…Good News for Timeshare Real Estate Part II

In “The Tourism Time Bomb,” (Harvard Business Review, April 2008) the authors, Paul F. Nunes and Mark Spelman, predict a global tourism explosion resulting from an expanding middle class. The message is good news for the economy, good news for timeshare owners or people who want to buy timeshare or resell timeshare, and eye-opening information for travelers and vacationers worldwide.

Tourism Time Bomb Could Result in a Shortage of Hotels and Timeshare Resorts

Yesterday, when the Timeshare Owners Blog looked at this Harvard Business Journal report on vacation trends and tourism, we noted three possible outcomes of such a tourism explosion. The first likelihood deals with a shortage of accommodations and the prediction that hotel rooms could become a scarcity. As noted in the blog post, Good News for the Middle Class Could Mean Good News for Timeshare Real Estate, if this happens, demand will increase tremendously for both hotels and timeshare units. And timeshare owners, especially those who own timeshare with exchange options, or who own multiple timeshare units or timeshare weeks, will be in good shape. If an accommodations surfeit actually happens, then timeshare owners will be in the enviable position of owning vacation property at a locked-in price.

No-Vacancy Signs at Hotels, Timeshare Resorts, and Attractions

The second scenario that could result from a global tourism explosion is that overcrowding and over-demand at popular vacation destinations might result in restrictions on the number of people allowed to visit there. This goes beyond the problem of overbooked hotel rooms and becomes a matter of tougher regulations limiting the number of visitors to sensitive areas such as historic ruins and environmental habitats. It will also mean more days when popular attractions reach sold-out capacity early in the day. Already there are peak times when vacationers arrive at theme parks only to be turned away because the location has reached max capacity.

The report goes on to explain, that with the strange psychology of supply and demand, the destinations with the longest waiting lists, will ironically become the places people most want to visit. Restrictions on visiting certain destinations will simply make those places more desired than ever.

The third situation that could occur because of a surge in tourism is that secondary destinations and even as-yet-undeveloped destinations could turn into vacation hot spots. According to “The Tourism Time Bomb,” China has developed the Hawaii-like Hainan Island and Macao, a gaming paradise located on China’s southern coast. Thanks to the opening of the Qinghai-Tibet rail line, the number of visitors to Tibet increased 64 percent last year to more than 4 million, while high-rollers and gamers of all levels already head to casinos in Biloxi and Detroit to avoid the crowds on the Las Vegas strip.

Buy Timeshare and Get Ahead of the Crowd

As a parting thought, consider this bit of advice from the authors of the report: “Get in while you can.” The only thing I might add to this wisdom would be: “Get in while you can…buy timeshare resales so that the tourism explosion never stands in the way of your vacation.”