The Timeshare Rental Problem

In my last post, I discussed that the industry needed to get back to making the timeshare experience exclusive...that is something that could only be experienced by timeshare owners.

The easiest way to accomplish this is to address the rental issue.

I'm not talking about limiting an individual owner's ability to rent their unused timeshare...that is a valuable benefit.

I am talking about putting strict limitations on a resort's ability to rent out inventory to a non-owner...particularly for less than the annual maintenance fees AND enforcing a "one time only" policy...meaning that a non-owner will be able to rent a timeshare once and only once at a specific resort.

And while I feel strongly that the entire marketing paradigm HAS to change, putting prospective owners in a timeshare and giving them attraction tickets for 4 days for $99 accomplishes absolutely NOTHING. 

Today's consumers are deal oriented like never before.  If a consumer knows that there is no restriction to the number of times they can take advantage of these "deals" without ever buying a timeshare, they'll keep taking advantage of the system.  And who can blame them?

Timeshare needs to focus on the differences between a timeshare vacation and a hotel vacation.  If resorts continue to make their wares available to just about anyone, for a minimal price, they face some serious issues.

Timeshare can be great for some people.  The industry and the individual owners need to "own" the fact---no pun intended---that it's reserved for owners.  Relish that, appreciate that and consumers will in fact desire it.

What Timeshare Needs To Do To Succeed

While getting everything in place for International Timeshare Appreciation day on November 1st, I found myself thinking yet again why after nearly 40 years, timeshare is not as widely accepted as I think it should be.

So I looked around to see what timeshare resorts, timeshare salespeople and timeshare organizations were touting as the benefits of timeshare.  It boiled down to these three basic ideas:

1)  The value of vacation
2)  The beauty and opulance of the resorts
3)  The ability to go anywhere with timeshare

Having spent more than five years as a salesperson and sales manager, I've heard enough objections to these three ideas.  The are as follows:

1)  I don't need timeshare to go on vacation
2)  I don't need to own a timeshare to stay at the resorts
3)  There are far more hotels than timeshares in the world

Sadly, this is true on all three counts.

Now back in the dark ages (2000), when the average sales price was oh $12,000 and the average annual dues were around $300, timeshares could indeed save the consumer money over the long run.  Not so much today.

So, what is the solution?  The solution is to make timeshare something you simply can't get unless you own it.  Make it exclusive.  And make ownership THE way to get there.  Sure, you can rent a house or own a house.  Why own?  Because it's exclusive.  You can't get the cathedral ceiling, the custom kitchen appliances and the like when you rent.

But with consumers taking advantage of rental opportunities left and right, to say nothing of the annoying mini-vacs that let the prospective buyer stay on the property, the exclusiveness is non-existant, to say nothing of the fact that renting is usually cheaper than the cost of the average annual fees (now just shy of $800).

In the industry's misguided attempt to show that timeshare is for everyone...and it is NOT for everyone...they've succeeded in taking away any exclusivity and thereby underminded the only real reason left to purchase.

International Timeshare Appreciation Day Is Catching On

I've quite happy with the response that I've received so far for my newest initiative, International Timeshare Appreciation Day scheduled for November 1st.

Updates can be found on Timeshare Insight's Facebook page and on Ocrtober 15th, ITAD will have it's own Facebook page in addition the the Twitter hashag #YES2TIMESHARE.

In the meantime, here's a great read courtesy of Sharetime Magazine and LiveShareTravel.com.

http://www.sharetimemagazine.com/any-other-business/510-timeshare-the-best-kept-secret

International Timeshare Appreciation Day

It is with great pleasure that I announce the first International Timeshare Appreciation Day!

Here's the link to the full article in Resort Trades.

http://www.resorttrades.com/articles.php?showMag=Resort&act=view&id=932


Many thanks to Ed Hastry, Harry Taylor, Emily Collins, Francis Taylor, Phil Watson, Nigel Lobo, Alex Marxer, John Small, Luis Namnum and Georgi Gordon for their help and support.

Now get out there on November 1st and support timeshare!