On September 9, the American Resort Development Association (ARDA) launched a new website designed to benefit consumers, vacationers, timeshare owners, and everyone who needs a little more vacation time worked into his life.

VacationBetter.org is an online resource created to help you learn more about vacation ownership and educate you on ways to travel better … vacation better … and in general enjoy relaxation and recreation more in your life.

Howard Nusbaum, ARDA president and CEO was quoted in the association’s official press release as saying, “People love to vacation, but don’t always understand that there are great options like timeshare available to them.”

Recognizing that as a society we are over worked and under vacationed, this excellent new website seeks to help people “vacation better.” As satisfied timeshare owners already know, timeshare can afford you some of the easiest solutions out there for planning and enjoying a great vacation. The VacationBetter website tells us that timeshare industry research shows the top stress points related to a vacation are:

1. Planning it.
2. Agreeing on destination.
3. Cost.
4. Having activities to suit all.
5. Uncertainty of what the room will be like.

But for timeshare owners, these 5 problems all go away because timeshare eliminates the stress of planning, gives you great flexibility in your choice of destination, lets you keep the cost of vacation accommodations under control, and offers luxurious resorts that are loaded with amenities to suit every member of the family.

Timeshare … it really is your vacation better solution.

I just spent a couple of outstanding days in Breckenridge, Colorado, at the ARDA (American Resort Development Association) Rockies Regional Meeting. The meeting was excellent in several ways, the first being the location. The Beaver Run Resort & Conference Center that hosted the event is a classic Colorado condo-hotel ski resort with ski-in/ski-out access condos.

And of course, there is nothing any better than the chance to spend a few days in the mountains of Colorado. The skies were incredibly blue and the air had that crisp edge of freshness. Sell My Timeshare NOW was proud to be a Gold Sponsor of this very informative meeting, one of a series of ARDA regional meetings in which we have participated as a Gold Sponsor.

If you are not familiar with ARDA, they are the Washington D.C. based professional association that represents the vacation ownership and resort development industries. In 2009, ARDA celebrates 40 years of service to timeshare owners and the timeshare industry. Their membership is nearly 1,000 strong including privately held companies, publicly traded companies, and international corporations involved in the vacation ownership industry. ARDA’s membership also includes resort management companies, timeshare owner associations (HOAs), and owners through the ARDA Resort Owners Coalition (ARDA-ROC).

The Changing Face of Timeshare Ownership

ARDA Regional Meetings are an important time of learning, exchanging ideas, networking, problem solving, and generally getting things done. One of many topics that was addressed was a very interesting trend in timeshare ownership demographics.

Many people think of timeshare owners as typically falling into the Baby Boomer generation, and in many ways that is still true, although the profile of the new timeshare buyer and timeshare resale buyer includes more and more young couples and individuals all the time. However, there is also another way younger couples are becoming timeshare owners these days and that is through passing down deeded timeshare ownership within families.

This makes for an interesting new dynamic in timeshare ownership and ARDA, as well as the timeshare industry as a whole, is on top of it. Today’s timeshare owner may be a Boomer, a Gen X, Gen Y, Millennium, or Gen Me, meaning that vacation ownership resorts are learning to respond to a variety of generational and cultural issues. It also means that it is an interesting and exciting time to become a timeshare owner.

Be sure you visit The Timeshare Authority next week, when I will be sharing updates about ARDA’s new website www.vacationbetter.org

The situation with the airlines in the US is getting scary. According to information released by the Travel Industry Association, 41 million flights that typically would have been booked over the past 12 months have not been. In other words, the US economy failed to earn more than $26 billion because travelers decided against flying.

Americans are unhappy (justifiably) with the rising costs of airfares. We don’t like overbooked flights, being packed into planes like sardines, or being nickel and dimed over peanuts, sodas, and a suitcase that weighs too much. The study, conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates and The Winston Group showed that most people do not think things are going to improve any time soon.

Twenty-eight percent of air travelers avoided at least one air trip this past year, which translates to 12 million business trips and 29 million vacations annually or about 112,000 flights not booked each day. Airlines lost $9 billion in revenue; hotels lost $6 billion, while restaurants lost about $3 billion. But we all lost nearly $4 billion in federal, state, and local government tax money that was not collected on these services.

The Economic News Is Still Good for Timeshares

Timeshares are still weathering the declining economy pretty well. People are recognizing them as a smart alternative to hotel rooms and are buying timeshare to lock in the price of accommodations at today’s rates. Timeshare resales are particularly strong because people understand that buying timeshare as a resale property makes good economic sense. At Sell My Timeshare NOW, offers run more than $1 million dollars per day to buy timeshare or rent timeshare advertised on our website. Over the upcoming days, when the American Resort Development Association (ARDA) releases their annual State of the Industry report, I will be providing you more information about timeshare sales in the US.

What Timeshare Owners Can Do During These Tough Times

Each one of us has to write a plan that is good for our families and our futures in dealing with the challenges of the US economy. But in as much as you can, remember that the worst thing that can happen to the economic future of the US is if we all stop spending. Instead, look for ways you can cut back in some areas - like switching from a hotel room to a timeshare rental, or sharing the cost of a timeshare with friends or another family. Millions of families depend on incomes from the airlines and the travel and tourism industries; and if we all stop spending, we will snap the wings off the airline industry and force restaurants and vacation attractions into bankruptcy.

To learn more about timeshare resale and timeshare rentals, visit Sell My Timeshare NOW.

More than 120 representatives of the timeshare sales and timeshare resales industry met June 2-3 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire to learn how they can play a proactive role in saving the environment.

The event was the 2008 ARDA New England Regional Meeting, and was opened by Ray Sirois, IT Director for Wright-Pierce, a civil engineering firm in Topsham, Maine. Sirois is one of approximately 2000 people worldwide who have been trained to give the presentation about climate change that Al Gore gave in his documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth”.

Here are some of the disturbing facts that Sirois shared with the group:

• Nine of the past ten years have been the hottest on record.
• At the current rate of carbon emissions into the atmosphere, Massachusetts will have the same climate as present-day South Carolina and sea level will rise by 2 feet by the end of the century.
• Nationwide, the production of electricity is the number one contributor to greenhouse gasses; but in New England, transportation is the number one culprit.
• Researchers at Princeton estimate that carbon emissions can be cut in half by 2050 by using technologies that already exist, but need to be put into place. The solution must include a combination of technologies (solar power, wind power, etc.) because the problem is so great and so pervasive.

The message was clearly that the time for change is now. Timeshare companies must step up as leaders in the hotel and leisure industry to show that we are taking responsible actions ourselves, and that we are setting an example for timeshare buyers, sellers, and timeshare renters.

To read the full Sell My Timeshare NOW press release on the meeting, follow this link.

And in case you have missed seeing An Inconvenient Truth, here is a YouTube link to the film’s trailer.

Do you know that you can resell your residential home (or any other type of real estate) without hiring a real estate agent or Realtor(r) to assist you? Of course you know that, and you’d be indignant and probably downright angry if it was any other way.

If you own a home, a piece of land, an office building, or other type of property, you have choices when it comes to reselling it. You can handle the sale yourself or hire a real estate professional to help you. You can use a buy-owner company to assist with part of the process, or you can select a range of services, from title agents to real estate attorneys, using only those you need to help you.

And the fact that no law requires you to buy or sell real estate from a real estate professional hasn’t done a thing to harm the real estate industry as a whole. In fact, the diversity of ways to sell is part of what makes the industry competitive and fair.

Millions and millions of people, who have sold their homes by a method, other than hiring a real estate professional, will tell you that they saved a lot of money that would have gone to an agent or a broker for advertising and showing the property or other fees that are paid as part of the commission. You also see the same ads on television that I see, with testimonials from people who have used a buy-owner real estate company to help them sell their homes, and are thrilled with the money they saved, or other features of the service they received. And as with anything, there are stories of people who tried to sell property themselves, and for whatever reason, got burned and wished in hindsight they had used a Realtor(r).

In any industry, including those that involve the sale of real estate, and those that involve the sale of timeshare real estate, there are good services and bad ones; there are services that work well for one person but maybe not for another. But American business is built on our freedom to choose to work with companies that we think, best serve our individual needs.

Ways to Sell Timeshare and Timeshare Resales

Timeshare developers, timeshare resellers, and timeshare advertising and marketing companies are all valid and contributing parts of the timeshare industry. Professional associations, such as ARDA, the American Resort Development Association, recognize this and support all factions of the industry.

While a few timeshare developers offer buy-back programs, the majority does not, leaving timeshare owners to come up with their own ways to sell timeshare they no longer wish to own.

Some people have a network of personal contacts that is so large, and a way to get the word to all of them, that they can sell timeshare themselves. But most of us don’t, nor do we want to hit on our friends and family members, trying to convince them to buy timeshare from us.

Some people want to sell timeshare but be separate from the process, letting someone else handle all the details, and for them it may be a great idea to work with a timeshare broker. And other people, just need help marketing their timeshare resale or perhaps handling the closing paperwork. The right choice for them could be a timeshare advertising and marketing company or perhaps a timeshare title transfer company. But it all goes back to choices…

Real Estate and Timeshare Real Estate in the US

Let’s face it. The residential real estate market in the US is about as bad as it has been in many years. But who do we blame for that? We can lay part of the blame on the rising price of oil that leaves people pumping larger and larger chunks of their paychecks into their gas tanks, with less and less money to spend on a new home.

We can blame a greedy element of the mortgage industry, that put people into mortgages that were so riddled with hidden charges the people couldn’t get out of them before the one obvious cost - that ever- adjusting interest rate, soared through the roof. We can blame politicians, heads of business, or just a predictable swing in the pendulum of life, but we can’t logically say that buy-owner or help-u-sell real estate services are to blame for the falling value of home prices. And it wouldn’t make any sense to say that timeshare resale companies are responsible for the resell price you can or can’t get for your timeshare property.

Whether you are looking at residential real estate, timeshare deeded property, timeshare points, or something totally different like new and used refrigerators, things sell for what the market will bear. People, not companies, set prices by what they are willing or able to pay.

New cars sell for prices that are comparably much higher than the price for which used cars sell. And new cars will continue to sell for that higher price because we are willing to pay the price, and because auto manufacturers spend huge dollars on advertising to convince you to buy their product instead of someone else’s. When that same car is resold, the second buyer pays market value (the price the market will bear) because he or she no longer has to absorb the cost of the car manufacturer’s pricey advertising.

The lower resell price has nothing to do with the used car dealer; it is just a fact of economics that applies in much the same way for resale timeshares as it does to resale automobiles. The economics of this aren’t complicated, but sometimes, you have to keep explaining them over and over again, because a few people, just don’t get it.

A Texas-based timeshare resales brokerage, that is a division of Stroman Realty, Inc., has released an interesting study on timeshare resales buying trends for transactions handled within their company. The study looked at timeshare sales based on the size of the timeshare unit, the location, and other factors that influence a consumer’s decision to buy timeshare. It also reported on trends that affect timeshare resales across the industry, such as why people resell timeshare or what marketing media best reaches potential timeshare buyers.

Like the research Sell My Timeshare NOW released earlier this year, both studies found that people don’t typically resell timeshare because they are unhappy with it, but more often because it no longer suits their lifestyle, needs, or the way they vacation.

One observation that came from this timeshare resales study is this, “As consumer internet usage has increased, the Timeshare Resale Industry has benefited significantly from the use of the Internet to advertise units for sale. This is because timeshare owners/sellers have never been able to use signage to help with their marketing due to resort restrictions. Since about 1995, the Internet has created an interactive growing conduit for timeshare property information utilized by buyers, wholesalers, brokers, and sellers. The Internet is the single largest factor that has improved the market for timeshare resales.”

Above all else, the study, like research developed for ARDA and research by timeshare developers, reinforces the idea that timeshare sales - both of new timeshare and timeshare resales - are on a very positive upward trend, and that consumer’s confidence in the timeshare or vacation ownership industry increases every year.

In other words, it is a good time to buy timeshare. And it is a good time to sell timeshare. Whatever your needs, at this point in your life, find a reliable, highly rated company to assist you and then move forward confidently with your timeshare transaction.

I am thrilled to be part of the 2008 ARDA Convention & Exposition. When this, the largest event for the timeshare and resort industry, meets in Las Vegas in April, I will be one of the presenters of a program titled: SEM, SEO, SMO & SOS! A Website Traffic Rescue.

Paul Savage of Savage Direct Marketing, Marc Saxe of Resort Opportunities, and Greg Anton of Avitech will be my fellow presenters. Together, we are spreading the message that if your business has a website, then you absolutely must know what these acronyms mean, and how to make them work for you.

One of the many exciting things about the ARDA convention is that it involves people from all areas of the timeshare and resort industry, including management, resort operations, development, and marketing. Every one of these people’s livelihoods is directly affected by the decisions their company makes, or fails to make, about maintaining a strong web presence. And search engine marketing, social media optimization, and search engine optimization, are only the beginning of the important internet marketing strategies businesses must utilize for reaching and serving clients via the world wide web.

What the Internet Can Mean for Timeshare Sales and Timeshare Resales

Sell My Timeshare NOW knows and understands just how critical the internet is to business today. It has been less than five years since we started our timeshare resales and timeshare rentals advertising and marketing company with three people working from home computers. Today, we employ over 100 people in our Dover, New Hampshire office and have satellite offices across the US. Our website, www.sellmytimesharenow.com, attracts more than 1.7 million visitors each month. These are people who are looking to buy timeshare, sell timeshare, or rent timeshare. In a very short time, our timeshare company has grown to be a leader in the industry today.

Some of our website visitors show up because they have entered our company’s web address in their web browser. Yet, thousands and thousands of other potential timeshare buyers or timeshare sellers come to us because they type terms such as, “buy timeshare,” or “Florida timeshare” into their search engine and consistently, the search engine lists Sell My Timeshare NOW, at or near the top of the list. In 2007, we presented our clients who want to sell timeshare or rent timeshare with more than $247 million in offers to buy or rent. The internet is a powerful tool, and it’s a message I never get tired of teaching; I can’t wait for the upcoming ARDA Convention & Exposition.

Links to Sell My Timeshare NOW’s most recent press release:

• Timeshare Internet Advertising Trailblazer to Speak at National Convention

The 2008 ARDA Convention & Exposition will be held next month, April 6-10, at the Venetian Resort Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. This is the top event in the resort and timeshare industry and it will draw some 5000 attendees from more than 40 countries worldwide.

Speakers at the ARDA Convention

Each year the ARDA Convention & Exposition offers resort and timeshare professionals the most up-to-date information on services and new directions within the industry. For the 2008 convention, Rick Barrera will be the keynote speaker. Barrera is a nationally recognized speaker, marketing consultant and acclaimed author. He is probably best known for his unique approach to brand building and holistic customer service. Barrera’s strategies can be seen in use today by such business giants as Google, Hummer, and Tivo.

In tomorrow’s Timeshare Owners Blog, I will be sharing information about a few of the ARDA Convention’s other speakers and panelists, including the panel on which I will be presenting. Here is also a link to Sell My Timeshare NOW’s most recent press release about the ARDA Convention.

Entertainment at the ARDA Convention

As if just being in Las Vegas isn’t entertaining enough, the ARDA Convention includes a performance by Terry Fator. If you are not familiar with this multi-talented entertainer, then the idea of watching a ventriloquist may not seem too exciting.

Think again. Terry Fator, winner of last year’s American’s Got Talent competition on NBC, is one of the single most entertaining, genuinely talented performers today.

I have attached a YouTube video of Fator during his first televised appearance on the, America’s Got Talent competition. Once you watch this first video, you may want to go back and view the many others available on Fator’s website or on YouTube - he is guaranteed to brighten your day.

At Sell My Timeshare NOW, we recently completed a study on the reasons motivating people to sell timeshare they currently own. Looking closely at the key indicators, we concluded that the slow US economy does not figure as prominently among the reasons people sell timeshare as you might expect.

Our research involved nearly 1000 timeshare owners, all of whom had expressed a desire to sell timeshare they currently own as deeded property, right to use property, or vacation club membership weeks. We ran the survey for more than four months, and our demographic included a cross section of timeshare owners.

Why Timeshare Owners Decide to Sell Timeshare

On March 5, Sell My Timeshare NOW issued a press release on the findings of our timeshare owner survey. Our research revealed that 28.5 percent of the timeshare owners surveyed say: they just don’t use their timeshare anymore. Another 21.4 percent say they have experienced a change in their family situation, such as a divorce or their children no longer vacation with them, which motivates them to sell timeshare. In other words, lifestyle changes account for the reason almost half of all timeshare sellers decide to sell timeshare weeks or vacation club memberships.

Happy Timeshare Owners

While we all hear the grumblings of unhappy timeshare owners, maybe that’s a case of the “squeaky wheel” getting the attention…the majority of timeshare owners seem to just be busy planning and enjoying timeshare vacations.

Statistics from ARDA (the American Resort Development Association) have consistently shown a high rate of satisfaction among timeshare owners. Nearly 85 percent of all timeshare owners ARDA surveyed say they are satisfied with their timeshare purchase. Our study, at Sell My Timeshare NOW, expands on this information, showing that among people who are ready to sell timeshare, less than one percent are doing so because they do not like the resort or the amenities. Additionally only 4.6 percent sell timeshare because they feel it is too difficult to exchange timeshare for other dates or other locations.

Click here, to read the media release on the Sell My Timeshare NOW study or here to go to the Sell My Timeshare website and learn more about the opportunities in timeshare resales and timeshare rentals.

Local author and columnist, Laura Bricker, has an interesting perspective on timeshare sales based on her recent timeshare vacation to Florida. You can read “Psst, Wanna Buy a Timeshare?” at SeaCoastOnline.com

While her account of her experiences is accurate, her assessment that the timeshare resort industry is in trouble is not…but who can blame her for thinking this when you look at the way some timeshare real estate is sold?

Laura Bricker and family might have enjoyed their Florida timeshare vacation even more if they hadn’t been subjected to aggressive overtures from timeshare salespeople who approached them on the beach and even while driving. They were offered cash and other incentives to attend timeshare presentations. The unprofessional and desperate tactics of some timeshare sellers would leave anyone to assume that timeshare real estate is on its last leg.

In fact, timeshare sales of both new timeshare weeks purchased directly from developers and timeshare weeks and timeshare condos purchased as resales have never been better. According to the American Resort Development Association, known as ARDA, vacation ownership (new timeshare sales) has increased every year during the past decade, growing at an annualized rate of 16 percent. And in 2007, Sell My Timeshare NOW, presented its customers just over $274 million in offers to buy timeshare or rent timeshare - that’s an 18 percent increase in dollar amount over offers presented in 2006. Further proof of the strength of timeshare sales is the fact that major hoteliers all continue to expand their timeshare resort offerings worldwide. In fact, many sources in the hospitality and tourism industries claim that timeshare sales are the fastest growing segments of their business.

It’s a shame that heavy-handed sales tactics are still being used as part of timeshare sales. Timeshare ownership is a good product that brings a great deal of satisfaction to many people and doesn’t deserve the “bad rap” a few overzealous sales people give it.

To learn more about buying timeshare resales from their current owner, visit Sell My Timeshare NOW, where no salespeople will ever flag down your car or disturb you as you relax on the beach.