timeshare news

Marriott Vacation Club International unveils their new look at their Shadow Ridge at Palm Desert, California timeshares.

Marriott Vacation Club International (Marriott timeshare), has announced a new design for their timeshare villas. The new timeshare units at Marriott’s Shadow Ridge timeshare are the result of extensive timeshare owner input and attention to design details by the Marriott timeshare team. Additional Villas at Marriott’s Canyon Villas at Desert Ridge timeshare in Phoenix, Arizona have also been built in accordance with the company’s new design standards.

According to Marriott Vacation Club International’s media release, “Owners and guests have called the new layout “contemporary and high end” while describing the ambiance as “uplifting” with a stronger preference for the new design over the original.”

Once Again, Flexibility is Key in Timeshares

The new timeshare villas are more flexible in design allowing timeshare owners to utilize the space in the ways that best suits their vacation style and family preferences. Timeshare lock-offs feature two separate living rooms, balconies, and both a kitchen and a kitchenette, so that the timeshare units can be used as one large villa but functions equally as well divided into two timeshares.

Response to the new timeshare design has been so popular that Marriott timeshare plans to use it in future Marriott Vacation Club timeshare resorts, and to implement aspects of it in the three new Marriott Florida timeshare resorts currently under development.

With all the stories in the news about layoffs at timeshare companies and the impact of the declining economy and tight credit market, it is important to remember that not every timeshare company is trending down. The UK timeshare company, Hapimag saw 5 percent growth in 2008, with an operating income of Euro 165.4 million (+5.1 percent).

Founded in 1963, Hapimag is one of the oldest names in timeshare. It is the leading UK timeshare company and today has approximately 140,000 timeshare owner/members. While Europe is the originator of the timesharing concept, and timeshare ownership has quadrupled there since the early 1990’s, European timeshare, as an industry, has previously not grown as fast as timesharing in some other parts of the world. This fact, combined with the down economy, makes Hapimag timeshare’s success in 2008 even more significant news.

Timeshare sales at Hapimag holiday resorts increased by Euro 5.1 million year-over-year for 2008, reaching Euro 64.2 million. The UK timeshare company recorded 3,068,000 overnight stays, or an occupancy rate of 78.5 percent at the 58 Hapimag timeshare resorts, which are located in 18 countries including Europe, Africa timeshare, and US timeshare.

Hapimag, which employees some 1700 people worldwide, spent Euro 4.3 million on maintenance and repair to its timeshare resorts and vacation ownership properties, while they spent Euro 39.0 million on renovations and expansion of timeshare properties. The timeshare company believes operating costs increased primarily because of the rising cost of energy, which means their 2008 profits were especially meaningful.

Congratulations Hapimag, this is good news for European timeshare and good news for the timeshare industry in general!

The early success realized by Orange Lake timeshare now under the brand umbrella of Holiday Inn Vacation Club timeshare is creating positive results beyond the timeshare industry.

In Four Corners, Florida, Orange Lake timeshare is a major employer. And while Four Corners may not be an area that is familiar to you, urban planners recognize Four Corners (just south and west of Orlando and the popular Kissimmee/ St. Cloud vacation area) as one of the fastest growing cities in Central Florida.

Russ Manion, vice president of regional operations for Orange Lake timeshare says, “The economy is not as bad as everyone thinks it is.” And considering that the company, under Holiday Inn’s new timeshare resort brand Holiday Inn Vacation Club, is growing and thriving, timeshare is giving the economy in Four Corners a real boost.

In an article that appeared in The Reporter, Manion was quoted as saying, “We like to brag a little bit … Despite the economy, our alliance with Holiday Inn hotels has brought on 40 million members to the club brand.”

The benefit of new timeshare owner members is exactly the reason Orange Lake timeshare is growing, buying new timeshare resorts, and expanding its offerings in timeshare exchange. It’s also the reason the timeshare company is a favorite employer in Four Corners, Florida.

To learn more about the opportunities for you to become an Orange Lake timeshare resale owner, or to rent Orange Lake timeshare, talk to the timeshare resale specialist at Sell My Timeshare NOW.

Recent timeshare news about Holiday Inn Vacation Club timeshares:

• Holiday Inn Timeshares Not Slowing Down in this Economy
• More Timeshare Resort Destinations for Holiday Inn Vacation Club Timeshares
• More Orange Lake Timeshare Resorts Join the Holiday Inn Club Vacations Brand

The National Timeshare Owners Association‘s educational seminar is coming up next week. Scheduled for April 19, in Baltimore, Maryland, this members-only conference provides a change for NTOA members to listen to and talk with timeshare experts including: Woody Cary, president of Platinum Interchange timeshare exchange company; Lisa Ann Schreier, author of Timeshare Vacations for Dummies and Surviving a Timeshare Presentation; and Shep Altshuler, publisher of Timesharing Today, the Independent Voice of Vacation Ownership.

NTOA provides a valuable service for timeshare owners, serving as a clearinghouse for information about buying and selling timeshare and timeshare points; timeshare exchange; timeshare resales; and other topics related to vacation ownership. Without membership in NTOA, you could find that when you buy timeshare, you have questions about your options and opportunities and yet are unsure whom to turn to for answers. This is where the National Timeshare Owners Association steps in; and why their motto reinforces the message that educated timeshare owners are happy timeshare owners.

I will also be joining the dais at the NTOA seminar in Baltimore, and am really looking forward to providing the timeshare owners there more information about timeshare resales and timeshare rentals, as well as all the opportunities to buy, rent, or sell timeshare.

Future Educational Conferences for Timeshare Owners

If you can’t make the conference in Baltimore, I urge you to try to attend one of the upcoming ones either in Cherry Hill, New Jersey on September 27 or San Diego, California on October 18. You have to preregister, and you have to be a member of the National Timeshare Owners Association in order to attend, but these educational opportunities are only one of the many benefits that NTOA membership brings to timeshare owners.

To learn more about NTOA, email [email protected] or call (410) 719-0064. Follow this link to read Sell My Timeshare NOW’s most recent press release on this topic.