TS Today - Creating a Vision for the Future of Vacation Ownership Issue #96 Nov/Dec, 2007 | Page 26

TimeSharing Today

Page 28

What Resorts Can/Should Do
Timeshare resorts do not operate in a
vacuum. Off-season exists for hotels, restaurants, shops, businesses, and residents in general. Like other brick-andmortar operations, timeshare resorts have
to deal with off-seasonal usage.
Resorts can shut down, reduce staff
to minimal levels for those owners who
wish to stay at that time, actively market
unsold and unused intervals both for purchase and for rent. Some locations, including the resorts, can create off-season
events to attract tourists - like Galveston’s
Mardi Gras. The resorts can enter the corporate apartment business. Conventions
and company getaways can be sought.
Bonus time programs can be actively marketed to current owners. Resorts can align
with hospitals to provide housing for family
members of patients. There are more “suite
hotels” being built as a strong indication
that a furnished unit with full kitchen is
attractive for individuals and families on
an extended stay in an area.
Real estate agents can provide contacts with people moving to the area and
looking for temporary furnished housing.

Resorts can band together with others in
other locations to market together unused
inventory with owners paying for the “exchange” privilege. These are only a few
of the possibilities for an active, engaged
resort management team to increase rentals and usage at the resort.
Resorts should without hesitation
take back unwanted intervals. If the resorts create a market for such intervals,
they can be resold or rented for some
amount of money. If it is “impossible” for
the resort to rent/resell such intervals, then
there is a strong case for shutting down
the resort as an uneconomic entity.

Exchange companies
Resorts and individual owners can
unaffiliate with certain exchange companies that thwart the lifeblood of the timeshare industry, by stopping the deposit
of weeks into such systems. It is apparent to any timeshare owner that for various reasons, the exchange process has
become a less and less desirable alternative to staying at one’s resort. Exchange
and guest fees continue to rise, increasing the costs above the ever-increasing

Nov/Dec, 2007

maintenance fee/special assessment
model.
RCI is involved in many conflicts of
interest that work against timeshare owners. RCI now manages and operates resorts. Weeks owners who refuse to pay
thousands more to purchase RCI Points
are at a disadvantage in the exchange process. RCI markets to special interest
groups including civil servants. Now,
non-timeshare owners can get many of the
benefits of the exchange process. RCI
even has a “Fam2Friends” program. If one
pays to send a friend to a resort, that friend
or family member is subject to RCI marketing efforts. Again, there is no need to be a
timeshare owner to participate in such programs. RCI has therefore helped destroy
any underlying value for timeshares. Nonowners can stay for less than paying maintenance fees + special assessments + exchange fees + guest fees.

In Summary
The resorts can operate in a way to
alleviate the huge load of unwanted
timeshares by creating a market for their
own intervals, and by more actively renting and utilizing excess inventory.

Looking for a solution to the confusion?
Timeshare Relief has been a huge, huge plus for us.
I feel very relieved not to have to have the burden of
the timeshare anymore. – JAN & JOE BONANNO, Phoenix, AZ
Timeshare Relief has really been wonderful.
It’s really been a good experience. Effortless.
Easy. Done. Relief. – JANICE BORST-SMITH, San Pedro, CA
Getting rid of the timeshare with Timeshare Relief
was one of the very best things that ever happened,
besides my wife. – DANIEL NELSON, Denver, CO

C ALL 1-800-399-7958
www.timesharerelief.com
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