Interval International

Photo credit: Perspective Magazine Blog for Saturday May 8, 2010

Interval International timeshare exchange has added the Mayhills Resort in the Gangwon Province of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) to its inventory of timeshare exchange properties.

The timeshare resort, located approximately three hours from Seoul in a forested setting in Taebaek, includes 357 timeshare units, from studios, to one, and two-bedroom timeshares. Most of the timeshare units have a kitchen, balcony with mountain views, and cable or satellite television. The Mayhills Resorts timeshare also includes a fitness center, family steam room, sauna, two on-site restaurants, a game room, and a convenience store.

Near to this Korea timeshare resort, vacationers can enjoy cross-country and downhill skiing, tennis, golf, bike trails, water sports on the beautiful lakes, several theme parks, and a children’s playground. All of these attractions are easily accessible from National Highway 38.

Joe Hickman, Interval International’s executive director for Asia Pacific, describes the resort as, “…close to Kangwon Land Casino, Korea’s largest with more than 100 game tables and 960 slot machines and video games.” Hickman explains, “We are delighted to welcome Mayhills Resort to Interval’s vacation exchange network.”

Hyatt Hotels & Resorts has announced the opening of Hyatt Miami at The Blue. “The Blue” of course, refers to Doral’s most famous golf course, The Big Blue Monster, the nearby deep blue water of the Atlantic Ocean, and the endless blue skies of Miami weather. The17-acre property is also conveniently near the Miami International Airport meaning that your Miami vacation begins almost as soon as you step off the plane.

The resort includes 15 three-story villas, each housing 16 hotel suites. The suites range from 700 square foot studios, to one-bedroom units, and two-story, three bedroom units which are just over 2000 square feet each. All of the units include a terrace with a golf view, fully equipped kitchens, and relaxing rain showers in the marble baths.

ING Clarion Development Ventures II owns the hotel and Davidson Hotel Company is the hotel’s operator. The resort will fly the Hyatt flag.

Chuck Floyd, chief operating officer, North America, Hyatt Hotels Corporation, says, “We are thrilled to add Hyatt Miami at The Blue to our robust portfolio of hotels in the Southeast. The location and quality of the hotel will no doubt appeal to both group and leisure travelers.”

Condo Hotel Ownership of Condotel Units at The Hyatt Miami at The Blue

The Hyatt Miami at The Blue will offer condo hotel residences. Owners of condo hotel units there will be eligible to participate in the Hyatt Vacation Club, with timeshare exchange at fifteen Hyatt Vacation and Residence Clubs or at any of the timeshare resorts within the Interval International timeshare exchange program, which includes over 2200 timeshares worldwide.

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.”

El Zarqa also noted that they chose affiliation with Interval International timeshare exchange because of II’s reputation for high levels of service and quality.

It is good to see fair, accurate, and positive press lately regarding timeshares, timeshare sales, and timeshare exchange. The naysayers who present vacation ownership and timeshare vacation rentals as only being about timeshare scam do a real injustice to the industry, to the hardworking people whose daily objective is improving the vacation experience for others, and to consumers who could be enjoying affordable vacationing through timeshare resales and timeshare rentals.

Last week, the Miami Herald took an objective look at timeshare exchange, focusing on Interval International, which happens to be a Miami-based company.

Interviewing Jon Fredricks of Welk Resorts, a California timeshare company, the article quoted Fredricks as saying, “In this economy, you’re seeing more people wanting to drive to their exchange, with less use of airlines. Vegas is not in favor as it once was. I think Interval has had to adjust to those changes alone.”

Fredricks’ point is critical: timeshare owners and timeshare renters may be vacationing differently because of the economy, but they are still making use of timeshare ownership and the opportunities of timeshares.

A Changing Profile for Timeshare Owners

Timeshare owners have always leaned on timeshare companies to offer more flexibility. Because of this, over the years, the options of timesharing have changed considerably. But with all the stresses and economic pressures many people are feeling these days, they’ve upped their demands even more.

Here’s what timeshare owners have always wanted in timeshare exchange:

• Flexibility in exchanging one date or property for another.
• The opportunity to exchange timeshare or timeshare points for cruises and other travel amenities in addition to timeshare.

And here’s their new list of add-ons:

• Shorter lead-time for making timeshare exchange.
• More drive-to timeshare vacation destinations.
• Shorter vacation intervals, something most timeshare companies are already striving to offer.

Currently, Interval International timeshare exchange has a network of over 2500 timeshare resorts, representing some 75 countries worldwide. Last year, in response to their member requests, Interval international timeshare exchange launched their ShortStay Exchange Program. Through this option, gold members can deposit their timeshare interval or points and exchange it for one or more vacations of two to six days in length. These ShortStay timeshare exchanges are made online at IntervalWorld.com

According to Interval CEO Craig Nash, “We’re always looking at product development.” He adds, so far the program is, “tracking nicely.”

Other Options for Timeshare Exchange

As the Herald article points out, Interval International timeshare exchange is second in size as a timeshare exchange company to RCI Exchange. Also there are many other timeshare exchange companies that may have smaller inventories of timeshare exchange properties but are targeted to a specific region, resort group, or type of resort. Additionally, Timeshare Users Group, which most timeshare owners know as TUG, offers timeshare exchange along with ads for timeshare resales to its member participants.

While fees may be cheaper in smaller groups, timeshare owners are not likely to have as much flexibility as with a larger timeshare exchange company. Lisa Ann Shreier, author of Timeshare Vacations for Dummies and co-author of Timeshare Management, makes a valid point in saying this about timeshare exchange companies, “They do facilitate the trading process. It makes it easier if 2,000 people are depositing their weeks into a pool.”

And any timeshare discussion always comes down to one important point: timeshare exchange is -and always has been- one of the significant reasons people buy timeshare.