The Florida Sun-Sentinel is reporting that Bluegreen timeshare, Bluegreen Corporation intends to sell to Las Vegas-based timeshare developer and manager, Diamond Resorts LLC. The reported sales price will be $15 per share, or about $500 million excluding outstanding debt owed by Bluegreen.

Alan B. Levan, who is Bluegreen’s chairman, says the offer was unsolicited, but admitted that Bluegreen timeshare has been considering its options. A statement released by Bluegreen timeshare quoted Levan as saying, “When Diamond presented our board with this unsolicited, attractive offer, we believed that it was in the best interest of our shareholders to pursue this transaction at this time.”

In April 2007, Diamond Resorts timeshare bought Sunterra timeshare for approximately $750 million. Diamond Resorts believes it is well on its way to becoming one of the world’s largest timeshare companies, with 110 branded or affiliated resorts in 14 countries and over 360,000 owners. Their timeshare resort locations include North and South America (and Hawaii), and Europe.

Bluegreen Timeshare

A nonbinding letter of intent has been signed by Bluegreen timeshare. The company’s stock dipped to $6.44 a share with the news, coming off a 52-week high of $11.85. Bluegreen’s business focuses heavily on their residential community development, golf communities, and home sales. One has to wonder how much the weak real estate market has affected the Bluegreen corporation and if the impact of declining home prices on part of their business made the offer from Diamond Resorts look even more attractive.

Help for college students interested in hotel and timeshare careers.

Are you facing the high cost of sending a child to college? The Princeton Review breaks down the cost of one year of college tuition like this:

• $31,717 at a private university
• $11,918 at a public university.

And these numbers do not include lodging, meals, or other expenses that are part of the expense. So congratulations to so many forward-thinking companies in the hospitality, lodging, and vacation ownership industries that are committed to helping students earn higher educations. One of the noteworthy programs I wanted to share with you is that of the American Hotel & Lodging Education Foundation.

The American Hotel & Lodging Educational Foundation (AHLEF) that is the fund raising and fund management arm of the American Hotel & Lodging Association. For 2007, the programs AHLEF will administer include:

1. Arthur J. Packard Memorial Scholarship Competition
2. Ecolab Scholarship Competition
3. Hyatt Hotels Fund for Minority Lodging Management Students
4. Steve Hymans Extended Stay Scholarship
5. The Rama Scholarship for the American Dream
6. American Express Scholarship Competition
7. Annual Scholarship Grant Program
8. Lodging Management Program (LMP) Scholarship
9. Pepsi Scholarship
10. AAA Five Diamond Hospitality Scholarship

The application process for the AHLEF programs has been streamlined. For 2007, it is easier than ever for students who are interested in management, sales, marketing, administration, or food and banquet service at a hotel or timeshare vacation resort to complete the application process. The applications no longer need to be accompanied by tax forms and either official and unofficial transcripts are acceptable.

In 2006, the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Foundation awarded $430,000 to more than 300 hospitality management students.

If you, or your son or daughter, is interested in the great career opportunities available in the hotel and timeshare industries and want to learn more about the AHLEF scholarship program, you can contact:

An island in the Fijian archipelago is the setting for a new Survivor-themed timeshare-esque vacation concept.

So, who’s heard about the new Survivor-style timeshare vacation, Tribewanted?  Is this a vacation, or a thinly-veiled attempt to get people to pay to labor on someone else’s island, while being video-taped for posterity?
 
Tribewanted describes these activities on Adventure Island as, of course, the “adventure of a lifetime.”

“It is Tribewanted’s aim to create a sustainable and ecological community on Adventure Island and to encourage tribe members to actively take part in this challenge.”  The community opens September 1st 2006 but is already building online.

Tribewanted’s motives notwithstanding, what they do have is great PR and an interesting website.
 
Joining the Timeshare Tribe is certainly affordable; at $220 up to $660, the timeshare tribe is open to many vacationers. “Tribe Members” can join for one to three years. At the end of the three years, the island, which is actually being leased, will be returned to its owners, who may or may not open it up to the public again.
 
A new slice of the ecotourism pie, Tribewanted’s goal is to have a “positive impact on both the environment and the communities it is working with in Fiji. They are keen to promote responsible tourism and actively engage in developing a sustainable eco-community on Adventure Island.”  Perhaps most interesting is Tribewanted’s ultimate goal, “To promote and raise awareness for sustainable and eco-friendly living and travel as a real option for both tourists and communities around the world; showing that you don’t need to be an eco-warrior to blend with the environment.” Hurrah!
 
If the real chief of the island, Tui Mali, decides so at the end of the three years, everything will be dismantled and removed. Or, the adventurous experiment will be continued. Either way, there are currently about 4000 more tribal places available, and current members hail from all around the world.

Here’s further proof that timesharing is a solid business concept

Owner’s Pass, LLC, a San Francisco Bay area company, barely one year old, is taking the concept of timesharing to the world of professional sports. The luxury suites and skyboxes in most major arenas are utilized only about 50 percent of the time. The cost to lease them for a year is often so steep that many companies pass on sports suites as an option for entertaining their present and prospective clientele. But as John Arledge, CEO and founder of Owner’s Pass explains, “Timesharing is a proven business model that has been successful for other expensive assets such as vacation real estate, corporate aviation, and luxury yachts. We saw the opportunity to extend that model to sports where companies were losing tens of thousands of dollars to under-utilized suites.”

The concept of Owner’s Pass enables companies to use sports suites as much or as little as their schedules permit. Instead of owning a suite for a full sports season, a company can now select specific events to attend, giving them greater control over both their time and their dollars.

Imagine. Ownership privileges and flexibility, while paying for only the time you actually use…now that’s a great idea!