timeshare news

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.

After a beautiful week in Orlando at the American Resort Development Association 2009 Convention and Exposition, I want to first congratulate ARDA for another meaningful and informative event. Several members of the Sell My Timeshare NOW team were there, and all of us found the week to be power-packed with educational experiences and networking opportunities.

When asked what I take away from the ARDA 2009 Convention, it is this: the atmosphere in the educational sessions and committees was almost as bright as the Florida sunshine outside. The movers and shakers of the timeshare industry clearly are not letting the challenges of the economy and the tight credit market get them down. Instead, they are meeting these challenges head-on.

When you think about it, why would we be surprised at this? Many of the people who have helped build the timeshare industry and who make it so exciting today are true entrepreneurs; they are visionaries, dreamers, risk takers, and at the same time, excellent business people. The meetings at ARDA were filled with great minds and energetic leaders who are problem solvers and solution builders, rethinking many things about the ways timeshare is bought, sold, rented, marketed, managed, designed, operated, and advertised. If the economy is no longer a perfect fit for your business model, you do what these bright and creative minds are doing, you reshape your model.

The Timeshare Industry is Rethinking Vacation Ownership

Change was already underway in timeshares before the tough economy reconfigured the playing field. The internet has given rise to new ways to buy, rent, or sell timeshare, and created great momentum in timeshare resales. Gen X’s are redefining the ways people shop, share their opinions, and spend both their money and their time. The timeshare industry was clearly primed for a change, even before the US and global economies began pushing everyone into new buying, selling, borrowing, and lending patterns.

So when you ask me what I found at the ARDA 2009 timeshare convention, I am going to tell you that I found an amazing energy and fresh spirit of optimism from dedicated and hardworking timesharing industry professionals. The world around them is changing, but timeshares are clearly not going to be left behind.

Thank you again, Howard Nusbaum and everyone at ARDA who worked so hard and produced such a meaningful convention for the timeshare industry.