Lisa Ann Schreier, Director of Timeshare Insights and author of “Timeshare Vacations for Dummies” shares her views about the state of the timeshare industry.

 

 ARDA Interview with author Lisa Ann Schreier [4:15m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Today is the day things really get rolling at the American Resort Development Association Convention 2009 in Orlando, Florida.

The Sell My Timeshare NOW team and I will be reporting to you all week from the ARDA 2009 Convention and Exposition in sunny Orlando. We will also be providing you podcasts of interviews and other convention updates.

At 4 PM today, we will have the opportunity to hear the keynote address from Dr. Jeffrey Rosensweig, who is the director of the Global Perspectives Program at the Goizueta Business School of Emory University. Dr. Rosensweig specializes in financial, macroeconomic, and business estimations and predictions and is a professor of international business and finance. I know there will be valuable insights from him and I’ll be sharing them with you in a blog later this week.

So here’s the schedule for what to expect today, and keep reading The Timeshare Authority, where we will be filling you in on all the details.

Highlights for Monday March 30 at the ARDA Timeshare Convention

12:00 PM-3:30 PM
Industry Think Tank
Sponsored by Greenberg Traurig, LLP

4:00 PM-5:00 PM
Opening Keynote Speaker Dr. Jeffrey Rosensweig
Sponsored by Group RCI

5:00 PM-8:00 PM
Welcome Reception in Exhibit Hall
Sponsored by  Disney Vacation Club, Holiday Inn Club Vacations, Hyatt Vacation Ownership, Marriott Vacation Club International & Starwood Vacation Ownership

8:30 PM
ICE Breaker Party
Sponsored by International Cruise & Excursions, Inc. (ICE)

Steve Luba speaks with InnSeason Resorts CEO Billy Curran about the ARDA Convention, which begins today, and the current state of the timeshare industry.

 

 ARDA interview with InnSeason Resorts CEO Billy Curran. [7:11m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Group RCI expands with five new timeshare resort affiliations for timeshare exchange.

Group RCI timeshare exchange has expanded their affiliations, adding five new timeshare resorts to the approximately 4,000 locations they already offer their subscribing members.

While four of these timeshare resorts are cool, crisp northern destinations, the first one on the list is located on the warm sunny beaches of Florida’s Miami Beach. The Mimosa in Miami Beach is a Florida timeshare with units from studio timeshares to spacious two-bedroom timeshare condos.

Miami Beach, Florida timeshare vacations mean you have a choice of spending your days lounging poolside or shopping the upscale boutiques of nearby Bal Harbour. Your nights can be spent in the clubs of South Beach, or strolling waterside as the moonlight reflects off the tropical water.

For a totally different experience, the Salmon Falls Resort timeshare in Ketchikan, Alaska offers twenty Alaska timeshare units and an ideal destination for sport fishing, hiking, bear watching in the Tongass National Forest, glacier viewing, and taking in the unique experience of America’s fiftieth state.

The Whitewater Village Resort in Ontario, Canada is another timeshare resort that lets you get back to nature. This “green” destination includes an environmentally friendly building designed and constructed using a fully sustainable development model. The buildings are constructed with Forest Stewardship Council wood, are 40 to 50 percent more energy-efficient than the norm, and have solar water heaters and geothermal heating sources. Brand new, only three cottages are currently complete but this Canada timeshare resort will offer 34 timeshare units at build out.

Gull Lake Residence Club in Nisswa, Minnesota is also an ‘under-development’ timeshare resort with five fractional or timeshare units currently complete. Gull Lake Residence Club’s luxurious three-bedroom, four-bath townhomes are fully furnished and each includes five flat-screen televisions, four fireplaces, and jetted bathtubs.

Last on the list of new Group RCI timeshare exchange properties is the Betsie River Lodge and Club in Traverse City, Michigan. When complete, this under construction resort will include 135 timeshare units that will each sleep up to ten people. A luxury timeshare resort, the Betsie River Lodge and Club will have a Club RCI Gold Crown Resort® ranking.

Timeshare Exchange Companies and Your Options

Timeshare exchange opportunities are one of the favorite features that have attracted many people to timeshare ownership. Generally, a timeshare developer establishes an affiliation by paying a fee to the exchange company. After the initial commitment is established, each timeshare owner who wishes to be part of the exchange company’s programs must then continue to pay annual fees and membership dues in the timeshare exchange company, and/or pay fees at the time of exchange.

Group RCI is the largest timeshare exchange company in the world today, however there are timeshare exchange companies of all sizes and not all require you to pay membership fees. Internal timeshare exchange is also an option when you own timeshare at some resorts. This means, that at some resorts, you can exchange for timeshare at other resorts within a network of properties, typically under the same management or brand.

Heading out this week to the American Resort Development Association Conference (ARDA) in Orlando, Florida – officially known as the ARDA 2009 Convention and Exposition.

The ARDA Convention is always an excellent time; it is the premier event in the US for the timeshare industry and all who serve or support the timeshare industry.

For exhibitors, the ARDA Convention means access to almost 2,500 decision makers from over 40 countries, representing the largest concentration of timeshare industry purchasing power assembled this year. For all who attend, the ARDA Convention and Exposition offers the opportunity to hear from experts in sales, marketing, finance, technology, and resort management; it also provides a phenomenal networking atmosphere at the related social events.

What’s Coming Up First at the ARDA Timeshare Convention

On Saturday, March 28, activities start to get underway with the ARDA Supplier Certification Seminar and set-up time for the exhibitors.

Sunday, March 29 means tee time, with the Group RCI/AIF Open Golf Tournament and later that day, the Group RCI/AIF Kick-Off Party. The golf tournament will be on the beautiful Hawk’s Landing Golf Course.

The real meat and potatoes of the convention begins next Monday and several members of the Sell My Timeshare NOW team and I will be at the ARDA Convention. Throughout the next week, I will be posting blogs here on The Timeshare Authority, and hopefully some interviews, too. I will fill you in more on the Keynote Speaker, Dr. Jeffrey Rosensweig; on the daily events; the educational sessions; and the committees.

So keep checking in, as we share with you our experiences in Orlando during the next few days.

The largest timeshare industry convention in the world is coming up next week and we’ll be there with onsite reports.

 

 National Timeshare Convention Coming Up Next Week [2:14m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

If you are like me, always reading the news and updates in the world of timeshares, you may be getting really tired of running into headlines about soccer great David Beckham working out his timeshare deal between the LA Galaxy and AC Milan.

Nothing against David Beckham, but perhaps the news you really want is the updates about Marriott timeshares, Sunterra, Disney Vacation Club, and all the other developers, resorts, and associations in the world of timeshare sales and timeshare resales. Nevertheless, running into David Beckham news when you are trying to find out more about vacation ownership does verify one important fact: our culture is getting really comfortable with the word TIMESHARE.

Getting Comfortable with Timeshares

As far as I can tell (and I don’t claim to be an etymologist), the word “timeshare” or “time share” seems to have first shown up in the English language in the early 1950′s as a computer science term used to describe time shared on one computer or one computer system – a use you still hear today, as in “timesharing”.

Timeshare, as commercially marketed vacation ownership property, first came into use in Europe in the 1960’s. Developer Paul Doumier created a ski resort in the French Alps with shared ownership and shared usage. At about the same time, Guido M. Fenggli and Alexandra Nette formed a company in Switzerland through which its membership could holiday in different vacation locations, first in Switzerland, and not long afterwards, throughout southern Europe.

In the United States, Hawaii timeshare property was sold first on the island of Kauai in 1969. A timeshare owner had the right to use his Hawaii timeshare for forty years after purchase, but he or she did not have deeded timeshare ownership.

By the 1970′s, the timeshare business model had evolved to include timeshare by right to use, deeded ownership, and leasehold, with deeded ownership quickly becoming the predominating type in the US.

Today, you hear the word timeshare or timesharing applied to all sorts of situations from joint ownership of luxury automobiles, to skyboxes at sports stadiums, to boats, yachts, ladies’ designer handbags, and yes, iconic sports stars such as David Beckham.

While some timeshare companies have tried to downplay the fact that they sell timeshare by calling themselves a vacation club, that trend may change as we see the concept of timesharing becoming part of the mainstream vernacular.

We live in a changing economy. Many people are having to rethink their ideas about how they spend their money and whether or not it makes sense for them to tie up their dollars in a luxury vacation home they use only a few times each year or a luxury car they must bear the sole cost of insuring and maintaining. In a scaled-down economy, we may all be coming to terms with the fact that owning only the percentage of something that we actually use is actually better than owning (and maintaining) it all. And what could be more indicative of a changing comfort level about the idea of sharing than the fact that American sports fans are willing to timeshare David Beckham if that’s what it takes to keep him playing in the US?

Europe’s Timeshare Association (TATOC) finds new and beneficial ways to improve timeshare ownership in Europe and the timeshare industry overall.

Last year, TATOC (the Timeshare Association Timeshare Owners and Committees) launched the HelpLine to handle concerns and complaints by timeshare owners. After its first full year, TATOC’s helpline believes it can conservatively say it has saved timeshare owners more than £1million (that’s close to 1.5 million US dollars).

In 2008, the TATOC HelpLine handled over 6,000 calls of which about 60 percent were general inquiries with the other 40 percent being complaints. The service is offered at no charge and in the first two months of 2009, handled more than 1400 calls. With the increase in call volume, The Timeshare Association Timeshare Owners and Committees has already begun enhancing services, opening a new office in central Manchester, (England) and recruiting additional employees.

Harry Taylor, TATOC’s chief executive says, “We have a good team in place, excellent office facilities and the knowledge and expertise of the timeshare industry to focus exclusively on the interests of timeshare owners and prospective owners,” he added.

The number to call in Europe is: 0845 230 2430.

To learn more about how TATOC, the only elected consumers’ association to represent the interests of timeshare owners in Europe, helps protect and enhance services, visit their website at: www.timeshareassociation.org

To learn more about the easiest way to buy, rent, or sell timeshare in the US, Europe, and around the world, visit Sell My Timeshare NOW.

Recent The Timeshare Authority posts about TATOC:

• Sell My Timeshare NOW Says “Thank You” to TATOC for an Outstanding Conference
• An Opportunity to Speak on the Timeshare Resales Panel at TATOC Conference
• Timeshare News Updates about TATOC
• TATOC — The Timeshare Association (Timeshare Owners and Committees)Buying European Timeshare Getting Safer than Ever

New podcasts from The Timeshare Authority update you on timeshare news and events.

Starting today and periodically in the future, The Timeshare Authority will be adding podcasts to our timeshare blog. We will use these podcasts to keep you apprised of some of the most interesting and informative happenings in timeshares and vacation ownership.

When members of the Sell My Timeshare NOW team or I travel and participate in timeshare conferences and events, we have the opportunity to capture the thoughts and ideas of the leaders and most innovative thinkers in the timeshare industry today. From time to time, Steve Luba, director of communications at Sell My Timeshare NOW, will be conducting interviews with the people who are at the very heartbeat of the timeshare and vacation ownership industries and we will be posting those interviews, along with other informative updates, here on The Timeshare Authority in the form of audio files called, podcasts.

Timeshare Information Podcasts for More Timeshare News and Updates

By adding podcasting as a regular feature of our blog, we are able to take advantage of a valuable communication tool. The podcasts will be brief, (2 to 3 minutes most of the time) to fit nicely into your busy schedule. And they will be fact-filled to help you make informed decisions with reliable information when you want to buy timeshare or sell timeshare on the resale market or take advantage of the opportunities in timeshare rentals.

You will be able to click and play the podcasts from the homepage of The Timeshare Authority blog. You will also be able to subscribe to them by clicking on this icon: When you subscribe to them, you automatically will be updated every time there is new timeshare podcast content posted here.

Subscribing to The Timeshare Authority Blog

While we are on the subject of “subscribing to the blog” this is a good time to remind you that you can be notified of all updates to the blog by clicking on the icon in the upper right hand of this web page that looks like this:

A RSS feed makes it easy to know when a blog or website posts new content or new information. If you are not familiar with RSS, it is a really simple and useful way to track updates to any blog you frequent – it is so simple, that RSS actually stands for “Really Simple Syndication”.

If you use Microsoft Internet Explorer version 7 or newer or Firefox, as your browser (the program you use to surf the internet) you will find they include the RSS function. Google toolbar and Yahoo toolbar offer RSS add-ons. There are also other options for receiving The Timeshare Blog updates, like using RSS Reader, Sharp Reader, or News Gator; if these interest you, just Google their names to learn more.

We are excited about the podcasts because they add a new dimension to The Timeshare Authority blog and a new way for you to stay on top of the latest developments in timeshare sales and timeshare resales and all the news of timesharing. Please be patient with us over the next few weeks as we work out the fine points of delivering you this new resource for timeshare information, making it easily accessible through as many channels as possible.

Sell My Timeshare Now Director of Communications Steve Luba discusses the real reason why the timeshare industry is in a holding pattern these days.

 

 The Timeshare Authority Launches New Podcast Service [3:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download