Ed Hastry discusses the role of the NTOA in educating timeshare owners about the use of their timeshares and important issues facing the industry.

 

 Interview with Ed Hastry, President of the National Timeshare Owners Association [4:22m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

New guidelines for timeshare resale companies in the works by ARDA.

The Timeshare Resale Forum at last week’s American Resort Development Association Convention in Orlando was pretty exciting in terms of future directions for the timeshare industry. With roughly 100 participants from all areas of timeshare resales present, it was great to see such a strong level of participation and enthusiasm. Right now, ARDA is working to craft a much needed Code of Ethics for timeshare resale companies.

ARDA currently has a Code of Ethics that covers all member businesses. Complaints about a company or its practices are referred to the ARDA Ethics Committee for discussion and possible revocation of membership , depending on the severity of the complaint. The new guidelines will center more on timeshare resale companies and ARDA’s role in potentially policing them.

New ARDA Guidelines for Timeshare Resales

Three primary themes were discussed at the Forum: Disclosure, Transparency, and Enforcement. I could not feel more strongly about the pressing need for these types of guidelines for timeshare resales. If you read The Timeshare Authority regularly, you already know my conviction that standardizing timeshare sales, timeshare resales, and timeshare rentals benefits the timeshare industry just as much as it benefits the consumer.

Greater disclosure in the marketing and sale of timeshare resales would address areas such as costs, with the guidelines requiring all costs be discussed with the consumer at the start of the timeshare sales process, thereby eliminating the possibility for surprise, or ‘hidden fees’ cropping up later.

Transparency in the timeshare resales process would cover marketing practices and what the consumer will actually receive in services from a timeshare resale company. Transparency will also help standardize the reporting of the sales results a timeshare resales company achieves, as well as addressing how the company can use those claims in its marketing. In other words, timeshare buyers will be able to compare apples to apples when looking at the timeshare sales results published by different resale companies.

New timeshare resale guidelines for enforcement will deal more with ARDA’s role in holding timeshare resales companies accountable for their marketing, advertising, and sales practices. Like the guidelines in ARDA’s present code, after review by the Ethics Committee, ARDA members breeching the new resales code may be subject to expulsion from ARDA.

Sell My Timeshare NOW and the New Code of Timeshare Resale Ethics

As a part of the timeshare industry and an active member of ARDA, Sell My Timeshare NOW welcomes the additional scrutiny that an expanded code of ethics for the resale market will bring. Timeshare resale companies should provide information and verification about their timeshare sales results and the claims they make to consumers. In fact, I’ll go even further and call for independent, third party evaluations to substantiate these claims. As an industry, we need to do everything we can to raise the bar for integrity of standards in timeshare resales.

ARDA’s new timeshare resales guidelines are expected to be finished sometime this summer and The Timeshare Authority will keep you apprised of developments along the way.

Shep Altshuler publishes one of the most influential timeshare owners magazines in the country. He has a unique perspective on owner issues and shares his thoughts on the industry and what is important to today’s owners.

 

 Timesharing Today Magazine publisher Shep Altshuler discusses the state of the timeshare industry. [4:07m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Timeshare leaders at the ARDA Convention see a changing paradigm for timeshare companies.

Some of the most interesting conversations at the American Resort Development Association 2009 timeshare convention in Orlando, Florida this week have dealt with the timely topic of the slow (and in some cases stalled) credit market.

Yes, the timeshare companies are responding to this in logical ways. Marriott timeshare is requiring larger deposits from consumers buying timeshares. Other timeshare companies are setting shorter terms for timeshare financing sometimes paired with the requirement for a higher down payment. The goal is clearly to minimize the risk for default on the timeshare financing.

But along with stricter terms for financing there prevails, throughout the timeshare industry, a paradigm shift. As Franz Hanning, the president and Chief Executive Officer, of Wyndham Vacation Ownership (Wyndham Timeshare) explained, the desire is not to be a consumer financing company, but to be the vacation ownership industry. Hanning points out that although it is easy to find people who want to buy timeshare, today’s focus must be on finding people who are also qualified to buy timeshare. One of the comments made during the discussions was: ’650 is the new 600′ — meaning that consumer credit scores of 600 may no longer be the threshold for buying timeshare as timeshare companies look to reduce their risk by targeting timeshare sales to buyers who present a lower statistical risk of defaulting on their timeshare deal.

You might call the outlook one of “back to the basics” and it can only prove to be a highly positive direction for timeshare owners and the timeshare industry in general. With a back to the basics movement, you will see improved quality of service and a true value proposition with a sincere commitment to meeting (and perhaps exceeding) the needs of timeshare owners, timeshare buyers, and timeshare renters.

Projected result: a stable and top-quality timeshare industry with many happy timeshare owners.

Tuesday was another excellent and informative day at the American Resort Development Association Convention 2009.

In the General Session of the ARDA timeshare convention on Tuesday, we heard from the CEO’s of some of the leading timeshare development and vacation ownership companies. It was great to listen to them really drill down to what they see as the most important issues facing timeshares now and going forward.

The timeshare industry, albeit challenged by the economy and the slow credit market (just like nearly every other type of business in America today), is, in many ways, actually quite well positioned for the future. While there are exciting ideas for strengthening, growing, and generally rethinking the timeshare industry, today’s blog is focusing on the powerful linkage between travel and timeshare.

The travel industry is such a significant part of the US economic structure that it actually employs more people in this country than the auto manufacturers employ – an amazing one out of every eight Americans. As every overworked, under-vacationed person knows, travel and time for leisure is very important. Most people cover a surprising number of miles each year for work and non-vacation related personal reasons … and that type of travel is certainly necessary. But vacation travel is a necessity of a whole different kind. We take vacations because we want to; more importantly, we take them because our minds, bodies, and souls, need them!

Vacation travel gives us the opportunity to clear our heads, step away from our daily responsibilities, and reconnect with families and loved ones in fresh and exciting venues. Despite the economy, 54 percent of Americans in 2008 said they intended to go on a vacation. This year, that number is already up by another 10 percent. There is just too much information out there telling us that mentally and physically, vacationing is vital to our longevity, productivity, and overall well-being for us to eliminate it, even when personal budgets may be a tighter than usual. And the subject of travel, inevitably leads us back to the topic of timeshares, timeshare rentals, and timeshare resales.

Timeshare owners consistently report high rates of satisfaction with the product. Occupancy rates at timeshare resorts are strong. From any angle you view it, timeshare ownership or timeshare rentals offer affordable solutions for easy-to-plan, luxurious vacations. And the CEOs and thought leaders of the timeshare industry, speaking out at the ARDA Convention this week, recognize this connection as an important hinge pin that will help turn the timeshare industry away from its current economy-induced slump and into a profitable and promising future. As Stephen Weisz, president of Marriott Vacation Club International, assures, “timeshares will come back.”

Director of Communications Steve Luba discusses the latest ARDA initiatives with Lou Ann Burney, Vice President of Marketing and Communications for the American Resort Development Association.

 

 ARDA interview with Lou Ann Burney, VP of Marketing and Communications for ARDA: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download