When Forbes Magazine published its most recent list of America’s top tourist attractions, we couldn’t help but notice that there are great opportunities in timeshare resorts at or near all of these destinations. That means if you own timeshare in these popular areas, you also have a natural market for timeshare rental should there be times you can’t use your timeshare yourself or don’t choose to use it as timeshare exchange.

Here’s a look at only a very few of your timeshare resort options for these favorite tourist destinations:

#3. National Mall and Memorial Parks, Washington, D.C., with 25 million visitors

• Wyndham Old Town (Alexandria, Virginia)
• Wyndham Resorts National Harbor (Ft. Washington, Maryland)

#2. Las Vegas Strip, Las Vegas, Nevada, with 29.1 million visitors

• Las Vegas Timeshare Resales and Las Vegas Timeshare Rentals
• Hilton Grand Vacations Club On The Las Vegas Strip Timeshare
• Marriott’s Grand Chateau Timeshare

#1. Times Square, New York, N.Y. with 37.6 million visitors

• New York City Timeshare Resales and New York City Timeshare Rentals
• Manhattan Club Timeshare
• Hilton Club New York

People are often surprised to learn that timeshares are not just limited to the beach and ski resorts. There are locations available to enjoy urban timeshare worldwide, offering you the convenience and savings that go with owning timeshare.

With the report last week of two more timeshare towers at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort (see: Hilton Timeshare Adding to their Hawaii Timeshare Resorts), the economy of Hawaii may be ready to breathe a sigh of relief.

The new Hilton timeshare project, which is self-financed, will nearly double the timeshare accommodations capacity at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort. As we noted in an earlier timeshare blog post, the project is expected to bring roughly 700 jobs to the area, not counting the many workers who will be needed during the construction phase of the project.

The Honolulu Star Bulletin quoted Rick Egged, president of the Waikiki Improvement Association, as saying that the project “will bring more visitors to Waikiki, which will bring in more investment and tourism dollars.”

The Hawaii Economy and Hawaii Timeshare

The University of Hawaii Research Organization expects that tourism and visitors to Hawaii will increase by 2.9 percent in 2010 and that spending will stabilize. Claiming that, “Hawaii’s economic recovery has already begun, the UH economists say, “Employment is stabilizing and many sectors will begin to add modest numbers of jobs as the year progresses.”

Last fall, Midweek.com reported that timeshare is so significant to Hawaii, it touches some 34,420 working people. A 2007 study revealed that economic impact from timeshares was estimated at $4.5 billion with over $500 million in tax revenues.

Timeshare owners and timeshare renters, vacationing in Hawaii timeshare spend an average of $4202 each time they visit. An astounding eighty-six percent of these dollars don’t wind up just in the busiest Hawaii timeshare destinations such as Waikiki timeshare or Kannapali timeshare, but are spent away from the resorts in malls, grocery stores, entertainment, restaurants, and even convenience stores.

News that the tide is turning and future jobs are coming is good to hear and something to celebrate but we never want to appear to minimize the situation of people who are unemployed today. Life doesn’t always change overnight, even when we need it to.

Hilton timeshare has been so successful at the Hilton Grand Waikikian Tower that the timeshare company has announced that its planned two-tower expansion with 550 rooms at the Hilton Hawaiian Village will be entirely devoted to timeshare.

The Hilton Grand Waikikian Tower timeshare was completed in 2008 and currently provides timeshare units for the 22-acre Hilton Hawaiian Village. Ted Middleton, Hilton’s Senior vice president of development in the Americas, sees the addition of new timeshares at the popular resort as a very good business move, saying, “This expansion will give us enough product to sell well into the next decade. It’s very important to have new inventory to dovetail into the growing demand.”

The first of the two Hilton Hawaii Grand Waikikian timeshare towers will be 37 stories and include 300 timeshare units. Construction will begin in 2013 and is expected to be completed in 2015. The second timeshare tower will be 25 stories and 250 timeshare units. This second tower will be built on the site of the current Rainbow Bazaar shopping area and will be adjacent to the resort’s parking garage. Included as part of the development will be additional swimming pools and a retail space. When complete, the new Hawaii timeshare resort will bring some 700 new jobs to the area and an undetermined number of construction jobs.

Recently, The Timeshare Authority blog learned about an exciting nonprofit organization. Known as “Clean the World,” this Orlando, Florida-based group works to bring the simple necessity of soap and shampoo to people in need.

And it makes sense that they would partner with hotels, motels, and timeshares in their efforts, after all, who has more unused or slightly used soap and shampoo than resorts do? But how do you hygienically recycle soap?

Clean the World has that all figured out. Using two different processes to sanitize the soap (depending on how used the soap bar is), the organization either cooks the soap to remove impurities and rebatches it into 2 oz bars, or sterilizes larger existing bars with a mix of steam and pressure.

Because Clean the World provides training materials to the hospitality industry, collection bins for the soap, and picks up the soap and shampoo bottles weekly, it soon becomes an easy habit for workers in hotels, motels, timeshares, and other resorts to become part of this recycling project.
Collecting those tiny bars of soap seems like a very small effort, doesn’t it? Yet because of Clean the World, thousands of lives can be changed as the simple dignity of cleanliness is restored; sanitation, healing, and disease control is improved; and millions of tons of waste products are kept out of landfills and waterways.

You and Your Timeshare Owners Association Can Help

If you have donations of cleaning, personal hygiene, or medical supplies to make to the Haiti relief efforts, the following resorts offer drop off centers:

If you are in the Orlando area and would like to donate soap or shampoo, you can take it (or send it) to the Orlando Recycling Center

• Clean The World
• 8026 Sunport Drive, Ste 306
• Orlando, FL. 32809

Hotels, motels, timeshares, resorts, and companies can donate soap and/or shampoo by contacting:

• Paul Till, Managing Director
• 407-404-0379
• ptill@cleantheworld.org.

To find out what other timeshares, resorts, and members of the hotel and hospitality industry are doing, check these recent posts on The Timeshare Authority blog:

Hospitality and Timeshare Industry Stepping Up to Help Haiti Part I
Hospitality and Timeshare Industry Stepping Up to Help Haiti Part II

In Saturday’s timeshare blog post on Pirates, Timeshares, and Disney: Hawaii Excited to Host Them All, we looked at how the down economy has hurt Hawaii because tourism, one of the state’s primary sources of revenue, is quick to be cut when household budgets get tight. Additionally, Hawaii is just not a “drive-to” vacation destination for anyone and the rising cost of airline travel has added insult to injury.

But an article that appeared in The Honolulu Advertiser last week points out that in many ways, Hawaii timeshares have been a lifesaver to the state’s economy. Because Hawaii timeshare is prepaid, many timeshare owners have been able to enjoy a Hawaii vacation when other vacationers could not afford hotel travel. Industry officials describe Hawaii timeshares as more resilient than traditional hotels.

Earlier this month, Howard Nusbaum, president and chief executive officer of the Washington, D.C.-based ARDA timeshare association, met with lawmakers to explain how the Hawaii timeshare industry has held strong in many ways over the past two years, despite a slump both in tourism and in timeshare sales.

Here’s an overview of the interesting facts about Hawaii timeshare and timesharing in general that the article revealed:

• Hawaii timeshares make up about 10 percent of the state’s lodging industry.
• Based on ARDA statistics, Hawaii timeshares generate approximately $511 million in tax revenues to the state; 34,420 jobs; and some $4.5 billion in spending.
• Nationwide, timeshare owners report 85 percent satisfaction rate with timeshare ownership.
• Despite the economy, Hawaii timeshares have averaged an 88 percent occupancy rate, while hotels have averaged a little more than 75 percent.
• Although foreclosures have affected some timeshares, 9 out of 10 timeshare owners are current on their monthly payments.

Growth in Hawaii Timeshare

Construction of Hawaii timeshares is slower than in past years, yet there are still new properties under construction or in the planning stages. One of the most exciting properties is the Disney Vacation Club timeshare at the “Aulani” resort, scheduled to open in 2011 on Ko Olina. Another hub for Hawaii timeshare growth has been the Hilton Grand Waikikian and other Hilton Hawaii timeshare properties. Jerry Gibson, area vice president of Hilton says Hawaii timeshare is doing “extremely well.”

“At Hilton Hawaiian Village, 2,904 are hotel rooms and 639 are timeshare, which pencils out to 22 percent timeshare,” says Gibson, “while on the Big Island, the mix is 34 percent timeshare at Hilton Waikoloa Village, with 1,244 hotel and 426 timeshare.”

The chart that follows provides a statistical look at Hawaii timeshare sales and was originally published in the Business section of the Honolulu Advertiser under the article title, “Timeshares Weather the Storm,” see: http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/assets/gif/M1150255116.GIF

Today’s edition of The Timeshare Authority is Part II of a special blog post on some of the Haitian relief efforts within the hospitality, timeshare, and hotel industries; it includes information about ways you can get involved in the relief efforts, too.

Part II of II

Haitian relief efforts from those in the hotel and timeshare industry are taking many forms (See Part I: Hospitality and Timeshare Industry Stepping Up to Help Haiti). One simple, but valued effort is underway from some Florida hotels, where soap is being sanitized for reuse. Hotel Biba in West Palm Beach, Jupiter’s Ritz-Carlton, and the Breakers in Palm Beach, are among hotels collecting hundreds of pounds of used soap to be sanitized and redistributed in Haiti. Through “Clean the World,” an aid group that collects and sanitizes used bars of hotel soap, the Breakers is expected to donate nearly 1,500 pounds of used soap this month alone. Other hotels known to participate include these resorts in the Tampa and St. Petersburg area: Sheraton Sand Key Resort, Hilton Clearwater Beach Resort, Shepard’s Beach Resort, the Holiday Inn Beach Resort & Suites and Sandpearl Resort.

Here’s a look at what other hotels and timeshares are doing to help:

Rosen Hotels & Resorts

Orlando-based Rosen Hotels and Resorts has teamed up with the First Haitian Baptist Church of Orlando, the Haitian American Chamber of Commerce, Tekontrol, the Consulate of Haiti in Orlando, and the offices of two Florida Senators, to raise $1 million in Haitian relief money. Checks can be made to the Harris Rosen Foundation, memo: Haiti Relief, and mailed to 9840 International Drive, Orlando, FL 32819.

Choice Hotels

Members of Choice Hotels loyalty programs can donate to the American Red Cross (as well as two other worthwhile organizations that are not involved in Haiti relief) by clicking here: ChoicePrivileges. 1,000 Choice Hotel points equals $5; 2,000 points equals $10; 3,000 equals $15; 4,000 points equals $20; and 5,000 points equals $25. You can also learn more about donating Choice Hotel points by calling: 888-770-6800.

Choice had recently announced plans to build two hotels in Jacmel, Haiti, becoming the first major hotelier to expand there in many years.

Hilton Hotels and Hilton Timeshare

Hilton HHonors members can donate their points. For every 10,000 points donated, Hilton will send $25 to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. You must specify “Haiti Relief Efforts” on your donations. To donate to the General International Federation of Red Cross Fund, mark your donation as “IRFCDR.” To target your donation specifically for Haiti, use the code “RDCRHT.” You can email your request to: HHonors_Giving_Back@hilton.com or go to: Donate Your HHonors Points.

Wyndham Hotels and Wyndham Timeshare

A Wyndham Rewards donation of 5,500 points equals $25; 10,500 points equals $50; and 20,500 points equals $100. Wyndham’s program offers some 100 charities from which to choose for making your donation. The Wyndham Montréal Airport hotel is serving as a staging area for some of the first victims arriving into Canada from Haiti.

Additional Helpful Information about Haitian Relief

• The UN World Tourism Organization has offered its support to revive tourism in the wake of the Haiti earthquake. The Travel Mole blog reports that the UN has said it will, “collaborate in the assessment of the damage caused, especially in the tourism sector.”
• Members of TUG are posting on the Timeshare User Group bulletin board about ways to assist with Haitian relief.
• Danielle, who writes for ExtraordinaryMommy.com, has compiled an excellent list of resources for information about helping the people of Haiti. Her post includes links to The American Red Cross, Unicef, Care and other credible relief efforts.

Important to remember: donations of loyalty points are typically not tax deductible (consult your tax preparer or tax advisor). Also, do not confuse loyalty points with timeshare exchange points or timeshare ownership points. While there is overlap in some programs, typically these are not considered the same by most hotel and timeshare companies. Consult your resort for clarification.

Loyalty programs of many types, from restaurants, to airlines, to your favorite movie theater, frequently allow you to redeem your points in the form of a charitable donation. Contact these programs directly to learn more.

Last week the Hilton Hotels Corporation announced that the company was officially becoming Hilton Worldwide, a name change they feel better reflects their global image and position. To go with the name change, they relocated corporate headquarters from Beverly Hills, California to McLean, Virginia.

They also threw out their old logo and they are in the process of replacing it with a new one that is surprising similar to the old one. Instead of the previous blue Hilton logo, which featured an upright letter “H”, Hilton Worldwide will be using what appears to be an “H” turned over on its side. The color scheme has also changed from blue to a platinum and gold combination.

According to executives at Hilton, the name and logo change should make it easier for consumers to recognize hotel and resort properties that are part of the Hilton Worldwide’s HHonors program. HHonors will share the same new logo as the hotel division, but branded with the words HHonors instead of “Hilton Worldwide”.

And while none of this seems like such a radical change and actually makes a lot of sense for a corporation that is part of the hotel and timeshare industry where many companies are reevaluating their focus and direction, Hilton sure has drawn criticism for their actions.

It seems that suddenly people “loved” the previous Hilton logo and now are very critical of the new one, which as I mentioned, doesn’t look so very different from the previous one. Critics have been quick to jump on the bandwagon saying that the cost of replacing the logo, companywide, is frivolous in the current economy. But let’s face it, every branded item, from business cards to hotel signage has a shelf life and is due to be replaced sooner or later anyway.

Taking Potshots at Hotels, Timeshare Companies, and Timeshare Resales Companies

It appears to me (IMHO) that some people like to take pot shots at companies and corporations, thinking that they are an easy target and can always be painted as the greedy bad guy. But let’s just remember that companies and corporations are nothing more than people, like all other consumers. They are built and carried on the backs of individuals working hard for a living, paying taxes, serving their communities, and trying to get by. I can’t imagine that most of these people wake up each day and say, “Let’s see how much corporate money we can waste today.”

There’s no defending greed, and certainly we have all seen indications that some people at the helm of various companies have demonstrated self-indulgence and a lack of respect for their companies, co-workers, and the customers who helped grow these companies with their business. But for every one greedy executive who makes the news, there are dozens, hundreds, thousands, and perhaps tens of thousands of individuals who work for that company and strive every day to serve their clients and customers at the highest levels.

Corporate responsibility isn’t dead, even though it may not be making headline news. And just because there are some rotten apples out there, you can’t paint all companies and corporations with the “ugly” paintbrush. People rush to the press, to social media platforms, and online bulletin boards with all sorts of criticisms of companies both large and even those as small as Sell My Timeshare NOW.

But perhaps it is time—maybe past time—for Americans to start pulling together more. For us to stop looking for scapegoats and whipping posts in politics, business, or any other segment of life. If you have a valid complaint or issue, contact the company. They will probably bend over backward trying to accommodate you. And before you launch an online campaign of complaints, remember that that corporate identity you are attacking, is nothing more than real people, trying to do their best every single day.

Follow this link if you are interested in learning more about genuine opportunities in Hilton Grand Vacation Club timeshare resales. Or Hilton timeshare rentals.

Is it possible that the city with the most timeshares could soon gain another 1400 timeshare units?

A new Orlando timeshare certainly seems to be in the works. A Flushing, New York-based company has been given the go-ahead on a proposed plan to develop 19.2 acres of land along Orlando’s busy International Drive tourist area. This new Orlando timeshare project includes two currently undeveloped parcels, and an existing 94-room hotel (the Monumental Hotel) which is scheduled to be destroyed.

Last year, developer Show-Lain Cheng received approval for the project from Orange County (Orlando, Florida) for zoning and conceptual plans. On August 4, the project authorized the development team to start on storm water and architectural design, plans that should be ready for submission for county review by mid-September.

The Orlando Business Journal says this is a $500 million timeshare project to be known as Zena based on the property’s Buddhist Zen theme. Construction is planned in phases, but upon completion will include a fitness center, tennis courts, bowling alley, Wii rooms, and retail space. Developer Cheng says, “We will offer comfort, relaxation, and tranquility.” She also told the Tampa Bay Business Journal, that timing of the project will be influenced by the economy and that construction could begin as early as next year or be delayed for several years.

Orlando Timeshare along International Drive

Geographically, all of International Drive is a tourist hub, home to hotels, shops, restaurants, and themed entertainment. This particular location is especially convenient to SeaWorld Orlando. Two outstanding Orlando timeshare resorts already in the popular International Drive area include the Hilton Grand Vacation Club at SeaWorld and Sheraton’s Vistana Resort timeshare.

The Sell My Timeshare NOW HOT 100 List, published earlier this spring, revealed an interesting trend in Florida timeshares. Even though timeshare buyers and timeshare owners frequently identify a beachside location or beach access as a favorite feature, the top five Florida timeshares on the HOT 100 List, are all Orlando timeshare destinations—not Florida timeshare resorts at the beach. In fact, HOT timeshare property number 22, Marriott’s Ocean Pointe in Palm Beach Shores, Florida, is the highest-ranking beachside Florida timeshare on the list of timeshare properties receiving the greatest number of offers to buy or rent.

Florida Timeshare are Popular, but Orlando Timeshare Tops the List

The popularity of Orlando timeshare is easy to understand. Orlando timeshare resorts have so much to offer while still being only a short drive to both the Atlantic coast beaches at Cocoa Beach and Daytona, and the Gulf of Mexico beaches in the Tampa – St Petersburg area. When you vacation in Orlando timeshares, you enjoy a Florida timeshare resort at its best. The theme park fun starts with Walt Disney World, SeaWorld, Universal Studios, along with many other parks and themed attractions. There are lakes for water sports of every type and swimming pools, water slides, and water parks all inviting you to splash, swim, or float way a sunny afternoon in the sparkling cool blue water. And if golf is your game, play a different championship course every day of the week when you vacation in an Orlando, Florida timeshare.

Top Five Orlando, Florida Timeshares on the HOT 100 Timeshare List

1. Orange Lake’s West Village timeshares.
2. Marriott’s Grande Vista timeshares.
3. Hilton Grand Vacations Club at SeaWorld International Center timeshares.
4. Sheraton Vistana Resort timeshares.
5. Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort timeshares.

Whether the economy is up or down, the best value in vacation accommodations is always timeshare resales and timeshare rentals. And year in, year out, Orlando, Florida timeshares are always on the list of favorite resort destinations.

Related information from The Timeshare Authority:

• Timeshare Resales and Timeshare Rentals that Make the 2009 HOT 100 List
• A Closer Look at the HOT 100 List for Sell My Timeshare NOW, Timeshare Resales

In the category of “Really, Really Strange” are the reports of vacationers destroying their hotel rooms. No, not Spring Breakers getting too wild at a party; we’re talking about Mom and Dad on vacation with the kids, demolishing a hotel room because a caller from the ‘front desk’ instructs them to break windows and knock holes in the wall.

Believe it or not, it is happening. Some very obliging people are falling victim to pranks that have gone beyond funny and evolved into criminal acts. Vacationers from Nebraska to Arkansas to Orlando have already become the victim of some outrageous pranksters. And while the cost is adding up, the bigger concern is that it is only a matter of time before someone gets hurt or killed as a result of the pranks.

Here’s an example, based on an article that originally appeared last week in The Orlando Sentinel:

Lisa Kantorski and her family were on vacation in Orlando, staying at the Hilton Gardens Inn. Around 7 AM, they received a phone call identifying that it was from the hotel’s front desk, and telling Mrs. Kantorski that there was a gas leak at the property. Frantically Lisa relayed the instructions the caller was giving her to her husband, a sheriff’s deputy.

Break the window, she was told. Break the mirror. Use the lamp and bash a hole in the wall to get to the trapped man on the other side. Now throw the mattress out your window and jump for safety. The family had yet to jump when management from the hotel arrived in response to a noise complaint.

Not the First Time Vacationers Have been the Victim of this Type of Prank

According to the Sentinel article: “In Arkansas, a caller posing as a sprinkler company employee convinced a motel employee to do more than $50,000 in damage to a motel as part of a “test” of the motel’s emergency alarms. At a Comfort Suites in Daphne, Ala., a caller ordered a guest to turn on the sprinklers for a fire that wasn’t. The result: more than $10,000 in damage. In Nebraska, a Hampton Inn employee was convinced by a caller to pull the fire alarm, later telling him the only way to silence the alarm was by breaking the lobby windows. The employee enlisted the help of a nearby trucker, who drove his rig through the front door.”

When you begin researching this topic, you find that there are thousands of these types of calls made regularly, not just to hotel guests, but to restaurant workers, office staffs, and unsuspecting people in a variety of situations. Several websites memorialize the events. We won’t list any of these sites, because they don’t deserve the attention.

This is far beyond “Do you have Prince Albert in a can?” This type of prank is malicious, destructive of property, dangerous to lives, and disrespectful to everyone involved. It is also criminal. And perhaps worst of all, it leads to a ‘Cry Wolf’ environment in which people will become conditioned to ignore pleas for assistance because they believe them to be fallacious.

If you are ever a hotel or timeshare guest and you receive a request to do something that just doesn’t sound right, take a moment before you act and double-check the source. You could save yourself a lot of embarrassment and save your timeshare resort a lot of expensive repairs.