Today is the last day of the 2010 Ragatz Fractional Interest Conference, hosted at the Fairmont San Francisco and marks three days of learning and networking for representatives of the fractional and timeshare industries.

This fractional and timeshare industry conference has featured some 60 speakers focusing on the types of critical decisions consumers are making regarding marketing, financing, and sales. The speakers represent both the current fractional industry and that of the future, along with experts and advisors from related industries.

One of the much-anticipated highlights of this annual conference is always the release of the most current edition of the Ragatz Associates’ State of the Fractional Interest Industry Report. This report profiles the fractional industry in the US, Mexico, Canada, and the Caribbean.

This year’s co-host of the Ragatz Associates Fractional Interest Conference is The Registry Collection, which is the world’s largest luxury fractional exchange program, and includes a global network of condo hotels and fractional yachts.

Sell My Timeshare NOW has been proud to be part of this outstanding industry-wide fractional and timeshare event.

As if airline add-on fees aren’t bad enough, many hotels may be headed down the same unpopular path.

The TravelMole blog reports that more and more hotels will be adding charges for services such as holding your bags after checkout, bumping up the cost of room service, and tightening their policies (as well as upping their fees) for cancellations, early checkouts, or late check-ins.

Bjorn Hanson, an associate professor at New York University Tisch Center, says, “Despite a forecast for a continued decline in hotel rates in 2010, hoteliers will become more aggressive in collecting fees and surcharges this year.”

That is certainly not what any travelers or vacationers want to hear. And to add insult to the injury your wallet may feel, the fees will vary-not just from chain to chain-but from one hotel to the next within the same brand. This means that the service you take for granted as free at a hotel in Buffalo may cost you an add-on fee at the same branded hotel in Dallas. Travelers will be left with the feeling that they have to ‘ask first’ about every move they make, just to avoid surprise charges.

Thank You Timeshares

Perhaps your hotel stays pay you back in loyalty points, but no matter how many times you stay there, you will continue to pay out of pocket for your business travel or vacation accommodations when you stay in hotels and motels. Timeshare is a different story. Timeshare lets you lock in the cost of your vacation accommodations and then pay them off!

Buy timeshare and use it, and at the least you break even on the amount you would have been paying for hotel or vacation accommodations. More likely, especially when you buy right priced timeshare resales, you will save money over the years you own the timeshare.

There is not much most of us can do to stem the rising cost of living, but locking in the price of vacation accommodations with a timeshare resale makes more sense than ever before.

Where is the closest “foreign” vacation destination for many US travelers? Why the islands of the Caribbean, of course! And the turquoise waters, white or pink sand beaches, along with affordable prices for entertainment and dining make the Caribbean and Caribbean timeshares a popular choice for North American vacationers as well as those from Europe and South America.

Now, the Karma Royal Group, Asia’s largest independent resort developer, is catching the Caribbean holiday fever, too. Karma Royal Group has announced the development of Karma Bahamas, an upscale Karma Resort and the Asian timeshare company’s first Caribbean timeshare resort property. Through an agreement with Mango Bay Bahamas, owners of Little Harbour Island, this prime property will be developed as a Karma Resort Caribbean timeshare. The island is accessible by a five-minute boat ride or ferry from Harbour Island, where you find elegant private homes and villas, many of which belong to internationally known celebrities and Hollywood stars.

Caribbean Timeshare Luxury

Construction on Karma’s luxurious Caribbean timeshare is underway with the marina in place, and several timeshare villas already complete. At build-out, the Karma Bahamas Resort will feature deluxe three and four bedroom timeshare villas; smaller one, two, and three bedroom townhouses; and hotel suites. On site will be a Karma spa, gym, clubhouse, hotel amenities, and numerous restaurants.

Although this beautiful Caribbean timeshare is not yet complete, there are many ideal Caribbean timeshare resales and Caribbean timeshare rentals that offer affordable luxury and outstanding vacation opportunities including: Aruba timeshares; Bahamas timeshares; and US Virgin Islands timeshares.

To learn more about development of the Karma Bahamas Resort, visit: www.karmaresorts.com

Who’s buying Brazil timeshare and Venezuela timeshare right now? Brazilians and Venezuelans! Both countries recorded double-digit growth in the sale of timeshare and vacation ownership products last year, almost exclusively within the domestic market.

A recent Hotels Magazine online article cited the RCI Executive Summary noting that domestic timeshare buyers made 97 percent of Brazil timeshare sales last year for a total of over 14,300 weeks. Venezuelans purchased 99 percent of the Venezuela timeshares (a total of 12,700 weeks) sold in that country.

Perhaps responding to this trend, sixty-one Latin America timeshare resorts and Caribbean timeshare resorts became part of RCI timeshare exchange system in 2009. These additions brought the total number of Latin America timeshares affiliated with RCI timeshare exchange to 1,200.

The RCI Executive Summary also showed promising growth in Costa Rica, where several luxury projects have been started and in Argentina, Colombian, Uruguay, and Brazil where timeshare companies that may not have had a presence there previously are entering the market. Even Mexico, a vacation destination hit hard by fears of the S1N1 virus, added 22 resorts to the RCI affiliation inventory. Sixteen Caribbean timeshares and seven Brazil timeshares also became part of the RCI timeshare exchange.

RCI timeshare exchange publishes the RCI Executive Summary annually. A targeted 2010 Latin America and the Caribbean Vacation Ownership Fact Book will be released later this year.