Vacation

Demands for high quality and good prices are up among travelers.

According to the World Travel Trends Report 2006/07, today’s vacationer has less time to vacation, but higher standards for the few vacation days he or she can enjoy. In an article that appeared on January 26, 2007, on the San Francisco based www.hotelexecutive.com “more people are ‘cash-rich’ and ‘time-poor’ today.”

The World Travel Report findings were based on information gathered at the Pisa Forum, an informational symposium organized by IPK International. While Americans are recognized internationally as the group allotting the fewest days annually to leisure and holiday, the trend for travelers to be ‘time poor’ was amazingly consistent across North America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific countries.

The profile of today’s leisure traveler includes more singles, more grandparents traveling with their grandchildren, more women and more extended family groups than in previous years. At the same time that leisure travelers are demanding better services and a higher quality of accommodations at hotels and timeshare vacation resorts, they are also vacation shopping by price. Good deals were one of the top considerations for travelers and ranked higher than the concern over availability of a specific destination.

Not only are travelers looking for quality at the right price in their lodging, they are also seeking to enhance the quality of their “vacation experience”. This is reflected in a desire to stay in resorts that are environmentally friendly (green), offer spas and health clubs, educational trips and activities, and an opportunity to interact with the local people and experience area culture.

And who are we as vacationers listening to when it comes to where we stay? Only 38 percent of Americas read travel reviews written by professionals, while 67 percent read hotel reviews written by other travelers, and obviously, 5 percent rely on both sources.

So what do you think, timeshare owners and timeshare renters? Does this sound like you?

One thing is certain, as hoteliers and resort management make adjustments and improvements to better meet the needs of the vacation traveler, you can be sure that these same improvements will be showing up in the timeshare and vacation ownership industry as well.

The Middle East is one of timeshare’s fastest growing regions.

This year’s Vacation Ownership Investment Conference will be held on March 6, 2007 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The theme of the VOIC Dubai 2007 conference will be, “Timeshares, Fractionals, Condo-hotels And more…”

Over 100 senior management executives from industries in 13 countries attended the 2005 Dubai symposium, formerly known as the Timeshare & Resort Investment Conference. This year’s event is returning to Dubai because VOIC recognizes the Middle East as one of the fastest growing regions for vacation ownership, in an industry that has experienced double-digit growth for more than two decades. Many experts believe that the timeshare vacation industry in the Middle East will see growth previously unparalleled in vacation ownership. With some 6.7 million timeshare owners, and over 5500 resorts in 110 countries around the globe, the vision of even greater growth, at a faster rate, is staggering.

The conference will not only educate its attendees on the opportunities in timesharing but will discuss fractionals, private residence clubs and condo-hotels, as well. Owners and decision makers within the industry will learn ways to benefit from the multiple profit centers timesharing creates, as well as develop a better understanding of the unique synergy between the traditional real estate industry and the vacation ownership market. Orlando’s Peter C. Yesawich, the chairman and ceo of Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown, & Russell, will be the conference’s keynote speaker. Mr. Yesawich is an industry expert you’ve heard me quote frequently in the Sell My Timeshare NOW, Timeshare Owners’ Blog, podcasts, and press releases. You’ll also find Yesawich’s wisdom in publications including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The New York Times, Business Week, and Newsweek. His firm is one of the travel industry’s leaders in marketing, advertising, and public relations, and includes among their clients, the Walt Disney Swan and Dolphin Hotels, US Airways, Marriot Hotels and Resorts, Hilton Grand Vacations, Marriott Vacation Club International, the American Resort Development Association (ARDA), and Interval International, to name only a few.

The host hotel for the conference will be The Arabian Court, One & Only Royal Mirage in Dubai, a beachside resort that includes three properties: The Palace, The Residence & Spa, and The Arabian Court.

Take Note Before Your Next Timeshare Vacation:

Effective January 2007, the US Department of State and Homeland Security requires that citizens of the US, as well as persons arriving from Bermuda, Canada, and Mexico, must present a passport to enter the US when arriving by air. The only exceptions to this rule will be for persons who possess an Air NEXUS card, US Coast Guard Merchant Mariner document, or a US government form I-551, also known as an Alien Registration Card and are prepared to present that documentation instead of a passport.

While the proposal regarding travel between the US and countries in the western hemisphere originally called for a similar regulation regarding land and sea travel to be implemented in 2008, there remains some discussion of how and when this facet of the law will be put in place.

If you do not have a passport and anticipate that you will need to obtain one, do so as early as possible before your scheduled travel date. In 2006, the US Department of State issued 12.1 million passports to American citizens and they anticipate issuing approximately 16 million in 2007.

And if you do not have a current passport, but you are longing for a tropical vacation, here’s some suggestions should you wish to travel sooner than the 6-8 weeks the US Department of State recommends you allow to process your passport paperwork:

• Plan to vacation stateside at a timeshare resort, hotel, or vacation condo in Hawaii, Miami Beach, or South Padre Island, Texas.
• Pay rush fees (typically about $100 above the standard passport application fee) to a passport expediting company, some of which promise to get you a passport within three days of receiving your application, appropriate documentation, and of course, your money.
• Or, plan to holiday in a US territory. Travel to Guam, Puerto Rico, or the US Virgin Islands (as well as American Samoa, Swains Island, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands) does not require you to have a US passport.

If you need further information about applying for a passport before your next business trip or timeshare vacation, visit www.travel.state.gov or call 877-487-2778.

Starwood Vacation Ownership, a division of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc, has announced further expansion into Mexico. Already under construction are the Westin Lagunamar Ocean Resort in Cancun and the St. Regis Residence Club in Punta Mita.

Just this month, Starwood Vacation Ownership announced the construction of a third property in Mexico, the Westin Los Cabos Ocean Villas. According to the Starwood company, the properties in Cancun and Los Cabos are the first timeshare or vacation ownership properties developed in either location by a major US lodging company.

According to Sergio Rivera, the president of real estate development at Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, “As Starwood is one of the oldest and most prominent hotel companies in the country, Mexico is an important market for us. A vacation ownership resort is a natural compliment to The Westin Resort and offers guests the benefit of owning a piece of one of the world’s premier destinations.”

The new timeshare resort in Los Cabos will overlook the Sea of Cortez and offer guests and vacation property owners multiple restaurants, swimming pools, a spa, and a golf course. They will also have access to the ‘Westin Workout Powered by Reebok’ fitness center. The resort in Punta Mita will include whole ownership residences, the St. Regis Residence Club (timeshares and vacation ownership properties), and a St. Regis Hotel. The Punta Mita resort will overlook Mexico’s Pacific coastline.

Construction is set to begin later in 2007 on the timeshare resort in Los Cabos. If you are interested in becoming a vacation property owner, remember that purchasing a new timeshare vacation condo or villa is not your only option. Resale timeshares (such as those available through www.sellmytimesharenow.com) offer some of the best deals available in vacation ownership property today.