Today is the last day of the 2010 Ragatz Fractional Interest Conference, hosted at the Fairmont San Francisco and marks three days of learning and networking for representatives of the fractional and timeshare industries.
This fractional and timeshare industry conference has featured some 60 speakers focusing on the types of critical decisions consumers are making regarding marketing, financing, and sales. The speakers represent both the current fractional industry and that of the future, along with experts and advisors from related industries.
One of the much-anticipated highlights of this annual conference is always the release of the most current edition of the Ragatz Associates’ State of the Fractional Interest Industry Report. This report profiles the fractional industry in the US, Mexico, Canada, and the Caribbean.
This year’s co-host of the Ragatz Associates Fractional Interest Conference is The Registry Collection, which is the world’s largest luxury fractional exchange program, and includes a global network of condo hotels and fractional yachts.
Sell My Timeshare NOW has been proud to be part of this outstanding industry-wide fractional and timeshare event.
As if airline add-on fees aren’t bad enough, many hotels may be headed down the same unpopular path.
The TravelMole blog reports that more and more hotels will be adding charges for services such as holding your bags after checkout, bumping up the cost of room service, and tightening their policies (as well as upping their fees) for cancellations, early checkouts, or late check-ins.
Bjorn Hanson, an associate professor at New York University Tisch Center, says, “Despite a forecast for a continued decline in hotel rates in 2010, hoteliers will become more aggressive in collecting fees and surcharges this year.”
That is certainly not what any travelers or vacationers want to hear. And to add insult to the injury your wallet may feel, the fees will vary-not just from chain to chain-but from one hotel to the next within the same brand. This means that the service you take for granted as free at a hotel in Buffalo may cost you an add-on fee at the same branded hotel in Dallas. Travelers will be left with the feeling that they have to ‘ask first’ about every move they make, just to avoid surprise charges.
Thank You Timeshares
Perhaps your hotel stays pay you back in loyalty points, but no matter how many times you stay there, you will continue to pay out of pocket for your business travel or vacation accommodations when you stay in hotels and motels. Timeshare is a different story. Timeshare lets you lock in the cost of your vacation accommodations and then pay them off!
Buy timeshare and use it, and at the least you break even on the amount you would have been paying for hotel or vacation accommodations. More likely, especially when you buy right priced timeshare resales, you will save money over the years you own the timeshare.
There is not much most of us can do to stem the rising cost of living, but locking in the price of vacation accommodations with a timeshare resale makes more sense than ever before.
Where is the closest “foreign” vacation destination for many US travelers? Why the islands of the Caribbean, of course! And the turquoise waters, white or pink sand beaches, along with affordable prices for entertainment and dining make the Caribbean and Caribbean timeshares a popular choice for North American vacationers as well as those from Europe and South America.
Now, the Karma Royal Group, Asia’s largest independent resort developer, is catching the Caribbean holiday fever, too. Karma Royal Group has announced the development of Karma Bahamas, an upscale Karma Resort and the Asian timeshare company’s first Caribbean timeshare resort property. Through an agreement with Mango Bay Bahamas, owners of Little Harbour Island, this prime property will be developed as a Karma Resort Caribbean timeshare. The island is accessible by a five-minute boat ride or ferry from Harbour Island, where you find elegant private homes and villas, many of which belong to internationally known celebrities and Hollywood stars.
Caribbean Timeshare Luxury
Construction on Karma’s luxurious Caribbean timeshare is underway with the marina in place, and several timeshare villas already complete. At build-out, the Karma Bahamas Resort will feature deluxe three and four bedroom timeshare villas; smaller one, two, and three bedroom townhouses; and hotel suites. On site will be a Karma spa, gym, clubhouse, hotel amenities, and numerous restaurants.
Although this beautiful Caribbean timeshare is not yet complete, there are many ideal Caribbean timeshare resales and Caribbean timeshare rentals that offer affordable luxury and outstanding vacation opportunities including: Aruba timeshares; Bahamas timeshares; and US Virgin Islands timeshares.
To learn more about development of the Karma Bahamas Resort, visit: www.karmaresorts.com
Who’s buying Brazil timeshare and Venezuela timeshare right now? Brazilians and Venezuelans! Both countries recorded double-digit growth in the sale of timeshare and vacation ownership products last year, almost exclusively within the domestic market.
A recent Hotels Magazine online article cited the RCI Executive Summary noting that domestic timeshare buyers made 97 percent of Brazil timeshare sales last year for a total of over 14,300 weeks. Venezuelans purchased 99 percent of the Venezuela timeshares (a total of 12,700 weeks) sold in that country.
Perhaps responding to this trend, sixty-one Latin America timeshare resorts and Caribbean timeshare resorts became part of RCI timeshare exchange system in 2009. These additions brought the total number of Latin America timeshares affiliated with RCI timeshare exchange to 1,200.
The RCI Executive Summary also showed promising growth in Costa Rica, where several luxury projects have been started and in Argentina, Colombian, Uruguay, and Brazil where timeshare companies that may not have had a presence there previously are entering the market. Even Mexico, a vacation destination hit hard by fears of the S1N1 virus, added 22 resorts to the RCI affiliation inventory. Sixteen Caribbean timeshares and seven Brazil timeshares also became part of the RCI timeshare exchange.
RCI timeshare exchange publishes the RCI Executive Summary annually. A targeted 2010 Latin America and the Caribbean Vacation Ownership Fact Book will be released later this year.
From last week’s ARDA Conference in Las Vegas to this week’s TATOC Conference at the Nottingham Belfry in Nottingham, England, the timeshare industry is coming together in a big way sharing, planning, networking, and looking toward a bright future for timeshare owners worldwide. Today’s events at the TATOC Conference (The Timeshare Association) include registration, a reception, and dinner. Tomorrow the TATOC Conference really gets rolling with speakers and sessions until 5 PM, followed by the evening’s reception, dinner, and speaker. By Sunday afternoon, activities will begin to wrap, with the TATOC AGM session as the last scheduled event before lunch.
Stephen J. Cloobeck, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Diamond Resorts International® is the keynote speaker for the TATOC Conference. Diamond Resorts International® is one of the largest timeshare and vacation ownership companies in the world and has resorts in 26 countries worldwide.
Other Guest Speakers include Ramy Filo, President of ATHOC, who will be talking about timeshare sales and the timeshare market in Australia. “The response for the conference has been overwhelming and we are delighted that Ramy has been able to find the time to come and inform the delegates about the industry in Australia,” says Harry Taylor, CEO of TATOC.
Other The Timeshare Authority blog posts on the 2010 TATOC Conference:
Interval International, one of the two largest timeshare exchange companies has added an affiliation with the Emirates Vacation Club, a private residence club in Dubai. Timeshare exchange is consistently one of the top reasons timeshare owners cite for buying timeshare or timeshare resales.
Dubai timeshare was slower to enter the global timeshare market than European timeshare or US timeshare, but delayed their involvement only because governmental leaders wanted to lay careful groundwork for the Dubai timeshare industry, protecting the interests of both the country’s heritage and of prospective timeshare owners. Located in the United Arab Emirates, Dubai has already developed some of the most desirable and luxurious seaside resorts in the world, as forward-thinking leaders seek to create marketable resources for a global economy that could grow less and less dependent on Middle Eastern oil reserves in the future.
David Clifton, Interval’s managing director for Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Asia, says, “Interval International is excited to welcome Emirates Vacation Club to our network of resorts. This stunning urban property is the flagship resort of Emirates Grand, a hotel ownership and management company formed by Dr. Khalid M. Kadfoor Al-Mehairi, a well-respected attorney and resident of the UAE. We look forward to building on our close relationship with the company, as it adds high-quality properties in destinations throughout the Middle East to its portfolio.”
The Emirates Vacation Club will be built in phases with Phase I including 32 luxury condo units to be part of the 48-story Emirates Grand Hotel. The vacation club condos will include studio, one, and two-bedroom units with fully equipped kitchens and most with soaring views from floor to ceiling windows. Buyers can purchase fractional ownership of multiple weeks or single week intervals. Members of Interval International timeshare exchange have opportunities for timeshare exchange at this lavish resort.
Ashraf El Zarqa, chief operating officer for Emirates Grand says, “Our vision is to provide an outstanding level of luxury at affordable prices that appeal to consumers from around the world. Our initial primary markets include the Middle East, Europe, and Asia. We chose to affiliate with Interval International because of the quality resorts they offer and the great membership benefits they provide our owners.”
Each year more than 1600 couples plan their wedding for Walt Disney World Resort. Starting in 1991, the Orlando theme park has hosted over 30,000 weddings. Many wedding industry experts cite Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida as one of the top wedding and honeymoon destinations in the world.
The first Disney wedding to be hosted in the Wedding Pavilion (1995) was televised on Lifetime Television. Today, the Wedding Pavilion at Walt Disney World can host up to six weddings a day, but couples can choose to be married at many other locations throughout the resort. Park services easily handle up to 12 weddings per day within the resort’s four theme parks.
In addition to Cinderella’s Castle as a wedding backdrop, other popular themed weddings at the park include a safari theme at Disney’s Animal Kingdom; a Hollywood extravaganza at Disney’s Hollywood Studios; and international themes at Epcot. One couple even said their vows on Disney’s The Twilight Zone™ Tower of Terror.
A Disney Timeshare for a Lifetime of Magic Moments
A Disney themed wedding starts at just over $4000 and Disney offers several add-on honeymoon packages. But no one has money to throw around these days and a Disney timeshare resale offers a couple an excellent way to begin a lifetime of memorable vacations. For couples taking the plunge but who aren’t quite ready to plunge into becoming a timeshare owner, there are also excellent opportunities in right-priced Disney timeshare rentals.
The Disney timeshare resale a couple buys today would make a perfect anniversary destination for living happily ever after.
Check this video for more information from Disney Wedding planner Kori McFann.
Highlighting another great blog on The Timeshare Authority Blog Roll, we thank our friends at the Mousekingdom Blog, an excellent resource for anyone who loves Disney and the Walt Disney World theme parks.
The update on the Mousekingdom Blog last week is fair warning to Star Wars fans to plan their Orlando timeshare vacation to include a weekend in late May or early June. Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be celebrating the 30-year anniversary of the first release of the original Star Wars movie along with the new animated series The Clone Wars. During a month of weekend celebrations, park visitors will have the opportunity to met original cast members from the film series. Be on the lookout for Ewoks, Wookiees, Stormtroopers, and Jawas invading the park! You and your family can join Star Wars celebrities, Jedi Masters, and Sith Lords for special shows, presentations, memorabilia, and a chance to rub shoulders and gain autographs from the characters you know and love.
Hosting events for each of the four weekends will be Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett) and Ashley Eckstein (Ahsoka). From May 21-23, you’ll find Daniel Logan, Temuera Morrison, and Dee Bradley Baker at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Logan played both Boba Fett and all of the clone cadets in Episode II. Morrison starred as Jango Fett and as the clone troopers, and Baker is the voice of all the clone troopers (including Captain Rex) in Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
From May 28-30 look for Tom Kane, Lorne Peterson, and Matthew Wood in the theme park. Tom Kane is the voice of Yoda in The Clone Wars, and also the narrator who begins each show. Lorne Peterson is an ILM model-maker who worked behind the scenes on each of the six Star Wars movies. Matthew Wood was a sound editor on the Star Wars prequels and The Clone Wars and provided the voice of General Grievous and his battle droids.
Billy Dee Williams, Ray Park, and Dave Filoni will appear at the Hollywood Studios Park from June 4-6. Williams was Lando Calrissian. Ray Park is the villain Darth Maul from Episode I, and Dave Filoni is the supervising director of The Clone Wars.
And to wrap up the month-long event, on June 11-13, Peter Mayhew and James Arnold Taylor will be at the theme park, along with Ray Park who will be there for his second weekend. Mayhew was the beloved Chewbacca the Wookiee and Taylor is the voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi in The Clone Wars, as well as Plo Koon.
Plan Your Disney Timeshare or Orlando Timeshare Vacation
Just a reminder, Disney’s Hollywood Studios in NOT in Hollywood, so don’t schedule a California timeshare if you want to take in the Star Wars event. Instead, plan on a Disney timeshare in Florida or any of the great Orlando timeshares in order to be among the starry-eyed Star Wars fans who take part in this special celebration. Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park admission is required.
Again, thank you Mousekeeping for the head’s up!
Watch this video for a look at last year’s 2009 Disney Star Wars celebration courtesy of WDW Radio:
David Siegel, founder of Westgate timeshare, will reportedly attempt to sell some $350 million in assets. On the “for sale” list is the former Grenelefe Resort, near Haines City, Florida, which includes 432 condominium units, two golf courses, a marina, and 277 acres of undeveloped land.
Grenelefe Golf and Tennis Resort was, not so many years ago, as a popular Florida vacation destination. With a 50,000 square foot conference center, Grenelefe was a favorite site for smaller convention and meeting groups, boasted golf courses of such quality that they were frequently early stage qualifying sites for the PGA and Champions Tour events, and offered a tennis venue where Martina Navratilova and Andrea Jaeger both competed.
But time has not been kind to the resort since it was purchased by Westgate Resorts in a 2002 U.S. Bankruptcy Court proceeding from Sports Shinko, a Japanese company, for $12.75 million. During Westgate timeshare resort’ ownership there have been buyers interested in purchasing the property, but none has been able to gain sufficient backing and close the deal. As if to add insult to injury, Grenelefe Resort was hit by tornado-like winds last week, damaging 28 condo units and leaving 5 uninhabitable.
Westgate Resorts to Focus on Timeshare
Among other properties and assets scheduled to be sold by Westgate timeshares are River Ranch, which is a 1,700-acre dude ranch on the Kissimmee River (south of Orlando); real estate in Nevada, Missouri and Tennessee; a 500-room Ramada hotel in Kissimmee, FL; two private aircraft; and the rights to develop lodging on land near the entrance to Disneyland, Anaheim, California.
David Siegel was quoted by the Orlando Sentinel as saying, “We’re selling our non-time-share assets to raise cash for our time-share operations. We’re selling anything that we don’t currently need for our time-share [business].”
Adding to all the excitement about this coming week’s TATOC (The Timeshare Association) Conference in Nottingham Belfry, England, is this week’s release that Ramy Filo the President of the Australian Timeshare and Holiday Ownership Council, will be attending and speaking at the conference.
Filo is the CEO of Classic Group, which includes Classic Holidays; a timeshare resort management and timeshare sales company in Australia and Dial an Exchange, which is the third largest timeshare exchange company in the world.
Ramy Filo is also President of the Australian Timeshare and Holiday Ownership Council (ATHOC) representing the timeshare industry in Australia, and is Chairman of the Global Alliance for Timeshare Excellence (GATE), an alliance created by leaders of trade associations in Canada, the United States, Latin America, Europe, Argentina, the Middle East, South Africa, and Australia.
Harry Taylor, CEO of TATOC, says, “The response for the conference has been overwhelming and we are delighted that Ramy had seen able to find the time to come and be able to inform the delegates about the industry in Australia”.
Today is the last day of the 2010 Ragatz Fractional Interest Conference, hosted at the Fairmont San Francisco and marks three days of learning and networking for representatives of the fractional and timeshare industries. 
From last week’s ARDA Conference in Las Vegas to this week’s 
Adding to all the excitement about this coming week’s 
