Last week was the first annual Global Networking Expo & Perspective Magazine Awards Gala, held at the Atlantis Resort, Paradise Island, Bahamas—also known as, “The GNEX Conference.”

This new event to the timeshare industry brought opportunity for learning, networking, connecting. It also offered the perfect venue for looking at some of the “BURNING ISSUES” of timeshare. I enjoyed speaking on a panel, along with Ross Perlmutter, President, Canadian Resort Development Association; Ramy Filo, CEO, Classic Holiday Group; Harry Taylor, Executive Chairman, Timeshare Association Timeshare Owners Committees, Robert Webb of Baker and Hostetler; and Bryan Lunt, Chairman & CEO, Absolute World Group of Companies.

Burning Issues of Timeshare Sales and Timeshare Resales

We didn’t sidestep the difficult questions or shy away from the challenges our industry faces. We looked seriously at the consumer issues of timeshare; media perception (and misconception) about vacation ownership; and weaknesses in the both the timeshare product and its delivery to consumers.

Here are some of the points that were made in our Timeshare Burning Issues Panel:

1. Timeshare has to change its marketing model. Fewer and fewer people are willing to “be sold to” at a timeshare sales presentation.
2. The timeshare industry must accept the fact that consumers will comparison shop. The industry can’t be afraid of that or back off from it. Consumers in control, comparison shopping, is the reality of a web-connected world, where people are “armed” with iPods, iPads, and Blackberries.
3. Timeshare sales are an international product, sold to an international market. Seventeen percent of the timeshare resales and rentals at Sell My Timeshare NOW involve international clients.

4. Demand for timeshare sales, timeshare rentals, and timeshare resales via an online inventory and an online transaction is already high. As fellow panelist, Rob Webb, an attorney who specializes in real estate and hospitality law, says, “In five years, the timeshare product will be sold on the Internet. If a company is not ready for that, they’ll be out of business.”

We covered a lot of very important territory at the conference. By the way, here’s a photo from the event which shows all of us on the Burning Issues panel.

Next week when the timeshare industry assembles at the Atlantis Resort, Paradise Island, Bahamas, for the first annual Global Networking Expo (GNEX 2011) and Perspective Magazine Awards Gala, I will have the privilege of being part of one of the “Burning Issues” discussion panels.

Under the heading of “Challenges We Face,” we won’t be making presentations. Instead, we will engage in a panel discussion with the audience. Look for debate on topics including consumer and media perception; potential weaknesses in the products we offer; and other burning topics of the timeshare and vacation ownership industry.

Speakers on our panel include: Ross Perlmutter, President, Canadian Resort Development Association (CRDA); Robert Webb, Partner, Baker & Hostetler; Ramy Filo, CEO, Classic Holiday Group; Harry Taylor, Executive Chairman, Timeshare Association of Timeshare Owners Comittees (TATOC); Bryan Lunt, Chairman & CEO, Absolute World Group of Companies and me, the founder & CEO, Sell My Timeshare NOW.

If you are planning to attend the GNEX event, I hope you will drop in on our session; it’s schedule on Day One of the conference, May 11. During the two-day event, with a theme of Navigating Change, you will also enjoy Keynote Speaker: Ron Kurtz, founder and president of the American Affluence Research Center.

TATOC, The Timeshare Association has announced key changes among executives. During TATOC’s Annual General Meeting, March 13, 2011, the TATOC Board of Directors approved Harry Taylor, the current Chief Executive Officer of TATOC, as the new Executive Chairman, replacing David Eastburn.

Harry Taylor, says, “We would like to thank David for his hard work and efforts over the past years. TATOC has grown as an organisation both in the number of members and in prestige during his time on the board.”

Also, the TATOC Timeshare Association board approved the appointment of Richard Coles to join the TATOC Board of Directors. He is a retired capital accountant and is chairman of the owners committee at Cameron House, a De Vere resort located on the banks of Loch Lomond in Scotland.

The Timeshare Association (Timeshare Owners and Committees)

TATOC was formed in 1989 and is the only elected consumer association representing the interests of European timeshare owners. TATOC works to safeguard and strengthen the timeshare holiday or timeshare vacation experience for both existing timeshare owners and prospective owners. TATOC is recognized as a voice of the timeshare consumer in Europe and an informed point of contact.

TATOC, the European Timeshare Association, has released new information on the growing success of its consumer helpline. In 2011, the helpline has already received over 1400 inbound calls through the month of February along with nearly 250 emails. This marks an increase of 264 call over the same period in 2010.

Harry Taylor, TATOC CEO explains, “The majority of the calls and e-mails received by the helpline were enquiries by consumers looking for advice, support and information which we supply via e-mail or through the website. The subject of re-sales generates most of these enquiries. The remaining calls were complaints but interestingly the statistics show that these were mainly about non-timeshare products such as the sales and marketing techniques by non-timeshare companies and unsolicited cold calling.”

TATOC is a non-profit limited company that works to safe guard and enhance the timeshare experience for owners and prospective timeshare owners. Last year, the association’s hotline (new in 2010) handled a combined total of 9183 inbound calls or emails.

Perhaps the most important takeaway here is that the complaints and concerns tend to focus on the way the product is sold or resold, and not on the timeshare concept itself.

Past The Timeshare Authority news on TATOC’s hotline:

Timeshare Association TATOC Launches Sharetime Online

Are you among the millions of timeshare owners with a happy story to tell? TATOC. The Timeshare Association, based in the United Kingdom (Manchester, England), is looking for your story.

Harry Taylor, TATOC CEO explains, “There is lots of negative publicity about our industry but TATOC is an association of timeshare owners who love their timeshare holidays and visit them or exchange every year. We know we’re not alone so we’d love to hear about the good holiday experiences of other timeshare owners.”

TATOC is focusing on the one the ‘hot topics’ we write about frequently on The Timeshare Authority blog: telling the positive side of the timeshare story. Sell My Timeshare NOW, TATOC and others in the timeshare and vacation ownership industry know it is big story and it rarely receives the attention it deserves.

TATOC, The Timeshare Association Wants to Put You in Print (or is that Pixels?)

TATOC has sent a request to all its members and affiliates, looking for a short story (200 words or less) explaining what, “owners love about their timeshare and where their favourite destination has been.” The request applies to all timeshare owners, whether or not their resort is a member of TATOC.

The association is asking you to email your good news stories and a photo to: TATOC at info@timeshareassociation.org or go directly to the Sharetimemagazine.com website and submit your article.

Featured stories will appear on TATOC’s website: www.timeshareassociation.org and in its Sharetime magazine, www.sharetimemagazine.com.

TATOC the Timeshare Alliance wants you, and all consumers to understand that it is not connected with a Spanish timeshare company by the name of Global, despite what Global’s representatives may imply or state.

Harry Taylor, TATOC CEO explains, “If we ever form an alliance with an organisation, we inform our membership in advance of any activities taking place. No agreement has been made between TATOC and Global and timeshare owners should be wary.”

Reportedly timeshare owners are being contacted by Global’s representatives who tell them that a catalog of maintenance problems at Crown Resorts have been reported by TATOC. Taylor, wants it clearly understood that TATOC has made no such report, and in fact, Crown Resorts recently received TATOC Accreditation for high standards.

The supposition is that Global is trying to discredit Crown Resorts while implying its own alliance with TATOC. To this, Harry Taylor observes, “It is an interesting indicator of TATOC’s increasing importance in the timeshare arena that the TATOC name is being used in this way.”

TATOC advises timeshare owners to be vigilant in determining the authenticity of timeshare information they receive. To learn more about TATOC and the services and protections they provide to European timeshare owners, visit the association’s website at: www.timeshareassociation.org

Recent TATOC News on The Timeshare Authority blog: TATOC Timeshare Association Announces New Mediation Service for Timeshares

Europe’s leading consumer-based timeshare association has announced they are expanding their support of timeshare owners by adding a Mediation Service to their Helpline facility. TATOC’s Timeshare Helpline is open to serve all consumers, providing information and assistance with timeshare questions along with help when possible in resolving timeshare problems. TATOC is now extending these services with the addition of Mediation Service.

Timeshare mediation does not provide a judgement in a dispute, but it will assist the parties involved in reaching an agreement. Use of the TATOC timeshare Mediation Service does not preclude anyone from pursuing the matter further with an attorney or in the courts, should he or she decide that is the best course of action.

Currently TATOC’s Mediation Service includes four mediators, two in the UK, one in Spain and one in the Canary Islands. This list will expand in the future, and may include attorneys who are interested in being part of the service. As TATOC explains:

TATOC can provide a list of persons who are qualified or have experience of mediation and certain lawyers have been approached to see if they are prepared to be included in the list. It is the responsibility of the mediator to inform client how they would carry out the mediation. It is not the intention that TATOC recommends any particular lawyer or mediator; the consumer or committee will be given a list of TATOC approved mediators who have agreed to abide by the following parameters. The requirements of a mediator are to provide:-

To learn more about TATOC, the Timeshare Association, contact Harry Taylor at:
harry.taylor@timeshareassociation.org or by telephone at: +44 (0) 161 237 3518.

The highly respected European timeshare association TATOC, has announced that its Sharetime magazine is now available to all timeshare owners on the website sharetimemagazine.com

The quarterly publication is transitioning to a digital-only format available in ‘flip page’ technology. Colin Collins, Sharetime editor, will have the next issue out in September, packed with more industry information always of interest to timeshare owners, renters, and anyone interested in the possibilities of vacation ownership.

By going to a digital-only format, replacing the print edition of the publication, TATOC demonstrates environmental responsibility. Just as importantly, online distribution means that the broadest possible audience will have access to the features, articles and ads found in Sharetime.

TATOC is the only elected consumer association representing the interests of timeshare owners in Europe and represents more than 80 European timeshare resorts. Through its outreach, TATOC provides access to over a quarter million timeshare owners and families.

Other recent news from TATOC:

• TATOC Timeshare Association Says Keep the Impetus Going
• Today’s Timeshare Interview with TATOC Timeshare CEO, Harry Taylor
• Europe Timeshare and Spain Timeshare Has New Ally at the BCCS

Did you tune in this week to hear Dave Thackeray of Today’s Timeshare interviewing Harry Taylor, CEO of TATOC, The Timeshare Association? It was a timely discussion as the United Kingdom Department for Business (BIS) has just announced its upcoming consultation on “how the EU Timeshare Directive will be transpositioned into UK law.”

Harry Taylor talks about ways the timeshare industry can work together creating positive change, and why doing this is so important. As he points out, most people who own timeshare, like timeshare. What they don’t like is not knowing how to sell timeshare they no longer want to own; they want to be a timeshare owner, enjoying the benefits of timeshare, without being responsible for that timeshare product “in perpetuity”.

With a call for the timeshare industry to re-think its products and services, Harry offers great insight and enthusiasm. He also talks about how TATOC is already involved with the UK Department for Business and more ways it will be getting involved in the near future, regarding the EU Timeshare Directive.

If you are interested in the future of timeshares and vacation ownership, you will definitely want to listen to this broadcast. Follow this link to play the podcast now: Play in new window

Did you see the news about Jennie Thompson, who is a board member of the timeshare owner-run association TATOC and the Managing Director of the Malaga-based Leisure Solutions SL? (Timeshare Association (TATOC) Board Member Jennie Thompson Spreads the Real Timeshare Message)

Appointed as the Vice President of the British Chamber of Commerce’s Regional Committee of Andalucía, Jennie plans to use her new position to create positive exposure for the timeshare industry. She explains that she is hoping to “…raise the profile of the timeshare industry within the BCC, which is a network of global and international commercial chambers with links to a variety of other major bodies.”

Last month, at the BCCS’s London Summer Season Garden Party held at the Hotel Tamisa, Jennie addressed her plans for the BCCS in the Andalucía area, saying, “I’d like to see membership double within the next twelve months; and have a stronger input in places like Malaga and Seville.” She adds, “We have lots of blue chip companies with us, but here in Andalucía, where there are perhaps more sole traders and small companies, the value of networking and expert business support is somewhat greater.”

Founded in Barcelona in 1908, the BCCS works both with Spanish companies seeking to liaise with companies in the UK, and to provide networking and information services for English companies currently doing business, or seeking to do business in Spain.

In all the interactions Jennie will undertake as the new VP, you can expect the future of the timeshare industry to be part of her vision. European timeshare and Spain timeshare have a true ally at the BCCS.