Brooke Doucha, senior manager of corporate communications at Orange Lake Resorts offered some very sound insights in an article that appeared last week in RCI Ventures (Alert! Alert! Positive timeshare positioning is just 5 steps away.)

Like all search engine optimization-savvy businesses, Holiday Inn Vacations monitors Google Alerts, to stay current on what is being said and written about their resorts and other aspects of timeshares. Brooke wisely points out that many of the negative comments about timeshares that appear in the media are based on perceptions, while comments based on experience with timeshares are generally positive. In other words, some of the criticism you hear of timeshare has more to do with perception than with reality. Timeshares are not the right vacation choice for everyone, yet year after year, industry research validates that roughly 86 percent of timeshare owners are highly satisfied with vacation ownership.

In the end, no matter what the cause, everyone in the timeshare industry—whether they are timeshare sellers, developers, management companies, marketing companies, timeshare brokers, timeshare resales, or timeshare rental companies—shares the responsibility for changing any poor image that people may have about timeshares. And the only way to do this is to conduct business in ways that are transparent and above reproach and then to keep sharing that message in every possible way.

As Brooke points out, listing five ways that the timeshare industry can foster positive impressions, “we can make a difference and overcome these impressions.” Be sure you read her article at www.RCIVentures.com