Timeshare

Even if you aren’t planning to spend the holidays at a timeshare resort, owning one could still come in pretty handy this time of year.

“Oh there’s no place like Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyll-llantysiliogogogoch for the holidays…”

No, this is not a typo.

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyll-llantysiliogogogoch is in fact the name of a quaint town on the Island of Anglesey, just off the northwestern coast of Wales. Although the village itself is tiny, train tickets to get there on the North Wales Coast Line are jumbo-size in order to accommodate the remarkable 58-letter moniker, a name that translates (roughly) to: “St. Mary’s Church In The Hollow Of The White Hazel Near To The Rapid Whirlpool Of The Church Of St. Tysilo Near The Red Cave.”

Wales is the land of poet Dylan Thomas, the ancient rock cliffs of Snowdonia, 400 castles, and perhaps magical Merlin himself. A timeshare in Dyserth or Laugharene Park would make an enchanting destination for an unforgettable holiday celebration. But this year, your plans may call for something more traditional like, “everyone’s coming to our house,” or “everyone’s going to Grandma’s.”

And, while hearts may be glowing from much mistletoe-ing, if you and your loved ones plan to rock around the Christmas tree, consider scheduling some of the guests to stay in a nearby timeshare or vacation home. Let’s face it, even during the holidays, family togetherness has its limits.

Pack too many bodies close together under one roof and tensions can run high, even in the most serene of families. While Bing Crosby croons pleasantly in the background, tired homeowners everywhere eagerly anticipate the day when their holiday houseguests depart. Listen closely and you can already hear the rumblings of discontent: “Enough is enough! Next year, we’re putting your parents up at the nearest motel!”

So whether you are holidaying in Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyll-llantysiliogogogoch, Wales; Your Hometown, USA; or Gorsafawddachaidraigddanheddogled dollonpenrhynareurdraethceredigion, New Zealand, (yes, there really is such a place) give yourself the universal gift—luxury timeshare accommodations, complete with extra bathrooms and bedrooms (with real beds!) for houseguests. Let’s not forget on-site amenities either: if your relatives would rather spend time at the bar instead of the fitness center, that’s their prerogative. The beauty of timeshares is that both options, and many more, are usually readily available.

Putting your in-laws in a timeshare could turn out to be the best present you ever gave yourself.

Some upbeat and very interesting quotes from industry panelists at the European Timeshare Business Forum 2005.

The latest edition of Timeshare Staff LTD Magazine, (December ‘05-January ‘06) reviewed highlights from this year’s, European Timeshare Business Forum, recently held in Prague. Here’s a few of the facts that came out of this meeting of industry giants, which we think will have you congratulating yourself heartily for being a savvy timeshare vacation property owner.

Chairman and CEO of Starwood Vacation Ownership, Rip Gellein, looks at his industry this way, “Timeshares are alive and well in the United States… I believe the sky’s the limit.”

He elaborated that there have been no “down years,” in timeshare sales in the US since 1980. US timeshare sales in 1990 were $1.2 billion, and by 2004 had reached the astounding figure of nearly $8 billion. This means that since 1993, the US timeshare sales growth rate has been almost 16%.

On the international market, timeshare sales topped $11 billion last year. And as Yannis Daskalantonakis of The Daskalantonakis Group, reported, “it (the timeshare industry) will be in even better shape in the future.” 

But Shari Levitin Katz, President/CEO of Levitin Group gave us perhaps the most enlightening factoid to come out of the forum, “The growth rate in the past year has been seven-fold. What other product has that level of growth?”

“iPod, Australian wine, and Prozac,” she said, answering her own question.

There’s no good reason for unethical sales practices to exist in the timeshare industry. On the flipside, there’s a world of reasons for you to buy timeshare resales.

Imagine that you arrive at a luxury resort for the express purpose of attending a timeshare sales presentation. The salesman promises you the world, and you sign the paperwork. A few months later, when it comes time to use or exchange your timeshare, you run into complications. Confusion soon turns into anger when you find out that what you were promised verbally was not described in the actual contract, and the resort won’t deliver on the salesman’s extravagant promises. 

We’ve all heard this scenario so many times that at this point the terms “timeshare” and “misleading sales practices” seem almost synonymous in the public consciousness. The big resort companies blame rogue scammers for giving the timeshare industry a bad name, while their marketing divisions exacerbate this problem even further by misleading and pressuring consumers into buying at over-inflated prices. 

Isn’t this kind of ironic?

With all these companies desperately trying to con people into buying timeshares, you’d think that timeshare was some sort of communicable disease. Still, one of the many reasons why I love my job is the sizeable pool of timeshare properties that we own, trade, resell, or use. I’ve used a number of our timeshares while traveling on business, and I have yet to be unimpressed.

Timeshares are great, no question about it. Since this is so, why do so many companies and individuals waste money, time, and other valuable resources on unethical, sometimes illegal, business practices?

There is no good reason for a timeshare sales company to mislead or pressure potential buyers. That’s what makes timeshare-by-owner advertising such an appealing alternative to buying timeshare from questionable resort sales staff.

What this all boils down to is that timeshare is a quality product, but it is often poorly marketed.

Buyers can avoid both deceptive salesmen and inflated sale prices by buying timeshare from individual owners, on the resale market.

With Thanksgiving festivities coming up shortly, this is the perfect time to introduce a new contributor to the Timeshare Owners’ Blog. Please welcome our good friend, Ms. Lucia Kaplan.

With this year’s holiday season looming nigh, I’ll take this opportunity to wish our readers a happy and safe Thanksgiving. In keeping with my festive mood, I’d like to introduce you to a good friend of ours, Ms. Lucia Kaplan. Ms. Kaplan is a writer and editor with a strong background in business, especially when it concerns the all-important business of how we spend our free time and hard-earney money. 

You can expect to read more from Ms. Kaplan in the coming months. I hope you enjoy her unique insights in today’s article, which deals with an unusual holiday dish…

It May Be Is Time to Think About Turducken

by Lucia Kaplan 

We are well into the month of November. Are the preparations for your turducken on schedule?

That’s right, your turducken.

Hate to admit you doesn’t know the ins and outs of turduckens? Perhaps you are new to the subject and only gained your first knowledge of them when the current issue of National Geographic featured turducken on their cover, alongside Indonesia, ocelots, and revolutionary events in Nepal.

Turduckens (as everyone should know by now) are the culinary delight that results when a whole, boneless chicken is filled with andouille sausage, shrimp, oyster, or traditional cornbread stuffing, and liberally massaged with Cajun seasoning. Then, the stuffed chicken is itself stuffed inside a similarly prepared whole, boneless duck, which in turn, is stuffed into a whole, boneless turkey. Tur-duck-en!

If you have missed the pleasures of a juicy, slow roasted turducken, then you have missed A LOT. Turducken lovers travel to Louisiana, particularly around the holiday season, just to enjoy this regional delicacy. Type “turducken” into your search engine and you will find half a dozen turducken specialists (almost exclusively in the Bayou State) that will overnight ship you a frozen turducken, many offering you choices of seasonings and stuffing.  Or if your skills are up to the boning, stuffing, and fowl supervision, you can easily find delicious recipes, including some from legendary Louisiana chef Paul Prudhomme, for preparing a bird inside a bird inside another bird.

So what’s the real connection between turducken and timeshares? If you are planning a Thanksgiving, Christmas, or other winter season holiday, and haven’t decided where to go, consider Louisiana and Mississippi timeshares.

Yes, this summer’s hurricane season was devastating. But the businesses that are open (or reopened) need your patronage. Spend your tourist dollars in an area that has experienced a dramatic decline in business, and you are helping people get back to the business of living. And when you are spending those dollars in Louisiana and Mississippi, you are right in the heart of turducken country—reason in itself to plan a timeshare holiday. 

If you can’t fit a Louisiana timeshare vacation into your schedule right now, consider ordering a turducken this year. Many companies that sell this triple-play holiday feast are donating a portion of their receipts to the victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.