You gotta love Bono.

Bono (aka Paul David Hewson) is the lead singer for the rock bank U2 and is almost as well known as a political activist, campaigner for human rights, and Nobel Peace Prize nominee as he is for his music. But you might not know that he is also in the hotel business.

Bono and fellow band member, The Edge, own the Clarence Hotel in Dublin. Recently the two hired world-renowned architect, Sir Norman Foster, to create a resort design that represents a Viking ship. But whether the idea floats or not remains to be seen.

While Dublin city officials don’t have a problem with Bono and The Edge pumping more than $240 million into the resort hotel project, some object to the fact that several surrounding historic buildings will be destroyed in the process.

Currently the hotel property, which the two musicians have owned since the early 1990’s, has only 49 guest rooms. The new proposal emphasizes that it will turn the hotel into a resort destination. Plans call for, “quadrupling the size of the building and transforming it into an eight-storey, 140-bedroom five-star hotel,” according to the website U2France. There is no mention of whether the resort will include timeshares or any other vacation ownership component.

Ireland Timeshare Resales and Ireland Timeshare Rentals

To learn more about Ireland timeshare resales and timeshare rentals, visit Sell My Timeshare NOW. And to help you get in the mood for planning a timeshare vacation this summer in Ireland, or any other dreamy location, listen to this YouTube video featuring the Corrs and Bono performing, “Summer Wine.”

There is a lot going on these days at Sell My Timeshare NOW. While we are always in growth mode around here, 2008 has brought an extensive increase in both the depth and the breadth of our timeshare resales and timeshare rentals advertising business.

And with such expansion comes the need for new faces, more helping hands, and experienced professionals. Which leads us to Sylvio Therault, Sell My Timeshare NOW’s new senior financial analyst.

Sylvio has over 20 years of experience in both publically held companies, and privately held corporations like Sell My Timeshare NOW. He understands that in less than 5 years we have grown to be a leader in timeshare resales and timeshare rentals, and he “gets it” when he hears us talk about our vision for the future.

Sell My Timeshare NOW’s Vision for the Future

As Leslie Martin, the vp of operations at Sell My Timeshare NOW says, “We are pleased to have Sylvio Theriault as part of our team. His expertise in analyzing and implementing critical cash flow management plans, financial controls and well-structured financial statements will help lead to key financing solutions and will position our company well for business growth.”

Sylvio holds an MBA from Northeastern University and a BA from Merrimack College and he comes to Sell My Timeshare NOW from the VXI Corporation in Rollinsford, NH, where he was the CFO and vice president of finance.

Welcome Aboard, Sylvio!

To read the Sell My Timeshare NOW official press release, click here.

Resort Condominiums International, (RCI) has entered into an agreement with ICE Gallery Asia Pacific, in a plan to offer RCI timeshare exchange members in Asia a choice of over 10,000 cruise itineraries from leading cruise lines.

While a recent article in CNNMoney.com says that these new extensive cruise exchange opportunities currently are available only to RCI members in Asia, one has to wonder whether they will soon be available to all members that rely on RCI for their timeshare exchange or banking of timeshare points and unused timeshare weeks.

The CNN Money article (published April 7, 2008) says, “RCI members will be able to exchange their vacation week or RCI Points® towards the purchase of up to four cabins at cruise exchange pricing plus only one transaction fee on selected cruises, depending on the type of cruise, cabin, date and destination. Alternatively, RCI Members and their family and friends can avail themselves of member-only special rates should they opt to purchase a cruise holiday outright through RCI, instead of exchanging their week or RCI Points.”

More Cruise Options for More Timeshare Owners

ICE is a leading worldwide cruise and leisure organization that specializes in value-added cruise programs, internet marketing solutions, and tech solutions for travel alliances between corporations, resorts, cruise lines and vacation suppliers. ICE will manage and operate the RCI Cruise program and they will provide cruise benefits and products to RCI timeshare exchange members. The partnership with ICE will enable some RCI timeshare exchange members to book or exchange timeshare for cruises through many of the biggest names in the cruise business, including Cunard, Holland-America Line, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, Princess, Disney Cruises, Celebrity, and Carnival Cruises.

Cruise vacations are growing in popularity worldwide. The World Cruise Shipping Industry to 2020 Report predicts that, world cruise passenger globally will reach 18 million by 2010, 22.6 million by 2015 and 27 million by 2020. With more timeshare owners gaining rights to exchange timeshare for a wider array of cruise products, who knows how high these numbers could grow?

As always, as I learn more about this program, I will share what I learn here in the Timeshare Owners Blog.

A Texas-based timeshare resales brokerage, that is a division of Stroman Realty, Inc., has released an interesting study on timeshare resales buying trends for transactions handled within their company. The study looked at timeshare sales based on the size of the timeshare unit, the location, and other factors that influence a consumer’s decision to buy timeshare. It also reported on trends that affect timeshare resales across the industry, such as why people resell timeshare or what marketing media best reaches potential timeshare buyers.

Like the research Sell My Timeshare NOW released earlier this year, both studies found that people don’t typically resell timeshare because they are unhappy with it, but more often because it no longer suits their lifestyle, needs, or the way they vacation.

One observation that came from this timeshare resales study is this, “As consumer internet usage has increased, the Timeshare Resale Industry has benefited significantly from the use of the Internet to advertise units for sale. This is because timeshare owners/sellers have never been able to use signage to help with their marketing due to resort restrictions. Since about 1995, the Internet has created an interactive growing conduit for timeshare property information utilized by buyers, wholesalers, brokers, and sellers. The Internet is the single largest factor that has improved the market for timeshare resales.”

Above all else, the study, like research developed for ARDA and research by timeshare developers, reinforces the idea that timeshare sales – both of new timeshare and timeshare resales – are on a very positive upward trend, and that consumer’s confidence in the timeshare or vacation ownership industry increases every year.

In other words, it is a good time to buy timeshare. And it is a good time to sell timeshare. Whatever your needs, at this point in your life, find a reliable, highly rated company to assist you and then move forward confidently with your timeshare transaction.