The Timeshare Authority Blog ran a two-part update last week on some of the many efforts being made by the hospitality and timeshare sales and timeshare resales industries to help the relief efforts in Haiti. If you missed them, you can find these timeshare blog posts here:

• Hospitality and Timeshare Industry Stepping Up to Help Haiti Part I
• Hospitality and Timeshare Industry Stepping Up to Help Haiti Part II

But help for Haiti is taking many creative directions. Here’s an interesting option that I learned about on the Mousekingdom Blog along with insights for your next Disney timeshare vacation.

Disney Finds Unique Way to Help Haiti

Film director, Lee Unkrich is currently making Toy Story III from the popular Disney*Pixar movie series. As a way to help provide relief funds to Haiti while sharing a special opportunity with fans of Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Mr. Potato Head and the other Toy Story characters, Unkrich has set up an auction page through Ebay to benefit the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund. On this auction site, you will find select items of Pixar memorabilia. Included are autographed pieces, such as a Tom Hanks Woody Doll, items signed by Don Rickles, John Ratzenberger, and Tim Allen, as well as other original items from the movie crew.

This is just one more way to get involved in the global relief efforts to help the people of Haiti, and for Disney movie fans, a unique opportunity. It is also an ideal way to share more about the concepts of giving with your children or grandchildren, especially as part of your family plans for an Orlando vacation.

Your Orlando Disney Timeshare Vacation

There are more Orlando timeshares than timeshares in any other city in the world—meaning you can have your vacation choice. Whether you stay in a Disney Vacation Club timeshare or one of the many other popular Orlando timeshare resorts, you’ll no doubt plan time at the Disney theme parks. Be sure to include a ride on Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, a video game-based ride in the Magic Kingdom that recreates the magic of Buzz Lightyear and the Evil Emperor Zurg from Disney*Pixar’s film Toy Story II.

Thank you, Mousekingdom Blog for the update on this charitable auction.

The Wyndham Vacation Resorts at National Harbor, part of Wyndham Vacation Ownership Timeshares, will add 250 new timeshare units, including 42 presidential suites to its mixed-use resort on the banks of the Potomac River.

Scheduled to open the first week in February, Wyndham reports that nearly 75 percent of its rooms are sold-out though the Presidents Day Weekend. Lisa Burby, representative for Wyndham, says, “The National Harbor complex is tremendously important for us, since the new trend among our time-share holders is visiting urban areas. We’re excited to help out with the growth of the area.” (source: Gazette.net)

The National Harbor Wyndham timeshare is the first Wyndham timeshare in Maryland, with the company’s next resort being the Wyndham Old Town Alexandria in Virginia.

Wyndham Timeshare Helps Boost Local Economy

The resort will employ approximately 100 workers and is anticipated to generate $48.6 million in annual economic impact for the region. Burby describes the properties in the Wyndham Vacation Ownership chain as a “holistic” approach to vacationing, offering kitchens, spacious rooms, and a wide selection of amenities including an outdoor terrace with spa and wading pool, indoor and outdoor heated pools, and a health and fitness center.

Wyndham Timeshare Gives Back to the Community

One of the most powerful parts of the Wyndham timeshare story isn’t always told in the beautiful spaces they provide at their luxurious resorts. The Wyndham Vacation Resorts at National Harbor clearly recognizes the bigger picture—the part of business that goes past the spreadsheets and spills over from the heart.

The Wyndham Vacation Resorts Timeshare at National Harbor will be partnering with The Fishing School. Through this endeavor, the timeshare resort will provide $25,000 to help with this Washington, D.C. nonprofit family center’s after-school education and enrichment program. Each quarter, the Wyndham timeshare at National Harbor will also host selected students and their families for a three-night vacation at the resort to reward students who are top performers.

If you want to be uplifted by the true spirit of a community, please watch the video below.

Past The Timeshare Authority News on this Exciting New Wyndham Resort and Other National Harbor Timeshare

• Wyndham Timeshare Resales Opportunities at the NEW National Harbor Wyndham Timeshare
• Where Will the Next Disney Timeshare Be?

In Monday’s The Timeshare Authority blog, I shared my thoughts with you in a post titled: Timeshare Sales and the Great Reality Check. That timeshare blog post was written in response to an article that appeared in USA TODAY.

Timeshare owners need and deserve more good opportunities to resell timeshare. And I am not disputing that there are timeshare scam companies and timeshare fraud companies that promise everything and deliver little to nothing. These companies are an urgent problem that both legislators and the industry needs to address.

But the article was one-sided and that is frankly, never acceptable journalism. When you take on an industry so unfairly, you can do a great deal of damage to a lot of people. Not only does the timeshare industry contribute significantly to local tax bases through real estate and property tax, but it employs millions of workers worldwide, from sales to advertising, to resort staff, housekeeping, golf course maintenance … and the list goes on and on. And consider the secondary and tertiary impact of timeshares.

Timeshare vacationers spend money on travel, food, entertainment, and shopping. In so many ways, they boost an economy and contribute indirectly to the employment of others. As tourism has dipped and in some cases nose-dived across the country, occupancy rates at timeshares have outstripped those at hotels. And there are even more subtle ways that timeshare contributes to the economy, such as the proven productivity and health benefit for people who vacation regularly.

So with all of this in mind, I thought you might enjoy what others in the timeshare industry had to say in response to the same article that started my rant:

Lisa Ann Schreier, author of Timeshare for Dummies, and respected authority on the timeshare industry, wrote:

USA TODAY’s article ‘Stuck with time shares‘ did a real disservice to millions of very happy time-share owners and prospective owners. I should know. I own 14 time shares and also lead an association of time-share owners (Cover story, Money, Monday).

Sure, there are shady resale scams out there. And some people bought more than they could afford. But there is more than one story, which was only hinted at near the end of the article.

There’s the story of how spending a week at a beautiful resort provided a family with the time needed to recharge. And there’s the story of the couple who have been going to the same resort for 25 years, first with their kids and now their grandkids. The list goes on.
Investing in a time share allows the owners to take regular, more comfortable vacations. The place appreciates in sentimental value. Also, it helps people develop financial discipline for better vacationing because time shares are pre-paid. Everyone has a place to unwind and eat together around a table, as well as activities to participate in, making vacations more enjoyable and valuable.

USA TODAY’s article didn’t capture that side of the story.”

Lisa and Ed, I couldn’t have said it better myself.

In Saturday’s timeshare blog post on Pirates, Timeshares, and Disney: Hawaii Excited to Host Them All, we looked at how the down economy has hurt Hawaii because tourism, one of the state’s primary sources of revenue, is quick to be cut when household budgets get tight. Additionally, Hawaii is just not a “drive-to” vacation destination for anyone and the rising cost of airline travel has added insult to injury.

But an article that appeared in The Honolulu Advertiser last week points out that in many ways, Hawaii timeshares have been a lifesaver to the state’s economy. Because Hawaii timeshare is prepaid, many timeshare owners have been able to enjoy a Hawaii vacation when other vacationers could not afford hotel travel. Industry officials describe Hawaii timeshares as more resilient than traditional hotels.

Earlier this month, Howard Nusbaum, president and chief executive officer of the Washington, D.C.-based ARDA timeshare association, met with lawmakers to explain how the Hawaii timeshare industry has held strong in many ways over the past two years, despite a slump both in tourism and in timeshare sales.

Here’s an overview of the interesting facts about Hawaii timeshare and timesharing in general that the article revealed:

• Hawaii timeshares make up about 10 percent of the state’s lodging industry.
• Based on ARDA statistics, Hawaii timeshares generate approximately $511 million in tax revenues to the state; 34,420 jobs; and some $4.5 billion in spending.
• Nationwide, timeshare owners report 85 percent satisfaction rate with timeshare ownership.
• Despite the economy, Hawaii timeshares have averaged an 88 percent occupancy rate, while hotels have averaged a little more than 75 percent.
• Although foreclosures have affected some timeshares, 9 out of 10 timeshare owners are current on their monthly payments.

Growth in Hawaii Timeshare

Construction of Hawaii timeshares is slower than in past years, yet there are still new properties under construction or in the planning stages. One of the most exciting properties is the Disney Vacation Club timeshare at the “Aulani” resort, scheduled to open in 2011 on Ko Olina. Another hub for Hawaii timeshare growth has been the Hilton Grand Waikikian and other Hilton Hawaii timeshare properties. Jerry Gibson, area vice president of Hilton says Hawaii timeshare is doing “extremely well.”

“At Hilton Hawaiian Village, 2,904 are hotel rooms and 639 are timeshare, which pencils out to 22 percent timeshare,” says Gibson, “while on the Big Island, the mix is 34 percent timeshare at Hilton Waikoloa Village, with 1,244 hotel and 426 timeshare.”

The chart that follows provides a statistical look at Hawaii timeshare sales and was originally published in the Business section of the Honolulu Advertiser under the article title, “Timeshares Weather the Storm,” see: http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/assets/gif/M1150255116.GIF