Timeshare – still alive and kicking after all these years

When I tell people I have been working with the timeshare industry for nearly twenty five years, they express surprise! Surprise that it still exists after all the negative publicity years ago and surprise that the concept still resonates with a holidaying audience that has become more adventurous and demanding. Well two weeks ago I attended and spoke at the timeshare industry’s European industry ‘bash’, the Resort Development Organisation conference in Marbella. And let me tell you, the industry is still alive and kicking.

I have always enjoyed working in this industry. It has had its issues but is full of interesting and entrepreneurial people who have thrived in adversity. The industry has been regulated since 1994 and consumers are protected from the sales excesses of the 1980’s. But there have been frauds and scams committed on timeshare owners by external parties in the resale area or by supposed discount holiday clubs. Today it is these groups that tarnish the industry’s image, not the timeshare product nor its marketers. In fact a high proportion of timeshare owners are happy or very happy with their holiday product, and there are big hospitality brands associated with timeshare such as Marriott, Hilton and Disney. So clearly the concept makes sense for both holidaymakers and leisure companies.

But the past image hangs over the industry like a volcanic ash cloud and there is a deep reluctance among developers to engage with the media, mostly because they know that the first comment they will get is about the past sales practices. And yet there are some great stories to tell. This is a global holiday concept that is growing in all corners of the globe; the quality of many resorts is second to none; it is a flexible way of buying tomorrow’s holidays today and being able to safely explore the world through the exchange system.

I remember staying at one of Scotland’s premier timeshare resorts on a press trip and I found in the Lodge Book (a sort of guest book) a number of comments from families and their children about ‘their’ holiday home. They probably only owned two weeks of the lodge but to them it was home while they were there. This sense of ownership and belonging to a community is an important part of the timeshare story.

At the conference I spoke about how the industry could tell these stories and tap into the potential interest from travel writers (we had videoed comments from The Sun’s Lisa Minot and The Sunday Times Steve Keenan to show at the conference). I said we can’t rewrite the past but we can talk positively about timeshare holidays.  After all if we are not telling the media and others about our good news stories, then no-one else is going to tell them.