TATOC

Last week was the first annual Global Networking Expo & Perspective Magazine Awards Gala, held at the Atlantis Resort, Paradise Island, Bahamas—also known as, “The GNEX Conference.”

This new event to the timeshare industry brought opportunity for learning, networking, connecting. It also offered the perfect venue for looking at some of the “BURNING ISSUES” of timeshare. I enjoyed speaking on a panel, along with Ross Perlmutter, President, Canadian Resort Development Association; Ramy Filo, CEO, Classic Holiday Group; Harry Taylor, Executive Chairman, Timeshare Association Timeshare Owners Committees, Robert Webb of Baker and Hostetler; and Bryan Lunt, Chairman & CEO, Absolute World Group of Companies.

Burning Issues of Timeshare Sales and Timeshare Resales

We didn’t sidestep the difficult questions or shy away from the challenges our industry faces. We looked seriously at the consumer issues of timeshare; media perception (and misconception) about vacation ownership; and weaknesses in the both the timeshare product and its delivery to consumers.

Here are some of the points that were made in our Timeshare Burning Issues Panel:

1. Timeshare has to change its marketing model. Fewer and fewer people are willing to “be sold to” at a timeshare sales presentation.
2. The timeshare industry must accept the fact that consumers will comparison shop. The industry can’t be afraid of that or back off from it. Consumers in control, comparison shopping, is the reality of a web-connected world, where people are “armed” with iPods, iPads, and Blackberries.
3. Timeshare sales are an international product, sold to an international market. Seventeen percent of the timeshare resales and rentals at Sell My Timeshare NOW involve international clients.

4. Demand for timeshare sales, timeshare rentals, and timeshare resales via an online inventory and an online transaction is already high. As fellow panelist, Rob Webb, an attorney who specializes in real estate and hospitality law, says, “In five years, the timeshare product will be sold on the Internet. If a company is not ready for that, they’ll be out of business.”

We covered a lot of very important territory at the conference. By the way, here’s a photo from the event which shows all of us on the Burning Issues panel.

Next week when the timeshare industry assembles at the Atlantis Resort, Paradise Island, Bahamas, for the first annual Global Networking Expo (GNEX 2011) and Perspective Magazine Awards Gala, I will have the privilege of being part of one of the “Burning Issues” discussion panels.

Under the heading of “Challenges We Face,” we won’t be making presentations. Instead, we will engage in a panel discussion with the audience. Look for debate on topics including consumer and media perception; potential weaknesses in the products we offer; and other burning topics of the timeshare and vacation ownership industry.

Speakers on our panel include: Ross Perlmutter, President, Canadian Resort Development Association (CRDA); Robert Webb, Partner, Baker & Hostetler; Ramy Filo, CEO, Classic Holiday Group; Harry Taylor, Executive Chairman, Timeshare Association of Timeshare Owners Comittees (TATOC); Bryan Lunt, Chairman & CEO, Absolute World Group of Companies and me, the founder & CEO, Sell My Timeshare NOW.

If you are planning to attend the GNEX event, I hope you will drop in on our session; it’s schedule on Day One of the conference, May 11. During the two-day event, with a theme of Navigating Change, you will also enjoy Keynote Speaker: Ron Kurtz, founder and president of the American Affluence Research Center.

TATOC, The Timeshare Association has announced key changes among executives. During TATOC’s Annual General Meeting, March 13, 2011, the TATOC Board of Directors approved Harry Taylor, the current Chief Executive Officer of TATOC, as the new Executive Chairman, replacing David Eastburn.

Harry Taylor, says, “We would like to thank David for his hard work and efforts over the past years. TATOC has grown as an organisation both in the number of members and in prestige during his time on the board.”

Also, the TATOC Timeshare Association board approved the appointment of Richard Coles to join the TATOC Board of Directors. He is a retired capital accountant and is chairman of the owners committee at Cameron House, a De Vere resort located on the banks of Loch Lomond in Scotland.

The Timeshare Association (Timeshare Owners and Committees)

TATOC was formed in 1989 and is the only elected consumer association representing the interests of European timeshare owners. TATOC works to safeguard and strengthen the timeshare holiday or timeshare vacation experience for both existing timeshare owners and prospective owners. TATOC is recognized as a voice of the timeshare consumer in Europe and an informed point of contact.

TATOC, the European Timeshare Association, has released new information on the growing success of its consumer helpline. In 2011, the helpline has already received over 1400 inbound calls through the month of February along with nearly 250 emails. This marks an increase of 264 call over the same period in 2010.

Harry Taylor, TATOC CEO explains, “The majority of the calls and e-mails received by the helpline were enquiries by consumers looking for advice, support and information which we supply via e-mail or through the website. The subject of re-sales generates most of these enquiries. The remaining calls were complaints but interestingly the statistics show that these were mainly about non-timeshare products such as the sales and marketing techniques by non-timeshare companies and unsolicited cold calling.”

TATOC is a non-profit limited company that works to safe guard and enhance the timeshare experience for owners and prospective timeshare owners. Last year, the association’s hotline (new in 2010) handled a combined total of 9183 inbound calls or emails.

Perhaps the most important takeaway here is that the complaints and concerns tend to focus on the way the product is sold or resold, and not on the timeshare concept itself.

Past The Timeshare Authority news on TATOC’s hotline:

Timeshare Association TATOC Launches Sharetime Online