Bloomberg News (and other sources) have reported that Arizona-based ILX Resorts has filed for bankruptcy protection. In a story that is becoming all too familiar, ILX Resorts timeshares cites the tight credit market and the growing economic recession as causes.

But here is an important fact to remember: ILX Resorts timeshares are open for business and will continue to operate. Many people learning of the situation at ILX Resorts timeshare will walk away remembering only the word “bankruptcy,” but ILX has filed chapter 11, an important distinction, which is designed to protect a company from its creditors for during a period of restructuring. ILX Resorts has not filed chapter 13 bankruptcy, which is liquidation bankruptcy.

Southwest US and Mexico Timeshares

ILX timeshares owns eleven timeshare resorts, most of which are located in the southwestern US. They also own one Mexico timeshare in San Carlos. In the US, ILX timeshares can be found in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, and South Bend, Indiana.

Premiere Vacation Club is owned and operated by ILX Resorts Incorporated and is a vacation ownership program offering the flexibility of staying as few as two nights or as long as multiple weeks in your ILX timeshare. Affiliated with Interval International timeshare exchange, Premiere Vacation Club timeshare can be exchanged internally through the ILX Resort system or through Interval International.

Point to Point Destinations has just announced five new timeshare resorts added to their RCI Points and RCI Points Home Group. All are California timeshare resorts although several are located in the Lake Tahoe resort area at the California/Nevada border making them convenient to the diverse recreational amenities both areas have to offer.

Point to Point Destinations is a California-registered non-profit mutual benefit corporation, and an association of timeshare members. Purchasers of Point to Point Destinations timeshare offered by West Coast Timeshare Ltd. (Canada) and West Coast Vacations Ltd. (USA) become voting members of Point to Point and can take advantage of all urban timeshares and resort timeshare property registered to Point to Point by either West Coast Timeshare Ltd or West Coast Vacations Ltd. There are 37 timeshare resorts or vacation properties in the Point to Point Destinations Home Group.

New Additions in California Timeshare at Point to Point Destinations Timeshare

Americana Village Resort timeshare and Stardust-Tahoe timeshare are both located in South Lake Tahoe, CA. Both California timeshare resorts are favorite destinations for skiing, enjoying Lake Tahoe’s beaches, or crossing the border into Nevada to enjoying gaming and casinos.

Red Wolf Lakeside Lodge timeshare is in Vista, CA and offers a mountain retreat on the north shore of Lake Tahoe, while as additions to the Point to Point Destinations Home Group, you’ll find the Olympic Village Inn and the Red Wolf Lodge at Squaw Valley USA. Sports buffs recognize the name Squaw Valley USA as the host resort for the VIII Olympic Winter Games in 1960.

To learn more about your opportunity to become a timeshare owner at Red Wolf Lakeside Lodge and other timeshare resales, visit Sell My Timeshare NOW.

In a report released last week, Ernst and Young LLP identified key trends they project will impact the hotel and travel industry for 2009. The Timeshare Authority focuses on three of the trends that seem have as much meaning for timeshares as they do for hotels.

In a report titled, “Top Ten Thoughts for the Hospitality Industry,” released last week, Ernst and Young’s hospitality industry experts made ten interesting and timely observations about the state (and the future) of the industry. Looking at the first three, all seem to tell a bad news-good news story that may be equally as meaningful for the timeshare industry as for hoteliers.

Although the report is lengthy, HotelExecutive.com summed up the first three of ten items in this way:

So what’s the good news for the timeshare industry that rings out from these points? It’s simple:

Yes, there will be sales of existing timeshare resorts and land for development of new timeshare resorts that some savvy and stable buyers will be able to pick up at deeply discounted prices. But because of this, these timeshare developers or timeshare companies will be able to get the new (or refurbished and rebranded) resorts up and running, with less land debt than many timeshare deals have typically carried in the past. And because of this, they will be able to open, operate, and provide timeshare buyers with exciting new destinations, no matter the economic climate.

Yes, timeshare companies are having to trim the fat from their budgets. But this is almost always a good thing in business. Look for today’s recession to build a leaner but stronger timeshare industry, eager to provide quality service and products to a price-conscious consumer market.

And yes, the popularity of consumer feedback as a decision maker for people booking hotel nights not only bespeaks a growing preference by consumers to book vacation and travel lodging online, it also reminds us just how much confidence we travelers place in the opinions of others travelers. We like arranging hotel stays, timeshare resale transactions, and timeshare rentals online because it is easy to do, fits our busy schedules, and lets us comparison shop to our heart’s content. We also respect others whose vacation preferences are similar to our own … which says a lot about why demand is growing all the time for by-owner timeshare resales, or broker assisted timeshare sales from the current timeshare owner.

The full report is available as a free pdf download here: Hospitality Industry Report.

This is the final post in a three-part The Timeshare Authority blog. (Timeshare Sales and Developer Strategic Responses – Part II) Parts I and II looked at how the credit crunch is impacting timeshare developers and timeshare sales, as well as what adjustments some timeshare companies are making to deal with it. Today’s post looks at what appears to be a growing recognition of the values in timeshare resales during these tight economic times.

Looking First at Wyndham Timeshare and Marriott Timeshare Sales

In the 4th quarter 2008, Wyndham timeshare reported that their gross vacation-ownership interest sales (timeshare sales) dropped 11 percent. In 2008, Wyndham timeshare segment contract sales declined 23 percent to $1,076 million. (source: Wall Street Journal)

Declining numbers like these in timeshare sales are no longer headline news; we’ve been hearing this message since last fall when Westgate Resorts timeshares and Bluegreen timeshares first began to send up red flags that they were feeling the pain of the troubled economy. But let’s consider the changes in timeshare sales patterns from all angles.

Sell My Timeshare NOW Saw Timeshare Sales Climb in 2008

At Sell My Timeshare NOW, the overall number of offers to buy or rent timeshares increased by 85 percent from 2007 to 2008, totaling 132,470 offers. The dollar amount of these offers also increased during this period, reaching $461,470,158.00, which represents a 68 percent increase over the dollar amount of offers to buy or rent timeshare in 2007.

Even in the 4th quarter of 2008, when US financial experts had stopped calling it a troubled economy and switched to calling it a recession, Sell My Timeshare NOW saw a 73 percent increase in the number of offers to buy or rent timeshare over the same quarter in 2007. Quarter-over-quarter, we experienced a 43 percent increase in the dollar amount of these offers.

Clearly people are tightening their belts, and personal financial situations range from ‘nervous about the economy’ to those who are dealing with the trauma of foreclosure, job loss, or both. Yet timeshare, both new and timeshare resales are selling. Before the credit crunch, Westgate timeshare was reporting strong sales of new timeshares as well. Westgate timeshare President and CEO David Siegel told the Orlando Sentinel, in an article that ran last September, that Westgate was managing to pay all its bills and will continue to meet all its obligations. But that there is no money for new business. “We’re having a record year. We’re in the most profitable year in our history and the banks are freezing our money. So we have no choice. In order for our company to survive we’re going to downsize until the money starts flowing again.”

And in a time when just about everyone is looking to get his or her dollar’s worth, it is not surprising to see a migration from closed timeshare sales offices to the excellent values available by shopping online for timeshare resales. Timeshare buyers are recognizing the value in timeshare sales on the secondary market and the enormous opportunities in timeshare resales.

This is a challenging economy, but there is nothing going on that the timeshare and vacation ownership industry won’t handle in stride. The industry will come out of this economic period redefined and better and the changes will benefit both consumers and the industry alike.