The marketplace becomes increasingly more interesting in a world where the ‘rules’ of business are evolving before our very eyes. In an interesting move in brand building, Westin Hotels & Resorts (which includes Westin timeshare), launched the website (www.westin-hotelsathome.com) dedicated to selling their signature products. Their guests can continue the Westin Resort luxury experience long after they have checked out of the hotel or come to the end of their Westin timeshare vacation. Westin has even aligned with Nordstrom’s so you can purchase their famous bed sheets and other signature Westin items at your local mall.

Now the branding wizards at Westin Hotels & Resorts are taking the magic of their signature “10-layer Heavenly Bed®” to a new venue, making it available to the mainstream marketplace in a way no hotelier previous has done with its branded products—they are setting up shop on Amazon.com.

A New Marketing Avenue for Westin Resorts and Westin Timeshare

Westin’s innovative direction makes them the first hotelier to launch a branded storefront on Amazon.com. They will be using the Selling on Amazon program, a part of Amazon Services, which companies of all sizes, including solo-entrepreneurs, utilize for retailing their products.

Planned as a tool for expanding the company’s ‘wellness’ message, the Westin on Amazon storefront will sell Westin’s own Heavenly Bath collection and signature line of White Tea fragrance candles and diffusers along with compatible lines including: Tea Forté, Riedel, Kate’s Paperie, and Gaiam.

The branded Amazon store launches March 1, with an introductory gift of a $100 Amazon.com gift card to all hotel guests who stay twice mid-week from February 22 to May 13 and have preregistered on westin.com/balance.

Over the years, Westin Resorts have sold roughly 40,000 Heavenly Beds, more than 32,000 sheets, 100,000 pillows, and over 10,000 Heavenly spa bath products. When you think about it, what better way to nurture brand loyalty than by appealing to your market with a relaxing sensory experience that they can enjoy on a daily (and nightly) basis?

Starwood is the parent company of Westin timeshare and of Sheraton timeshare.

ABC7 News out of Los Angeles, California recently teamed up with Consumer Reports ShopSmart to look for ways to make vacationing more affordable.

They came up with-no surprise here-timeshare and timeshare rental!

As they reported on the ABC7 webpage, in an article titled, “Vacation bargains found in timeshare rentals“:

“Timeshares are a great way to vacation with the whole family since many of the properties have great amenities such as space and kitchens. But when ABC7 teamed up with Consumer Reports, we found that you don’t need to buy one to enjoy one.”

Here’s some of what the Consumer Reports team liked best about timeshare rental and timeshares:

• Timeshare exchange opportunities when you buy timeshare or timeshare resales.
• Spacious accommodations, with living rooms and eat-in dining areas.
• Kitchens available in many timeshare units.
• Exotic locations for your timeshare vacation.
• And the negotiability of timeshare resale and timeshare rental, which of course comes into play especially when you deal with by-owner timeshare opportunities.

Earlier this month, Sell My Timeshare NOW issued a press release on the opportunities of timeshare rental: $2.6 Million Last Year into the Hands of Timeshare Owners Using New Timeshare Rental Management Service.

We started a pilot program to help timeshare owners who want assistance in using their timeshare as a timeshare rental. The results have been outstanding and a proven win-win for both timeshare owners and vacationers who want to take advantage of the excellent deals available in timeshares for rent.

Early this year, The Timeshare Authority rolled out its Blog Roll. We listed blogs that we follow and that we think are helpful, useful, or entertaining to our readers. Some are blogs with multiple contributors and large followings; others are small, newly started, or simply so quirky that their niche of readership is limited. All are worth your time to check out.

Over the next few months, we will profile the blogs on the list, giving you more insight about each one. As time goes by, we will be adding new blogs to our list, and dropping blogs if activity falls off there and the blogger stops posting regularly.

Today we are directing your attention to the Absurd Adventurers blog, written by Kathryn and Caitlin. These two young adventurers have made their bucket list and have taken on the pursuit of accomplishing it, (even though they’d rather call it by some name other than a bucket list, just to ensure that no one confuses them with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman.)

Their merged list of 27 items (and still growing) is a good one. And we were struck by how many of their goals could realistically involve a timeshare. So we’ve taken a small part of their list and matched it with timeshare destinations. Our results are very interesting and just prove that owning timeshare and the opportunities of timeshare exchange can come in very hand in life, no matter your age and no matter what is on your personal bucket list:

Want to live out your own bucket list? Consider a timeshare exchange as a way for making this happen, providing you locked in accommodation prices at the most exciting destinations worldwide and wherever you personal bucket list may take you.

Partnerships are a powerful way to unite thought leaders in the timeshare and vacation ownership industries. So it is no surprise that Shari Levitin, CEO of both ePercipio (next generation software-as-a-service [SaaS] provider of e-learning solutions) and of the Levitin Group (a leading training company in the timeshare industry), has endorsed The Trades Publishing Company‘s two new Mobile Web sites.

These forward-thinking sites can be found at: www.ResortTrades.mobi and www.AskMandO.mobi. Both were launched earlier this month by 6 Dimensions Consulting to provide business-to-business access to timeshare and vacation ownership industry news via cell phones and personal handheld devices using Bluetooth technology.

Dora Edmonson, co-owner of 6 Dimensions consulting says, “We saw great similarity between Shari’s and The Trades’ interest in providing greater access to online communications tools. Like Shari might tell you, today’s technology promotes communications from ‘the one to the many.’”

Why the Timeshare Industry Counts on The Trades Publishing

The Trades Publishing Company has been a leader in providing timeshare and vacation ownership industry news for almost thirty years. With a subscriber list of some 9700 readers, the Trades publications (including www.ResortTrades.com; Resort Trades, Resort Trades’ Management & Operations magazine; and www.AskMandO.com) are all driven exclusively by advertising sales.

Managing Director David Kerr explains that The Trades is committed to being a technology innovator, a philosophy they clearly share with innovator, Shari Levitin.

…When industry leaders join forces advancing services and pioneering ideas, everyone from timeshare developers to timeshare owners benefits.

How about going shopping as a way to pay your RCI timeshare exchange membership fees?

Sounds good, doesn’t it? And it should.

RCI Shopping Perks are the news program launched by RCI timeshare exchange to make timeshare ownership easier and a little more fun to enjoy. RCI timeshare exchange subscribing members, who are also US residents, can visit a virtual shopping mall, via the RCI website. All they need to do is sign in at RCI.com, and then click on the “Member Perks” tab. From there, they can shop by merchant, geographic region, or by specific merchandise or service offered.

Through RCI Shopping Perks, timeshare owner members can shop hundreds of merchants and vendors, take advantage of price comparison options, and then use the RCI earned perk rewards they receive for each purchase made through the site to pay for RCI membership fees, timeshare exchanges, and other timeshare and travel related benefits.

Geoff Ballotti, CEO of RCI explains, “Like other technology advancements, we’ve introduced to our members, including Enhanced Search capabilities and our innovative RCI® TV network, the RCI Shopping Perks program is another way we are providing value to our members while helping to make their visit to RCI.com fun and enjoyable.”

It is good to see fair, accurate, and positive press lately regarding timeshares, timeshare sales, and timeshare exchange. The naysayers who present vacation ownership and timeshare vacation rentals as only being about timeshare scam do a real injustice to the industry, to the hardworking people whose daily objective is improving the vacation experience for others, and to consumers who could be enjoying affordable vacationing through timeshare resales and timeshare rentals.

Last week, the Miami Herald took an objective look at timeshare exchange, focusing on Interval International, which happens to be a Miami-based company.

Interviewing Jon Fredricks of Welk Resorts, a California timeshare company, the article quoted Fredricks as saying, “In this economy, you’re seeing more people wanting to drive to their exchange, with less use of airlines. Vegas is not in favor as it once was. I think Interval has had to adjust to those changes alone.”

Fredricks’ point is critical: timeshare owners and timeshare renters may be vacationing differently because of the economy, but they are still making use of timeshare ownership and the opportunities of timeshares.

A Changing Profile for Timeshare Owners

Timeshare owners have always leaned on timeshare companies to offer more flexibility. Because of this, over the years, the options of timesharing have changed considerably. But with all the stresses and economic pressures many people are feeling these days, they’ve upped their demands even more.

Here’s what timeshare owners have always wanted in timeshare exchange:

• Flexibility in exchanging one date or property for another.
• The opportunity to exchange timeshare or timeshare points for cruises and other travel amenities in addition to timeshare.

And here’s their new list of add-ons:

• Shorter lead-time for making timeshare exchange.
• More drive-to timeshare vacation destinations.
• Shorter vacation intervals, something most timeshare companies are already striving to offer.

Currently, Interval International timeshare exchange has a network of over 2500 timeshare resorts, representing some 75 countries worldwide. Last year, in response to their member requests, Interval international timeshare exchange launched their ShortStay Exchange Program. Through this option, gold members can deposit their timeshare interval or points and exchange it for one or more vacations of two to six days in length. These ShortStay timeshare exchanges are made online at IntervalWorld.com

According to Interval CEO Craig Nash, “We’re always looking at product development.” He adds, so far the program is, “tracking nicely.”

Other Options for Timeshare Exchange

As the Herald article points out, Interval International timeshare exchange is second in size as a timeshare exchange company to RCI Exchange. Also there are many other timeshare exchange companies that may have smaller inventories of timeshare exchange properties but are targeted to a specific region, resort group, or type of resort. Additionally, Timeshare Users Group, which most timeshare owners know as TUG, offers timeshare exchange along with ads for timeshare resales to its member participants.

While fees may be cheaper in smaller groups, timeshare owners are not likely to have as much flexibility as with a larger timeshare exchange company. Lisa Ann Shreier, author of Timeshare Vacations for Dummies and co-author of Timeshare Management, makes a valid point in saying this about timeshare exchange companies, “They do facilitate the trading process. It makes it easier if 2,000 people are depositing their weeks into a pool.”

And any timeshare discussion always comes down to one important point: timeshare exchange is -and always has been- one of the significant reasons people buy timeshare.

If you have been watching the Winter Olympics from Canada’s beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia, in addition to spectacular winter sports competitions, you have no doubt heard announcers mention that the 8,893 kilometer border between Canada and the US is the longest border between any two countries in the world.

So it is no surprise that across this expansive geographical connection, which already extends deep trade relations, an extensive tourism exchange, and just a warm, “feel good” bond between the two countries, a strong alliance in the timeshare industry would also surface.

ARDA -the American Resort Development Association- and CRDA -the Canadian Resort Development Association- have committed to an allied working relationship. (See: Canada Timeshare Association (CRDA) and US Timeshare Association (ARDA) Announce Expanded Relationship).

As Ross Perlmutter, President of CRDA explains, “…In many ways, there truly has never been a better time for a strategic alliance between the two associations. The Canadian Dollar is approaching parity with the US Dollar, both regions’ consumers tend to travel back and forth across the others’ borders, and both countries are facing similar challenges and concerns.”

Winter Sports and Canada Timeshare

Even if you never strap on a pair of skis, it is impossible to view the scenic vistas at the 2010 Winter Olympics and not long to spend a little time exploring the beauty and vastness of Canada. Canada timeshare offers an ideal setting for a year-round selection of sports, shopping, exploring, and relaxing.

Three possibilities to consider if you long to visit the same beautiful locations you are seeing during this year’s Olympic games are:

1. Vancouver timeshare rentals
2. Clocktower at Whistler timeshare
3. Whistler timeshare resale

And with timeshare associations including ARDA and CRDA working aggressively to guide and advance vacation ownership you can confidently enjoy excellent opportunities in Canada timeshare and Canada timeshare resales.

More Winter Olympics 2010 Fun

Have you seen the YouTube of the FlashMob dance last Saturday in the streets of Vancouver? What incredible fun!

When the Clinton Inn Hotel in Tenafly, New Jersey redesigned itself to be suitable for travelers with autistic children, it got us thinking about how well timeshare resorts serve many people with unique needs.

As we all know from recent news stories, autism is a problem increasing at an alarming rate. In some areas of the US, the risk is as high as 1 in every 93 births. So it both made tremendous sense and was a great act of compassionate consideration when Tony Morreale, the hotel’s manager, decided to make a few simple changes to make the Clinton Inn Hotel more suitable for guests with autistic children.

The hotel switched furniture with sharp corners for furniture with rounded corners, changed to more décor items that are fixed rather than movable, changed glassware to plastics, affixed flat screen TV’s to the wall, added safety latches to cupboards and drawers, and added a door alarm that tells parents if their child tries to leave the room.

Timeshares and Special Needs Guests

I have yet to hear of timeshare resorts taking these specific actions with autistic children in mind; however, all of these steps are simple and would actually be very beneficial to any parent of small children. Many toddlers are prone to opening doors they shouldn’t and exiting during the night (as are some teens). A door alarm would certainly be helpful and would even give guests a greater sense of security that no one was either entering or exiting.

Everyone who has ever hit their shin on the furniture in the middle of the night would appreciate rounded corners on tables and chests, and let’s face it, many hotels have been affixing décor items in place for years, just as an anti-theft precaution.

If your timeshare resort isn’t already taking these steps, you might want to encourage it, talking about it with the management or your Homeowners Association. After all, timeshares already offer so many benefits to people with special needs, that making these changes would be ideal.

Why Timeshares Make Sense for Families with Special Needs

• Many timeshare units offer kitchens and eat in dining so timeshare vacations are ideal for anyone on a special diet or a family that has to deal with multiple dietary restrictions.
• The spaciousness of timeshares makes it easier to travel with a sitter or nurse for a special needs family member.
• Roomy timeshares also give people with mobility limitations more space for crutches, wheelchairs and other appliances.
• Video games and DVD players in most timeshares can be great entertainment for family members who are not as active and may choose to bypass some vacation activities.
• New US timeshare resorts are fully compliant with accessibility regulations and older resorts must comply within levels of acceptability by the federal guidelines. To make it easier for you to find out what facilities are available at which resorts, Sell My Timeshare NOW maintains a database of Wheelchair Accessible Timeshare Resorts

See: A Guide to Disability Rights Law

 

Topics: Timeshare, Timeshare Blog, Timeshare News, Vacation

In Duck, North Carolina, the timeshare and common area homeowners association Board of Directors of Barrier Island Station has hired SPM Resorts as property managers.

SPM Resorts already manages 30 timeshare resort properties and serves the needs of approximately 100,000 timeshare owners, primarily at timeshare resorts along the US Eastern seaboard. As SPM Resorts President/COO Bill Young explains, “The Board of Directors will be depending on us not only to manage the large staff required by a resort of this size, but to keep accurate and efficient track of the books and to improve communication with the homeowners. We are excited to begin implementing some of the successful management tools we’ve developed during our 30 years of experience in timeshare to bring Barrier Island Station back to the level that our homeowners deserve.”

Why Barrier Island Station Timeshare Resort Suddenly Gets Very Interesting

Barrier Island Station timeshare resort at Duck is a beachside destination in one of the northernmost communities on North Carolina’s Outer Banks. With both the Atlantic Ocean and the Currituck Sound for water sports, timeshare owners can enjoy windsurfing, swimming, boating, rafting, sailing, fishing, and beach time. Barrier Island Station timeshare at Duck is also conveniently located within walking distance to the quaint shopping area of Duck. A selection of nearby restaurants in Kill Devil Hills and Kitty Hawk add to the resort’s desirability.

But, here’s why the new property management at this timeshare resort is so important. Barrier Island Station timeshare offer something that money cannot buy – one of the most private and minimally-used beach areas along North Carolina’s Outer Banks. On top of that, rooms are spacious and timeshare owners there generally have very positive reports on the helpfulness of the staff …all very important for the quality of your timeshare vacation experience.

When timeshare owners and vacationers at this resort have complained, in recent years it has been about the lack of sufficient cleanliness of timeshare units there and a general sense of items such as the linens being old and worn. Clearly bedsheets are easily replaced, but a beach that affords privacy and peace is an amenity that is hard to put a price on. When you hear Bill Young say, “We are looking forward to assisting Barrier Island in maintaining a sparkling-clean, fun facility, which will add to the enjoyment of vacationers and encourage them to return year after year,” you can’t help but feel good about the future of things to come for timeshare owners at Barrier Island Station.

Keep your eye on Barrier Island Station; this duck could turn into a real swan.

Perspective Magazine joins impressive list as corporate sponsor for Women in the Industry (WIN).

We write frequently about the movers and shakers at WIN, the non-profit association that educates, advocates, and connects women in the vacation and timeshare industry. Today, The Timeshare Authority is updating you on WIN’s new corporate sponsor, Perspective Magazine.

Sharon Mattimoe, publisher of Perspective Magazine, explains, “I’ve been an individual supporter of Women in the Industry since its inception at ARDA nearly two years ago, and whilst we have given WIN exposure in the past in our Global publication, now that we have a dedicated North America version and are heavily involved in the US marketplace, we felt it was time to get on board officially and provide ongoing support and additional media exposure for WIN. We plan on doing all we can to get the word out and encourage membership enrollment.”

Watch for women of WIN at the American Resort and Development Association (ARDA) Convention in Las Vegas on March 16, where they will be hosting their annual networking event. You can find out more about WIN and how you can become a corporate sponsor by contacting: Lani Kane-Hanan at 407-513-6634 or Cathy Backus at 858-344-2139.