Today begins the VOIC regional conference in Orlando, Florida at the Peabody Hotel.

VOIC (Vacation Ownership Investment Conference) is hosted by Interval International and targets:

• Timeshare resort developers
• Developer looking to become involved in shared ownership products
• Lenders and those who want to network with lenders
• Those already in the timeshare industry who are looking for capital, new development ideas and opportunities
• Everyone who wants to learn about the latest trends in shared ownership and vacation ownership

This is the 13^th Annual VOIC Conference. Every year the event attracts timeshare resort developers, timeshare and fractional executives, condominium developer, hoteliers, hospitality investors, lenders, investment bankers, shared ownership consultants, builders, architects, designers, law firms, media and government tourism officials affiliated with or interested in the opportunities of shared ownership. It affords a time of idea exchange, networking, and learning for all who participate.

Timeshare Conference Schedule

The conference starts this afternoon with the opening delivered by David C. Gilbert, Executive Vice President, Resort Sales and Marketing, Americas, Interval International.

At 2:00, Industry experts, including representatives of STR and ARDA, the American Resort Development Association, will present a snapshot of today’s shared ownership and lodging markets in the State of the Industry Presentation.

This link will take you to the informational flyer for the event, for a full schedule of activities: https://www.regonline.com/custImages/239071/Mailer2-Domestic.pdf

For more on the conference, check The Timeshare Authority blog this week and be sure to follow @JasonTremblay_ on Twitter.

VOIC Conference for Timeshare

Through a multi-year contract extension, Interval International, a worldwide leader in timeshare exchange and vacation services, has expanded and extended its relationship with King’s Creek Plantation LLC. The agreement covers all three phases of King’s Creek Plantation in Williamsburg, Virginia, and any resort properties developed during the duration of the agreement.

Interval International timeshare exchange will also be assisting in the design and launch of the new King’s Creek points-based vacation club, to be known as Club Explore.

David Gilbert, executive vice president of resort sales and marketing for Interval International, says, “We are very pleased to take our relationship with the King’s Creek team to the next level and collaborate with them as they enhance their already successful business. Long known for delivering unique vacation experiences, King’s Creek now also offers its owners the ultimate in flexibility with the addition of its points-based club.”

King’s Creek Plantation is an 98-acre timeshare resort that includes The Cottages, The Townes, and The Estates. Designed to emulate the desirable features of a great residential community, King’s Creek Plantation includes cottage timeshare units, condos and estate homes, all with charming front porches and roomy decks. On-property amenities include a fitness center, tennis and basketball courts, a jogging trail, indoor and outdoor hot tubs, a pool and a conveniently located general store. A tram keeps it easy for timeshare owners and guests to move around the timeshare resort.

Check The Timeshare Authority blog this week for more about this popular Williamsburg timeshare resort and the benefits of Club Explore. And follow these links for great deals on King’s Creek Plantation timeshare resales and timeshare rentals:

King’s Creek Plantation cottages and townhomes

King’s Creek Plantation Estates

King's Creek Plantation Timeshare

Earlier this month, the timeshare industry lost a great man and a part of its history.

Robert “Bob” Burns, Chairman and CEO of Vacation Internationale, died peacefully at his home in Sun Valley, Idaho on September 3, 2011, at the age of 87. He is missed by his wife of 33 years; his 7 children; his 24 grandchildren; and all who knew him or had the pleasure of working with him.

A passionate outdoorsman and skier, Burns was still skiing Mt. Baldy into his eighties.

A Pioneer in Timeshare and Vacation Ownership

In the early 1905s, Burns, along with five other families, jointly purchased and maintained a ski cabin condo in Washington. The property slept 25. Together the families restored the condo and enjoyed shared ownership, which they described as creating deep friendships and special memories.

Drawing on this experience, Burns, with business partner, Bob Ringenburg, developed the first non-hotel timeshare project in the US, selling beachfront leasehold condos at the Kaua’i Kailani on the island of Kauai, Hawaii.

In 1974, Burns and Riggenburg founded Vacation Internationale in Seattle, Washington, a company credited with founding the original timeshare points system. Vacation Internationale expanded from Burn’s first condo venture to include the acquisition of a 72-unit motel which it converted to a 40-year right to use timeshare. Later the company added properties on four of the Hawaiian islands.

Bob Burns was the inspiration and initial backer of Les Saisons Resort, Sun Valley’s first fractional ownership project. His son Michael is the founder of Private Residence Resorts of Sun Valley.

Source: Resort Trades; Inside the Gate and others.

The beautiful Grande Lakes Resort in Orlando, which includes the JW Marriott, The Ritz-Carlton and Marriott’s Lakeshore Reserve at Grande Lakes Timeshare boasts an added benefit that guests and timeshare owners may easily find themselves ‘stuck’ on.

An on-site apiary (a bee yard) at Grande Lakes Orlando provides fresh, quality controlled honey for both the restaurants and spa. Grande Lakes chefs use citrus honey in ketchups, barbeque sauce, spice rubs, preserves and pickles, allowing JW Marriott Orlando to cultivate a “farm-to-fork” fresh experience for guests.

Executive chef Chris Brown explains, “Harvesting honey on-site has given the JW Marriott Orlando culinary team another opportunity to show how passionate we are in sharing the best local flavors with guests. Knowing where the product comes from is important to us.”

Currently Grande Lakes Orlando has two beehives, but plans to double their number of hives and quantity of production by next year. The next batch of honey will be harvested this month, and plans for it include the production of mead, a beverage also called honeywine.

Guests at The Ritz-Carlton Spa can enjoy a signature Grande Lakes Honey Treatment, the Bee Pampered Pedicure or the Harvest Glow Hot Honey Treatment. Honey is rich in Vitamins B1, B2, C, B6, B5 and B3, adds to hydration, and has both anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties.

There is a lot in life that annoys us and that we can do little to control…like the price of gas. But with nearly 200 million Americans considered to be overweight or obese, weight gain is clearly a topic of annoyance for many people.

Fortunately, it is also one over which we do have (or can have) control.

In an article titled, “6 easy ways to avoid weight gain on vacation” published on myOptumHealth.com, nutritionist Jane Schwartz Harrison, RD, offers suggestions for how to relax and enjoy your vacation, without picking up extra pounds in the process. She recommends that you:

Get moving. Add exercise to your vacation in fun ways as well as just walking instead of grabbing that shuttle or tour bus.

Do the balancing act. Don’t deprive yourself of special foods, but when you do indulge, counterbalance it by cutting calories and fat elsewhere in your diet that day.

Watch portions. Sharing portions can help keep costs and calories under control.

Plan ahead. Stock up on healthy snacks.

Drink – with caution. Calories in both alcohol and mixers add up fast. Daiquiris, margaritas, and coladas can run between 300 and 600 calories per drink.

Treat yourself – without food. Indulge in movies, manicures, massages and other ways to feel special rather than food as a treat.

Let a Timeshare Resale Make Your Vacation Easier

Let’s add one more tip to this list: Vacation in a timeshare or timeshare rental. Doing so, makes the first six tips easier to implement.

Most timeshares are equipped with a full or partial kitchen, which not only makes it easy to stay on your special diet but keeps you away from the temptations of restaurant menus. Eating-in for some or all of your meals makes it easier to control what you eat, while you save on the cost of dining out.

Timeshare condos or a timeshare rental with kitchen, lets you stock up on healthful treats, snacks, and even your favorite lower calorie beverage choices. On top of that, most timeshare resorts offer both fun ways to be active along with options for hitting the spa when you want to relax and indulge.

This year, let a timeshare resale or timeshare rental make it easy to bring home seashells, a suntan, or a new interest in a sport, but not those unwanted extra pounds.

Wyndham Vacation Ownership (Wyndham timeshare) has announced its new affiliation in an exclusive sales and marketing agreement with Smugglers’ Notch Management Company, Ltd. Plans at this time call for all of the unsold interests in Smugglers’ Notch timeshare to become part of CLUB WYNDHAM Plus ®.

Franz Hanning, president and chief executive officer, Wyndham Vacation Ownership, says, “This is another significant step in executing our fee-for-service timeshare sales model while bringing a truly premier destination into our world-class portfolio of resorts. Smugglers’ Notch has a proud history of providing family-friendly vacations, which aligns with our business model of providing memorable vacation experiences for families. The affiliation with Smugglers’ Notch facilitates our expansion in New England and is also a win-win for two great brands.”

Sales are expected to begin in Spring 2011, with the property to be operated as a Wyndham Vacation Ownership affiliated resorts. Structured within CLUB WYNDHAM Plus ®, Wyndham’s points based internal timeshare exchange program, the new affiliation will make Smuggler’s Notch part of a network of over 70 resorts and tours. The sale of residential homes and the leasing of vacation rentals at Smuggler’s Notch will continue to be managed by Smugglers’ Notch Management Company, Ltd.

Other resorts that are part of an exclusive sales and marketing fee-for-service agreement with Wyndham include the 137 condominium-style units at the re-branded Wyndham Vacation Resorts Towers on the Grove at North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and 256 condominium-style units of vacation ownership at the rebranded Wyndham Vacation Resorts Reunion in Orlando, Florida.

Wyndham Worldwide, parent company of Wyndham Vacation Club (Wyndham timeshare), thinks conversion to US and Caribbean timeshares is a viable solution for an estimated 5000 unsold condos and hotel units. Wyndham Worldwide’s CEO Steve Holmes not only believes it is do-able but feels that it can be profitable and beneficial for Wyndham.

Currently in a recovery period, (like much of the timeshare industry) Wyndham expects to generate around $1.8 billion in revenue this year from timeshare sales, financing, and property management fees, according to an article by Brad Berton on Forbes.com.

But Wyndham’s conversion-to-timeshare plan, it seems, has a second-hand element to it—or maybe that’s third-hand. Rather than put up the equity of fifteen to forty percent typically required in converting thousands of condos to timeshare units, Wyndham plans to do so on a third-party basis. The company will not be assuming the risk of being principal developer in this massive effort.

Wyndham timeshare currently includes approximately 820,000 timeshare owners and some 20,000 timeshare units at more than 150 resorts.

And following up on other recent attention-getting news by Wyndham timeshare is the observation that the referee involved in the ball-tossing altercation with Wyndham Vacation Club CEO, Franz Hanning, was, as predicted, suspended for one game by the NBA for his role in the incident. See: Would You Play Ball With Wyndham Timeshare CEO Franz Hanning?

Are you familiar with the concept of the reverse mortgage? A reverse mortgage or reverse equity mortgage is a financial instrument through which senior citizens (age 62 and over) can create an ongoing cash flow tied to the equity in their home. In simplified terms, homeowners who have reverse mortgages receive a lump sum payment followed by periodic payments (typically monthly) or a credit line from the holder of their reverse mortgage. Reverse mortgages are somewhat like home equity loans, except that no repayment of the loan is required until the property is sold or the homeowner dies. At that point, the loan plus interest is then repaid.

But from time to time the question comes up about using a reverse mortgage for a timeshare condo. Despite the fact that reverse mortgage have been available for condo owners and for co-op owners, they have never been available for owners of timeshare condos. Timeshare condo owners, no matter how many weeks of timeshare they own, cannot utilize reverse mortgages.

While the laws are changing regarding reverse mortgages and condo ownership, don’t expect any change on the matter of timeshare condos. With the changes, most condominium owners who want to obtain an FHA-insured reverse mortgage must apply for the loan and receive a counseling certificate prior to a designated cut-off date of October 1 of this year. Yes, there will still be reverse mortgages available to condo owners after that date, but most of the condos that had been previously certified to qualify for these mortgages will have to be re-qualified, and none of them now or after requalification will be timeshare condos.

Imagine a floating city, rising 1200 feet in the air, designed to generate its own electricity, withstand hurricane winds, and eliminate the need for automobiles within its structure. This is the vision for the New Orleans Arcology Habitat, (NOAH) and if you think it looks like something out of The Matrix, you are right.

Now imagine owning timeshare there.

The project has been proposed for placement in the Mississippi River gulf, adjacent to the commercial district of downtown New Orleans. With an estimated 30 million square feet at build out, the NOAH project would include 20,000 rental condos, three hotels, and 1500 timeshare units, with the timeshare averaging 1100 square feet each.

The proposal also includes 3 casinos; 500,000 square feet of commercial space; parking for 8,000 cars; cultural facilities; public works; schools; admin offices; and a hospital.

I can’t say if or when this will come to fruition, but when you consider the visionary construction that has been undertaken in Dubai at “The Palm” and the Dubai Tower, (which both offer Dubai timeshare) we shouldn’t be too quick to dismiss this as “overly futuristic”. New Orleans timeshares have always been a popular vacation destination and one can only imagine the interest that timeshares within this environmentally green, hurricane resistant, innovative property could create.

Tangram 3DS LLC, (a firm specializing in visualization and computer animation) is responsible for creating the computer-generated images and partnering with the designer Kevin Schopfer to visualize his concepts throughout the design process. Here’s a video look at a rendering of the exterior of this amazing structure, courtesy of Tangram 3DS LLC:

In the Lynchburg, Virginia area of Huddleston, a Smith Mountain Lake resort community is making plans for a new waterfront condominium complex.

The Mariner’s Landing Development will construct the new resort, to be known as “Longview at the Pointe”. Plans are to sell the two and three bedroom condo units in four-week intervals, although full ownership options will also be offered.

The Point Is Not Selling Timeshare; It’s Buying Vacation Ownership

Jay White, a marketing consultant whose family owns the resort community, calls it, “…Just another type of ownership at Smith Mountain Lake.”

Good point! The developers didn’t wake up one morning and think: Our business goal is all about selling timeshare.

Instead, they looked at an opportunity (for their business and also for families in need of vacation options), and they considered how they could make vacation property ownership available to more people.

White, in an interview with The Lynchburg News and Advance, called the pricing, “… affordable compard with other offerings at the lake…”

“It’s just another way for people to enjoy the lake and not bankrupt themselves,” said White. “In my mind, the goal is to offer an affordable product someone can buy young and continue to upgrade until they want to retire and get the (vacation) home of their choice.”

Selling Timeshare Probably Started in a Cave

Once upon a time, there were no doubt two cave dwellers who wanted the same rock shelter. In order to accommodate the wishes of both, they decided to share the space, alternate who slept closest to the fire pit, and both contribute by dragging home freshly killed stegosaurus steaks. In every sense of the word, the two were involved in shared ownership, marked by the intervals of whos turn it was to sleep by the fire.

Timeshare shouldn’t be thought of as some suspicious idea, nor should it be viewed as a get-rich-quick plan by anyone in the business. Timeshare is really a very simple concept of shared ownership, enabling people who could never afford the cost and upkeep of sole ownership to still enjoy their little piece of vacation heaven.

Today’s timeshare is an evolved business model that translates to making vacation ownership available to the greatest number of people possible. And every day, through the sale of both new timeshare and of timeshare resales, vacation ownership is happening.

As Jay White so aptly put it in talking about the Smith Mountain Lake property, “This is really becoming a great destination, a great resort, and it needs to be affordable for people to enjoy it. If it’s going to be successful, it’s got to be available to people who can afford $750,000 or $50,000.”

Now let’s throw in the idea of timeshare resale properties, some of which are priced at $5000 or less, and you truly get: Affordable Vacation Ownership.

Follow this link to learn more about Virginia timeshare resales.