Good News about UK Timeshare

With all the stories in the news about layoffs at timeshare companies and the impact of the declining economy and tight credit market, it is important to remember that not every timeshare company is trending down. The UK timeshare company, Hapimag saw 5 percent growth in 2008, with an operating income of Euro 165.4 million (+5.1 percent).

Founded in 1963, Hapimag is one of the oldest names in timeshare. It is the leading UK timeshare company and today has approximately 140,000 timeshare owner/members. While Europe is the originator of the timesharing concept, and timeshare ownership has quadrupled there since the early 1990’s, European timeshare, as an industry, has previously not grown as fast as timesharing in some other parts of the world. This fact, combined with the down economy, makes Hapimag timeshare’s success in 2008 even more significant news.

Timeshare sales at Hapimag holiday resorts increased by Euro 5.1 million year-over-year for 2008, reaching Euro 64.2 million. The UK timeshare company recorded 3,068,000 overnight stays, or an occupancy rate of 78.5 percent at the 58 Hapimag timeshare resorts, which are located in 18 countries including Europe, Africa timeshare, and US timeshare.

Hapimag, which employees some 1700 people worldwide, spent Euro 4.3 million on maintenance and repair to its timeshare resorts and vacation ownership properties, while they spent Euro 39.0 million on renovations and expansion of timeshare properties. The timeshare company believes operating costs increased primarily because of the rising cost of energy, which means their 2008 profits were especially meaningful.

Congratulations Hapimag, this is good news for European timeshare and good news for the timeshare industry in general!