeshare industry has been growing at over 20% annually in recent years. India currently has over 200,000 timeshare members, owning pieces of 65 RCI-affiliated resorts. The business is adding 12,000 customers annually. Globally, timeshare is a US $10 billion industry, with over seven million members, with more than 5,425 resorts in 115 countries. “We are adding a substantial number of members every year. Growing at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 20% since 2002, we expect to continue this growth for another two or three years. Infrastructure development is expected to happen in the interiors of the country, where hospitality players don’t have a strong presence. This will help further accelerate growth in the coming years,” says Shastry.

Offered generally for a 25-year period, timeshare membership costs differ from company to company. Prices for a week’s ownership – which entitles the owner to spend a week at the resort every year for 25 years – could range from Rs 55,000-70,000 for a lower-end resort to nearly Rs 192,000-200,000 at more upmarket ones. Membership at The Luxury Club’s Mumbai and Ahmedabad hotels starts from Rs 2.5 lakh and goes up to Rs 6.25 lakh for a 25-year period. It works out to Rs 80,000-120,000 for a five-year tenure.

Besides the one-time membership price there is an annual maintenance charge (AMC) that varies from company to company. This charge is incurred whether one uses the facility or not. The Luxury Club charges an AMC of Rs 7,000 for its Mumbai property. It is Rs 4,500 for the Ahmedabad hotel.

Though timeshare members are spread across the country, the western region, with close to 42% of membership, dominates the industry, followed by the southern, northern and eastern regions.

The average age of time-share buyers is in the range of 35 to 40 years. However, the last few years have seen a younger crop of timeshare buyers emerging.

How time-share works

Timeshare developers sell vacation ownership interests in one-week intervals or as packages of points that can be used to reserve resort accommodations anywhere in the world. Members share in the occupancy rights of a property and, therefore, pay an annual maintenance fee after the initial purchase.

Timeshares can be purchased for cash, or financed through loans. The cost of a timeshare depends largely on location, the unit size and the season you buy it for
Timeshare resort amenities sometimes rival those of top-rated resort properties and may include children’s activities, swimming pools, tennis, jacuzzi, golf and bicycles as well as spa and exercise facilities.

Silverleaf Resorts, Inc. Adds To Timeshare Destinations With Colorado Hotel Acquisition

2006-04-10T04:38:00.000-07:00

Silverleaf Resorts, Inc. (AMEX:SVL) today announced the acquisition of Pinnacle Lodge, (http://www.pinnaclelodge.com) a 64-room timeshare hotel located in the Winter Park area of Colorado for approximately $3.6 million. The property will continue to be operated as a timeshare hotel as well as a destination for current Silverleaf members while the Company assesses the possibility of other acquisitions in Winter Park.

The Pinnacle Lodge joins Silverleaf's growing list of timeshare vacation properties in destination areas. The purchase of the Pinnacle Lodge is a strategic acquisition by Silverleaf as it is focused on providing its members with quality accommodations at affordable prices in some of the finest vacation destinations in the country. Only a few miles from the famed Winter Park and Mary Jane ski resorts, Pinnacle Lodge guests are surrounded by a year-round, high country playground that is unmatched in natural splendor.

"Colorado has always been a popular vacation destination for Silverleaf's members," said Sharon K. Brayfield, president of Silverleaf. "With Intrawest and Orvis' recent involvement in this popular area, we expect Winter Park to gain in national recognition as a destination." Our members can enjoy access to year-round outdoor activities, including major ski resorts, golf courses, fishing, and hiking. Located within a 1.5 hour drive of Denver this timeshare property provides us with an affordable and easily accessible entry point into an increasingly popular timeshare destination."

“Timeshare & Fractional Deals,”

2006-04-06T04:59:00.000-07:00

This year’s conference will feature a session titled “Timeshare & Fractional Deals,” which will educate attendees on the opportunities associated with investment in the vacation ownership industry.

As a Strategic Partner of the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA) and a Board Member of the Caribbean Tourism Organization’s Education Foundation, Interval has been a long-time supporter of the tourism and timeshare industry in the Caribbean. Interval is committed to understanding the unique needs of the Caribbean region and providing products and timeshare programs tailored to this market.

"Interval continues to be a very valuable Strategic Partner of the CHA based on the quality and caliber of their operations and their dedication to the Caribbean hospitality industry," said Sanguinetti. "The enduring commitment of companies such as Interval allows us to meet our long-term objectives in the region."

In the Caribbean, Interval is the leading provider of quality timeshare vacation ownership exchange services. For its current roster of Caribbean timeshare resort developer clients, and new entrants into the timeshare vacation ownership development industry, Interval offers a range of services including program design, sales and marketing support, reservations, travel and timesharefinancial services.

Timeshare Firm Loves The Beach

2006-04-04T04:40:00.000-07:00

Ask George Donovan, president and chief executive of Bluegreen Corp., about Myrtle Beach, and he almost won't shut up.

Donovan's Florida-based timeshare company is so impressed with Myrtle Beach that Bluegreen is opening two properties this year, doubling its number of resorts here.

Myrtle Beach is the top market for Bluegreen, which runs timeshares in 31 cities.

"It is hard to fathom how strong [Myrtle Beach] is. It is absolutely a phenomenon," Donovan said. "I see a real bright future."

Last month, Bluegreen opened the Carolina Grande Timeshare Resort at 25th Avenue North in Myrtle Beach.

And later this year, the Sea Glass Tower will debut. Bluegreen bought that building, formerly The Yachtsman Resort at 14th Avenue North in Myrtle Beach, last year and is renovating the interior into timeshare units. Snags in construction have delayed the opening. It was originally going to open this spring.

Bluegreen also owns Harbour Lights in Fantasy Harbour and Shore Crest in North Myrtle Beach. It has 442 employees along the Grand Strand and Donovan expects that number to swell to 650 by year's end.

Bluegreen is one of several timeshare companies capitalizing on the beach boom and the surging popularity of time shares. Marriott, Sheraton and Burroughs & Chapin Co. Inc. also are opening new units along the Grand Strand.

Timeshares pumped $1.9 billion into South Carolina's economy in 2002, according to a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers for the American Resort Development Association. With 12,100 units, South Carolina was second only to Florida in the number of units in 2002, the latest year data is available.

Last year, Bluegreen, based in Boca Raton, Fla., ranked No. 48 on Fortune's list of America's 100 Fastest Growing Companies and landed in the No. 57 spot on Forbes list of the 200 Best Small Companies.

Donovan didn't make Friday's ceremony in Myrtle Beach, but he talked with The Sun News via telephone last week during a break from the American Resort Developers Association convention in Las Vegas. Donovan is on the ARDA board of directors.

Question | Timeshares have experienced huge growth in recent years. Do you think it will continue?

Answer | We are in a lot of markets, and Myrtle Beach is by far our biggest and best market. And there is no sign of any problems. Market penetration is light. And Myrtle Beach serves a huge market.

Q. | You had planned to open Sea Glass tower this spring. Is a date set?

A. | That appears to be the fall. We are doing extensive interior renovations. We are replacing the elevator systems; reconfiguring most of the rooms. ... It's a great building. It's been there quite some time. There is nothing harder than renovation. Things pop up here and there. Just the normal stuff - it adds up.

Q. | You mentioned that Myrtle Beach is your best timeshare market. What makes it so good?

A. | I've developed here since 1984. My feeling about the Myrtle Beach market: It's about as strong a market as I have ever seen. It's been pretty stable growth. It just doesn't weaken.

As a testament to that, our second timeshare was ShoreCrest. The first was in Gatlinburg, Tenn.

Q. | What makes Myrtle Beach so strong?

A. | It benefits from huge populations. Not just the Carolinas, but Ohio and the mid-Atlantic. Myrtle Beach is very, very convenient to get to for huge populations. You've got the natural feature of the beach and all of the supporting facilities. There is so much for people to do.

Q. | What are your future plans in Myrtle Beach?

A. | There will be a period of absorption after all the recent expansions. We will focus on the sale of inventories we just built. We will probably not initiate any more development of a consequential size for two or three years.

But we won't be totally dormant. We'll add amenities. We have four acres that we bought last year at Harbour Lights.

Q. | What are the trends in the timeshare industry; in other words, what do guests want? How is Bluegreen responding?

A. | That is a changing environment right now, and a healthy one. Guests want more experiences. It's not just wanting a two-bedroom, two-bath unit. They want activities that go with it.

We are thinking about white-water rafting and other similar activities. We are beginning to see this younger vacationer who wants that.

Recreational vehicles - we think there is a market for that.

Q. | Several of the local RV parks have recently been sold to developers who plan to build condominium towers. And isn't adding RV spaces contradictory to your core business of providing timeshare units?

A. | Our business is to provide people with fun vacations.

The state and federal governments aren't setting aside land anymore [for RV parks] and the existing government parks are not very well maintained. We think there is an opportunity to build environmentally sensitive, well-maintained RV parks.

Q. | Myrtle Beach is going through a transition with The Pavilion closing and new properties opening. Where do you think Myrtle Beach is headed?

A. | Real estate recycles. Myrtle Beach is a perfect example of a very viable market. I think it is healthy.

Q. | Has the timeshare industry overcome the bad perception created by pushy sellers?

A. | It's a hard lesson because that reputation has stuck for many, many years. It was deserved, frankly. The industry was dominated by marketing companies that didn't have long-term visions. The methods to make sales were questionable.

As you know, we are in Las Vegas at the ARDA convention. There are 4,000 people here, including lenders, hotel companies. The top five in the industry are hotel companies.

We are proud of where we have brought it. It is a totally different mind-set. Customers are treated with dignity.

We had an independent, third-party research firm who talked to people who did not buy. When it came to the sales process, more than 70 percent said it was fine. It was not because we were doing anything wrong. We watch that very, very closely, and keep timeshare a good thing.

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Fire Destroys Portion Of James City County Timeshare Resort

2006-04-03T04:32:00.000-07:00

A fire completely destroyed a 14-unit building of a timeshare resort complex early Sunday.

The building was part of the 256-acre Powhatan Plantation, a guarded timeshare resort close to Williamsburg.

Alexis Herr and her husband were in the building next door to the fire. They were awoken by the blaze. Herr said they grabbed whatever they could and evacuated.

"I was pretty scared; I thought it was a thunder storm. We grabbed a couple of things and bolted," said Herr.

It took 50 firefighters about two hours to extinguish the blaze, which was reported just after 3:30 a.m., James City County Fire Chief Buster Canaday said.

Firefighters say ten had to be rescued from second-story timeshare balconies by ladder, and two people jumped from their balconies.

Some residents suffered minor injuries, but no one was taken to the hospital.

Fire also damaged eight cars parked near the building.

Harry Myrin, the timeshare resort's interim manager, said the resort provided displaced guests with other places to stay and was working to provide transportation home for those whose vehicles were destroyed.

"We're blessed that everyone got out," Myrin said.

Investigators are working to discover the cause of the fire.

New Service Links Up Timeshare Vacation Rentals

2006-03-31T04:29:00.000-08:00

A local company unveiled a method of finding potential timeshare customers at a trade show this week in Las Vegas. Altadena-based LeisureLink Inc. introduced the Mini Vacation Tracker, or MiniVac, a Web-based leads and tracking system, at the American Resort Developers Association trade show, which concludes today.

"The reception we're getting is extremely good," said Kelly Tompkins, founder and president of LeisureLink. "People are really very interested in our distribution of vacation rentals for the timeshare industry."

The LeisureLink reservation platform connects property management companies through the Internet with travel agents and Web sites such as orbitz.com and travelocity.com.

MiniVac gives online travelers the tools to book their own vacation rentals, then provides the option of getting a discounted rental if they agree to listen to a formal timeshare presentation.

This provides a cost-effective lead generator for property management companies, said Tompkins.

"We're on track to sign up most of the timeshare industry," he said. "We've either signed up or are in final negotiations with all the leading property managers."

Online travelers take a survey that evaluates their potential as a timeshare owner. If they don't qualify, they can still book their vacation at the regular price.

MiniVac will provide companies with vacationers who come pre-qualified as potential timeshare owners, said Tuzy Snyder-Wall, general manager of RMC Resort Management, which has used LeisureLink for more than a year.

LeisureLink's methods are preferable to costly mailers, she said.

"You're ending up with a lot of expense a lot of times for a shot in the dark," Snyder-Wall said. "A lot of people throw it away."

Also, LeisureLink helps travel agents understand and book vacation timeshare rentals, which have different parameters than hotels, she said.

"Everybody is looking to have as many distribution channels as possible to get their timeshare out to the marketplace," Snyder-Wall said.

LeisureLink brings qualified leads into resorts who have a higher probability to convert to timeshare ownership, said Tompkins, who founded the company in May 2002.

LeisureLink is completing the acquisition of $5 million in venture capital funding to expand and grow, he said, and the launch of MiniVac has accelerated the sales cycle in signing up many big property managers.

Shareblock Option Protects Timeshare Investors

2006-03-30T04:50:00.000-08:00

Keith Stewart, the billionaire developer of the award-winning Pezula Private Estate in Knysna, has reassured investors in the Pezula Private Residence Club that their timeshare property investments will be protected under the Shareblock Act - should government's proposed moratorium on foreign land ownership come into effect. By Glenda Nevill

Pezula recently launched the Pezula Private Residence Club, a timeshare ownership scheme that includes residences at three premier destinations: Pezula in Knysna, Shamwari in the Eastern Cape and Franschhoek in the Western Cape.

Because of investor anxiety regarding government's mooted moratorium on foreign land ownership, Stewart has simplified the offering as he does not want any uncertainty with regards to timeshare ownership within the Pezula Private Residence Club. It will now be structured as a shareblock company.

A shareblock scheme, as defined by the Share Blocks Control Act, 1980, Act No. 59 of 1980, means any scheme in terms of which a share confers a right to or an interest in the use of immovable property.

Although there are other ways of structuring timeshare rights, share block schemes have proved popular. Under a share block scheme, a shareblock company - rather than an individual - obtains rights to land and buildings for use or occupation by the shareholders of the company.

'This means that timeshare investors' shares in the Residence Club would be the same as owning shares in a company that manufactures goods, for example,' says Andy McPherson, managing partner of law firm strb Smith Tabata Buchanan Boyes.

Shares in Pezula Private Timeshare Residence Club commence at R600 000 (inclusive of VAT) for the first 20 shares. Thereafter, the price will increase to R650 000 (inclusive of VAT). There will be an annual management fee of R15 000 per share which will cover all operating costs, including the regular refurbishment of the residences.

The investment opportunity is limited to only 70 shareholders who will have ownership and use of five luxury residences on the Pezula championship golf course in Knysna.

The Pezula Management Company will allow a member to rent their timeshare out if they are not able to use all or a portion of their time in a particular year.

A limited number of members will ensure a flexible reservation system, enabling timeshare owners to gain access to Pezula.

The timeshare units, 234 square metres, are spacious with two bedrooms, luxurious en suite bathrooms, spacious living and dining areas and well-appointed kitchens and a private heated plunge pool.

South Seas Readying For Friday Timeshare Opening

2006-03-29T04:55:00.000-08:00

South Seas Island Timeshare Resort reopens to guests today, more than 19 months after its thrashing by Hurricane Charley.

There’s a lot of unfinished business, however.

Resort leaders call it a “soft opening,” which means there will be little hoopla. Also, many timeshare units and amenities won’t be ready until later this summer. Further, ownership of the resort recently changed, raising questions about its direction long term.

About 30 guest families are expected at the Captiva resort on Friday, said Chris Van der Baars, resort general manager. He expects another 100 families who own homes, condos or timeshare units to arrive as well for the weekend.

Construction permitting, the number of guests will bump up to 200 families by the end of March and swell to 450 by mid-April, he said.
Currently, 88 timeshare units out of 485 accommodations are available for rental with another 100 expected to come online by April 3.

Timeshare Giant Silverleaf Resorts, Inc. Announces Plans to Build Its First Water Park

2006-03-28T03:57:00.000-08:00

Silverleaf Resorts, Inc. (AMEX:SVL) today announced plans to build its first indoor water park at The Villages Resort, one of Silverleaf's getaway timeshare resorts serving the Dallas/Fort Worth market.

Sharon K. Brayfield, president of Silverleaf, commented, "Our members enjoy many fun, family-oriented amenities throughout our timeshare resorts. The enthusiasm for water parks continues to grow each year and this new amenity will be a safe and convenient way for families to spend quality time together while increasing the year-round appeal of The Villages."

The "WaterPark at The Villages" is expected to open in the fourth quarter of 2007. When completed it will be home for multiple themed attractions, including inner tube and body slides, a wave pool, an interactive play system topped by a giant tipping bucket of water, and a lazy river float ride. In addition, the on-site facilities will include food service, a retail area, an arcade and lockers. Silverleaf's planned capital expenditure for this project will be approximately $6.3 million. Management anticipates a boost in low season timeshare occupancy as well as improved sales efficiencies from the addition of this popular attraction.

Based in Dallas, Texas, Silverleaf Resorts, Inc. currently owns and operates 13 timeshare resorts in various stages of development. Silverleaf resorts offer a wide array of country club-like amenities, such as golf, clubhouses, swimming, horseback riding, boating, and many organized activities for children and adults at the timeshare resorts.

Timeshares In Incline, We've Always Had Them

2006-03-27T04:12:00.000-08:00

Anyone who has lived in the Bay Area will be familiar with the radio and TV commercial for a dairy called Berkeley Farms that ends with a bovine voice exclaiming "Farms? in Berkeley? Mooooo!" The local version of this at the moment seems to be Timeshares? in Incline? Noooooo!"

To make it clear at the outset, I'm no big fan of timeshares, and neither do I consider them a blight on the universe. Actually, aside from assiduously avoiding getting hooked into listening to marketing pitches on them, I don't have much opinion either way on timeshares (though by way of full disclosure, I did attend a presentation years ago at South Shore and came away with a really nice set of cheap, shoddy luggage).

I am a fan of reason, though, and it seems to me that the current brouhaha over the issue of timeshares in Incline is lacking in that fine commodity.

There may be some fine point of law or regulation that distinguishes between a timeshare and a house that is rented out as a vacation rental, but in practice I can't see the difference. If I (or my brother, my cousin, and my friends Ed and Don and I) buy a house, use it for ourselves for a few weeks a year and rent it out to vacationing families the rest of the year, that seems pretty much the same thing as a timeshare to my untrained eye.

Now here's the joke: There are houses and condos all over Incline that are rented out on exactly that basis. Timeshares in Incline? We've always had them!

Now here come Paul Zahler and Phil Gilanfarr wanting to put them up near Diamond Peak and you'd think somebody was proposing affordable housing or something.

What I've heard from the anti-timeshare side is concerns about traffic, parking, noise, and the like. OK, those are valid concerns for anyone in any neighborhood, but from my understanding what is being proposed is not a high-rise or condo development but a number of single family homes. Again, I think the concerns are legitimate, but they are not, I think, concerns that are unique to time shares. When my neighbor across the street put his house on the market and, while it was being sold, rented it out in three sections to groups of young, unrelated people, I had the same concerns, and had recourse if I wanted to pursue it under the CC&Rs of the neighborhood. How is this different from a timeshare, and how is it different if Messrs, Zahler and Gilanfarr went in and built a bunch of houses that they then sold? Particularly if the purchasers then rented them out as vacation rentals?

Somehow I think there is more involved here than meets the eye. For one thing, Paul Zahler has been subjected to some personal attacks on the issue that I think are out of proportion to a relatively simple zoning dispute. I don't know Paul well, we don't socialize, and we don't agree on a lot of political matters. I have, however, served with Paul on a number of committees and boards and have had occasion to scrutinize his performance in public service on the Citizen's Advisory Board and the fire board and it's my view that he is an honest man, however misguided he may be politically, and that he has a big and authentic commitment to the community. Those things alone, in my view, make ad hominem attacks a particularly egregious form of opposition. I've met Phil Gilanfarr in a business context and have no reason to think that either Paul or Phil are up to any nefarious business here - they're just doing what architects and developers do looking for an opportunity to develop something - that's their profession.

The point is, once again, that we live in a community and that living in a community means that (a) there are laws and regulations that apply equally to everyone - they aren't something to be invoked when the ox being gored is yours and (b) Sometimes, as Mr. Spock said, the good of the many may outweigh the good of the few, and some people are not going to like something that, under our laws, is perfectly legitimate to do. Let's decide this issue in the realm of laws and regulations, not in the court of public attack.

Tips On Timeshares

2006-03-26T06:39:00.000-08:00

Timeshares are often marketed as an investment, but they are one of the worst investments that you can make. The reason they are marketed this way is simple - it’s much easier to sell something that sounds like it will make or save you money than something that will cost you a lot of money.

An investment is supposed to increase in value, yet timeshares typically lose 50% to 80% of their value as soon as you purchase it. While the sales person will give you all kinds of reasons that it will supposedly save you money, in all likelihood it will cost you much more than you could have ever imagined.

Here are 7 important facts that the timeshare sales person will likely forget to mention:

1. Timeshares are simply a terrible investment.
2. Whatever the fees are now, timeshare fees will increase and special fees will be assessed.
3. Unless you have a prime vacation date, trading timeshares will be nearly impossible (which means you’ll have to vacation at the same place each year).
4. Financing a Timeshare means you pay double digit interest rates.
5. It costs money to travel to a timeshare (when they add your costs to vacation they will include the travel costs, but those costs will mysteriously be left out of the cost of the timeshare).
6. For most people it makes little sense to buy a timeshare (and if you do, you should always buy used, not from the resort sales agent).
7. It will be extremely difficult to get rid of your timeshare.

If you currently own a timeshare, sit down and run the numbers of what it is actually costing you. You may be surprised at how much that week really costs and if that is the case, the sooner you get rid of it, the better for your personal finances.

How To Unravel A Timeshare Commitment

2006-03-24T04:10:00.000-08:00

Timeshares are the right to use a vacation home, often a condo at a resort, usually during a specific week each year.But what if you succumbed to the hard-sell pitch from a timeshare sales representative and bought one, then regretted it?

There are no perfect ways to get out of a timeshare. But here are some do's and don'ts that might help.

Don't pay an upfront listing fee. If you pay an upfront commission or fee, often $400 to $700, to someone promising to sell your time share, you'll probably get no results.

Do try to sell it back. Check with your home resort to see if it will buy back the time share. ''Resorts that are sold out or close to being sold out may make you a reasonable offer,'' said Shane, founder of EZ Timeshare.

Do try renting your timeshare week. In a few years, you could make more than if you'd dumped it on the resale market at a fire-sale price. And renting it should more than make up for your annual fees, which can run about $500 per year.

Do try to sell it online. Use eBay and other time-share listing Web sites that don't charge upfront fees but take commissions on the sale. Just realize you'll rarely get all your money back on a resale, and eBay shoppers are looking for time shares at huge discounts.

Do try selling it yourself. Advertise in local newspapers and vacation magazines. ''If you want to get the best price, you're going to have to sell it yourself and do a lot of leg work on your own,'' said Jimmy, operator of the Orlando Time Share Sales Web site.

Don't abandon it. If you owe money on the time share, stopping payments probably will damage your credit rating.

i3 Uses 'Timeshare' Concept To Help CLECs With Switching

2006-03-23T04:39:00.000-08:00

Houston-based i3 Voice & Data Inc. now offers ala carte access to TDM- and IP-based switching facilities based on a "timeshare" concept to CLECs displaced by the phase-out of UNE-P. The one-year-old company's UNE-3 Fractional Switch Ownership program service goes live next month.

With UNE-3, CLECs purchase only the ports they need (the minimum purchase is 1,000) from a MetaSwitch VP3500 series softswitch that i3 operates out of a PoP in Dallas, where the company also has a MetaSwitch UC9000 Unified Communications System and session border controller equipment from NexTone Communications. The softswitch provides more than 100 Class 5 features including the full range of custom calling and Centrex services, plus TDM, Ethernet and IP protocol support.

Timeshare Traveling Information

2006-03-22T03:25:00.000-08:00

Lots of families, looking into the timeshare option,. it's where you buy property and you own it for a set amount of time each year. It's good for people who like to visit the same spots a lot: like Maui, or Puerto Vallarta.

Trading with other owners, could open up your travels even more.

Renee Baws, timeshare owner said, "It really affords us the opportunity to go to places we haven't been before. And if we do like the place, then we decide to go back there again. And friends of ours have timeshares as well, and sometimes, we travel with them."

There are some advantages to owning a time share.

First off, you get plenty of space. the average unit is bigger than two hotel rooms.
They also have kitchens so you can save money, making your own meals.
They're prepaid
You can swap units for other destinations.
The cons?

You'll have to make your own bed, there is no housekeeping or room service.
It can get tough to trade units unless you plan years in advance.
The average price of a timeshare is $14,500 with steeper interest rates.
They can be difficult to sell.

If Not Timeshare Fee, Then What?

2006-03-21T04:18:00.000-08:00

Horry County Council this week stared a $5 per night fee for timeshare condo visits in the face -- and blinked. Even though they need a fresh source of revenue to defray tourism infrastructure costs, council members, by a 9-2 margin, wimped out on enacting the fee for fear of triggering a timeshare industry lawsuit and sanctions by the state. State law bars local governments from imposing such fees.

Well, OK. Council members, we suppose, aren't elected to spit in the face of the increasingly powerful S.C. time-share industry, incurring humongous legal fees and risking a negative court judgment. Their reluctance to face down the state and the time-share lobby could be construed as careful stewardship of public resources.

The council majority's failure in courage, however, is potentially bad news for county property owners. They now face greater risk of paying costs that tourists should be paying -- upgrading arterial streets and highways, renourishing beaches, financing the extra police cars needed during high tourism season, tourism marketing and advertising, etc.

Because timeshare stays are an increasingly popular option for overnight and longer-term visitors, state and local accommodations tax revenues have flattened out and likely will decline. State law forbids the county and beach municipalities to charge the accommodations tax on timeshare stays. Never mind that the timeshare units visitors use often look just like hotel rooms in buildings that look just like hotels; the accommodations tax -- which supports tourism infrastructure, tourism marketing and certain tourism-related events -- applies only to overnight hotel stays.

If the county and beach municipalities can't capture comparable revenue from timeshare stays, then timeshare owners parasitically are feasting on public services that, strictly speaking, they don't pay to support.

Timeshare industry spokespeople argue, not wrongly, that they pay property taxes, on a per-unit basis, too. Those tax remittances, they say, are support enough for local government services devoted to tourism.

But upon closer scrutiny, this argument becomes clearly bogus. Hotel owners pay property taxes, too, but don't squawk too much about having to collect the accommodations tax. They know they benefit from it. If local governments didn't use accommodations tax revenue to keep up the beaches, provide public safety protection during tourism season, maintain the roads that lead to hotel driveways, provide tourists with events to attend and attract them to the Grand Strand to begin with, their businesses would wither and die.

Oh, well. Given County Council's lack of resolve try to break out of the straitjacket in which the state has placed it, there's no point in excoriating members for blinking in the face of time-share industry pressure. But council members -- as well as their counterparts in Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach and Surfside Beach -- might enlighten the rest of us on what other ideas they have for ensuring that tourists pay their fair share of the infrastructure that supports them. The money to support tourism has to come from somewhere -- other than local folks' taxes, which are high enough already. Get ready for the timeshare tax!

Unloading Timeshare Likely A No-Win deal

2006-03-20T04:19:00.000-08:00

Spending money wisely is important, but it's also important to undo money mistakes. Timeshare vacation properties are a good example.

Timeshares are the right to use a vacation home, often a condo at a resort, usually during a specific week each year. We've previously examined why timeshares are a complicated purchase and are bad as real estate investments, especially if purchased new from a resort.

But what if you succumbed to the hard-sell pitch from a timeshare sales representative and bought one, then regretted it? Getting out is difficult, as many readers have found. Here's a sampling:

"Please send me anything that may be helpful to sell these timeshares. I would be happy to get my initial investment back."

"Do you have any suggestions after the damage has been done, as far as unloading this beast?"

"Help! We have a timeshare and don't know how to get rid of it. We know that we will not get our money back, but we don't know where to turn."

"I simply want out of this timeshare, even if it means forfeiting my initial investment and assessments paid to date."

"Unless the time-share owner is in an extremely unique situation, they are going to lose a lot of money," Morris said.

There are no perfect ways to get out of a timeshare. But here are some do's and don'ts that might help.

- Don't pay an upfront listing fee. If you pay an upfront commission or fee, often $400 to $700, to someone promising to sell your timeshare, you'll probably get no results.

"More often than not, these companies are in the business of taking your listing fee and nothing more," said Lisa Ann Schreier, founder of Timeshare Insights, which guides consumers through timeshare arrangements, and author of "Surviving a Timeshare Presentation ... Confessions From the Sales Table" and "Timeshare Vacations for Dummies."

- Do try to sell it back. Check with your home resort to see if it will buy back the timeshare. "Resorts that are sold out or close to being sold out may make you a reasonable offer," Schreier said.

- Do try renting your timeshare week. In a few years, you could make more than if you'd dumped it on the resale market at a fire-sale price. And renting it should more than make up for your annual fees, which can run about $500 per year.

- Do try to sell it online. Use eBay and other timeshare listing Web sites that don't charge upfront fees but take commissions on the sale. Just realize you'll rarely get all your money back on a resale, and eBay shoppers are looking for time shares at huge discounts.

- Do try selling it yourself. Advertise in local newspapers and vacation magazines. "If you want to get the best price, you're going to have to sell it yourself and do a lot of leg work on your own," Strain said.

- Don't abandon it. If you owe money on the timeshare, stopping payments probably will damage your credit rating.

- Don't ask too much. Listing a timeshare above the cheapest comparable timeshare will mean it will sit unsold.

- Do consider using a pro. "You can use a reseller or commissioned real estate agent that only gets paid for the sale, but you'll have to price it under market value or give a bigger commission to get rid of it fast," Morris said.

- Do your homework on resellers. Check out the reseller by contacting the Better Business Bureau, state attorney general's office and consumer protection agencies in the state where the reseller is located. "If there are any complaints against the seller, walk away," Morris said.

- Do try to transfer payments. If you financed the timeshare, just turn it over to someone willing to take over the remaining payments. Whatever you paid will be lost, but you will avoid any future payments and monthly fees.

- Do consider donating your timeshare. Check with your local religious and community organizations, which may take the timeshare and use it in a fundraiser.

- Do consider Donate for a Cause. This for-profit business has alliances with legitimate charities. You donate your timeshare, pick the charity you want it to go to and take a federal income tax write-off of the timeshare's fair market value up to $5,000, or more if you want to get the timeshare appraised.

In getting rid of a timeshare, you'll have to fight human nature, which wants to at least get even on a bad deal before abandoning it. Realize that won't happen on a timeshare you don't want. Dump it, take the loss and be rid of it. Holding onto it while waiting for a good price offer that may never come just makes a bad spending decision worse.