Research and Markets, a firm that bills itself as the world’s largest market research resource, has released a report saying that globally, the vacation ownership industry holds strong market potential. The 40-page report cites as evidence of this, the fact that, “the US economy is facing the challenges of a slump in the housing market and an increase in fuel prices…(but) the vacation ownership industry has not fallen to the economic woes and is fairly insulated from the economic performance.”

The report concludes that while consumers may be taking shorter vacations or staying closer to home, they have not stopped buying timeshare or renting timeshare for this purpose.

The State of Timeshare Sales Outside the US

According to the Research and Markets report, Europe is still trying to update governmental regulations to better serve and protect both the people who buy timeshare and the people who sell timeshare. Once this occurs, the report speculates that the timeshare industry in Europe will resume the growth levels it enjoyed during the 1970’s and 1980’s.

Other potentially strong international markets, according to the report’s findings, include Malaysia, Singapore, India, Indonesia, and China. The growing affluence of Asians, paired with new low-cost air travel options, are cited as reasons that have helped spur this expansion.

Research used in the report focuses on four timeshare companies: Wyndham timeshare, Marriott timeshare, Hilton timeshare, and Starwood timeshare. The full report is available at: http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c84948#. But don’t expect the wisdom it carries to come cheaply. Purchased in its least expensive format, this timeshare market report costs EUR 910.00, or approximately 1,440 USD—and for that price you could just go ahead and buy timeshare as a resale by shopping the competitive prices available at Sell My Timeshare NOW.

Could China be the next hot spot that timeshare developers target? It doesn’t take a crystal ball to see there is enormous business interest in China, and that China is obviously trying very hard to redefine its place in the world market.

For the moment, forget about China’s problems with quality control in exported goods. When you look at the big picture, you can’t ignore the fact that China’s foreign exchange reserves, (those are liquid assets held in reserve by a central bank for a country’s use in the international market) are some of, if not the world’s largest. Whether China’s possibly excessive exchange reserves have been established as a way to potentially manipulate the exchange rate, or this is simply an effort by the Chinese to create a type of insurance against an economic crisis, the result has been to attract even more foreign trade dollars to China and increase the globalization of China’s market.

And among the many types of business eyeing the 1.3 billion Chinese as a vast, almost untapped market, are big names in the hotel and leisure industry. Read Bill Marriott’s blog and you will see that he has just returned from China. Marriott Hotels and Resorts designated their new JW Marriott at China Central Place as their 3,000th hotel.

Marriott plans to have 11 hotels in Beijing in time for the 2008 Olympics and some 50 in all, throughout China within only a few years. Last month, Marriott also announced they were expanding their Quan Spas in China and Asia, opening 12 new spas within the next 2 years. This schedule calls for 6 spas in China, 2 in Indonesia, and 4 in India.

Jumeirah, a Dubai-based luxury hotelier, announced last week that it will debut its first flagship hotel in the Asia-Pacific region, with their Shanghai hotel, scheduled to open in August 2008. Starwood Hotels and Timeshare Resorts has already launched SPG Moments for Asia Pacific through its Starwood Preferred Guest program. Marriott, Jumeirah, Crowne Plaza, Hyatt and Langham, are only some of the big names making announcements about their China hotel and resort expansion. (China Hospitality News is a good resource if you want to learn even more about which resorts have China on their growth projections).

Clearly, with hotels and casinos under construction in China in record numbers, timeshare resorts won’t be far behind.

Here’s more evidence that China is near the top of many growth plans:

• • China has 300 million people who play basketball, and over a billion more potential basketball fans. The NBA can’t overlook numbers like this, which is why they have developed NBA China as a subsidiary company. China is already the NBA’s largest market outside the US. Three NBA pre-season games are scheduled in China within the next few days. The Cleveland Cavaliers play the Orlando Magic in Shanghai tonight. Tomorrow, the Orlando Magic will face a China all-star team in Macau and on Saturday, the Cleveland Cavaliers will play the Magic in Macau.
  But the NBA’s plans for China go beyond exhibition games, as they try to finalize their plans for expansion there. Timothy Chen, who resigned from Microsoft last month, will head up the NBA’s venture into China. The Harvard School of Business is using the NBA as a case study for how to build business in China.
• • In 1994, NIKE’s revenue in China was $8 million. Next year, NIKE projects business will reach $1 billion.
• • On October 12, the US Department of Transportation announced the award of a new direct route flight to China to United Airlines. The flight, between San Francisco and Guangzhou, marks the first US airline to offer daily, nonstop service between the US and China.

While Sell My Timeshare NOW doesn’t currently have timeshare resales and timeshare rentals available in China, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them in our inventory soon. In the meantime, here are some other interesting timeshare destinations for the Asia Pacific area, and the Pacific Rim:

• Malaysia timeshare resale
• India timeshare resale
• Indonesia timeshare resale
• Thailand timeshare resale

Starwood Capital Group has recently announced that they have entered into a strategic relationship with Shanghai Jin Jiang International Hotels Company Limited. Jin Jiang currently has 263 hotels either in operation or under development, including 160 properties under the brand, Jin Jiang Inn.

In response to Jin Jiang’s IPO, Starwood Capital has made a $30 million investment in the company, making Starwood the largest shareholder outside the Jin Jiang company. Before Starwood’s investment, Jin Jiang was a state-owned enterprise under the control of the Shanghai City Government.

The two hotel powerhouses will work together to develop and strengthen hotel business in China. Barry Sternlicht, the chairman and ceo of Starwood Capital, was quoted in Hospitality News (http://www.hospitalitynet.org) as saying, “Starwood Capital is very excited about the potential for Jin Jiang in China and abroad, and for our future partnership together… Jin Jiang’s geographic reach and portfolio of owned assets across all hotel categories leaves it uniquely positioned to benefit from the explosive growth in the Chinese hotel industry, fueled by rapidly expanding tourism and business travel. By combining Jin Jiang’s portfolio, which features irreplaceable hotels in Shanghai and other major Chinese cities, with our track record of creating global brands and enhancing asset value in both the luxury and budget categories, the partnership has the potential to create significant value for both companies going forward.”

And as we all know, where hotels go, timeshares and vacation ownership is sure to follow, which is good news as the People’s Republic of China prepares for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai.

Don’t get caught! Indonesians are only one group of tourists in Singapore who have been falling victim to unscrupulous timeshare companies. Chinese and Bruneian tourists are also frequent targets.

According to CASE, The Consumers Association of Singapore, many wealthy Indonesians frequently travel to Singapore. It is not unusual for a Singapore timeshare company to instruct their sales agents to seek out certain groups of tourists on holiday or to hire sales agents specifically because they are English, Mandarin, or Malay-speaking.

As one timeshare vacation agent was quoted by The Electric New Paper News of Singapore as saying, “As I speak Bahasa Indonesia, it’s easier for me to pitch my sales to fellow Indonesians. I also gained their trust easily as I’m Indonesian…But after one or two months on the job, I started receiving complaints from my customers…I felt guilty to have sold them something that they can’t really use.”

A frequent tactic of an unethical Singapore timeshare deal involves charging consumers between $30,000 and $50,000 for lifetime timeshare vacation memberships. For this expenditure, the timeshare buyer gets one week of timeshare vacation annually. Not only is this timeshare deal a bit pricey, but it includes the caveat that vacationers schedule their holidays one and sometimes even two years in advance.

In 2005, CASE received over 2500 complaints against timeshare companies in Singapore. This past October, the association announced that it is cutting the grace period for a timeshare company to clean up its bad practices from three months to one.

These get-the-sale-at-all-cost practices certainly damage the “name” of timesharing, but you can buy timeshare or sell timeshare successfully and easily online. Just check out SellMyTimeshareNOW.com. You’ll be amazed at the number of timeshare connections made around the world through that site.

What are some of your experiences? What tips can you give for buying, selling and renting timeshares? How does timesharing impact your vacationing? Many people say it gives them a chance to spend more quality time with their families, while others say it provides the perfect get-away. Post a comment and let us know!