Timeshare Trends Blog

The Barrier Island Station Duck Resort in North Carolina is now being managed by SPM resorts. The resort’s Board of Directors recently hired SPM Resorts, which has a 30-year history of reliability and integrity. SPM Resorts currently manages 30 resorts and serves approximately 100,000 timeshare owners up and down the United States eastern seaboard.

According to SPM, their philosophy is to maintain an environment of appreciation, respect and sound working conditions for their employees. The SPM team manages the operations of facilities under their control in a highly ethical and professional manner to produce the greatest possible financial accountability and responsibility to the timeshare owners.

In addition, SPM’s management team is frequently called upon by banks and investment groups to assist with workouts and turnaround situations. The resort consists of 130 total units, two swimming pools and is located right in the heart of the quaint town of Duck, and is close to attractions, shopping, and restaurants.

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The Grand Pacific Resorts will not increase the maintenance fees in the 2009-10 fiscal year. This California resort property located in Carlsbad is leading the charge in recommending to its homeowners board that there will be no increase in fees.

The decision to have no increase in maintenance fees came about after a careful analysis of operations and an implemented cost cutting on all fronts. In most years this would not be a newsworthy item, but many timeshare resorts this past year are facing serious criticism over huge increases in maintenance fees, especially in such economically difficult times.

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Grand Lodges in Oregon has now been added to the Interval International exchange network of resorts. Tucked into Oregon’s Cascade Mountain range and a few miles from Mt. Hood, this new fractional resort offers four seasons of recreation, including year-round downhill and cross-country skiing. The central location of Grand Lodges adjacent to three ski areas is ideal for upscale clients, who have the opportunity to visit a high-quality ski-in/ski-out resort.

Owners of 1/16 shares at Grand Lodges can catch the Porch-to-Powder shuttle to the Mt. Hood Skibowl, Timberline Lodge, and Collins Lake Resort and ski back from Timberline via the glade trail to within steps of their front doors. A proposed aerial tramway connecting the three ski areas promises to further expand ski-in options. With panoramic views of Multorpor Mountain, Mt. Hood Skibowl, and Collins Lake, 16 open-plan units are designed for a cosmopolitan market.

Three floor plans ranging from 1,800 to 2,300 square feet offer owners and guests three bedrooms, a gourmet kitchen, and a private balcony off the living room and master bedroom. In most units, Brazilian cherry hardwood floors and Cascadian stone fireplaces lend to an ambiance of rustic elegance.

Situated in the slope side village of Government Camp, the resort also offers visitors easy access to the surrounding Mr. Hood National Forest, with more than 1,200 miles of hiking and biking trails, as well as world-class rafting, fishing, canoeing and kayaking. Further reinforcing the value of ownership, new purchasers will be enrolled as individual members of Interval International, as well as Interval Gold, its upgraded membership program.

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The Shell Vacations Holua Resort at Mauna Loa Village in Kailua-Kona has been ranked number “one” by TripAdvisor’s Travelers Popularity Index. The resort has managed its top ranking position for four consecutive months. The top ranking is based on consumer comments and incorporates traveler ratings, guidebook entries, and web content sources.

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Wyndham Vacation Ownership occupancy through the first half of 2009 increased versus last year at about 75% of its resorts. Wyndham Vacation Ownership headquartered in Orlando, is a division of Wyndham Worldwide.

According to the latest statistics provided by Wyndham, their resort occupancy is slightly up at about 75% of its network of more than 150 resorts worldwide from January through June over the same period as last year. Advanced bookings are also up 3% for the balance of the year. After a tough 2008, it appears that 2009 is trending in the right direction.

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The timeshare industry has recently seen its single largest increase in maintenance fees according to a report from Apex Professionals LLC. According to their report, with the recession, timeshare owners around the world have had to reconsider their once affordable timeshares as debt they need to eliminate. The Apex Professionals report spotlighted one developer that seems to be a major player in this game of increasing fees, which is Diamond Resorts International (DRI).

The annual maintenance fees for a DRI property have doubled since 2001, increasing from $695 to $1,400 today in 2009. Owners of DRI properties seem to have a common complaint and concern over how quickly the fees are increasing, and although, DRI is not the only company guilty of this trend, they are currently in the spotlight due to owners demanding answers and drawing attention to the situation.

Like many other timeshare owners, DRI owners have been feeling powerless with decisions on maintenance fees and special assessments, which is mainly due to the fact that most owners associations and board members are employees to that particular developer. It is rare to find a large developer today that isn’t designed that way. With this structure, it is nearly impossible for the owners to have control over their properties and the fees that come along with it.

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The Orlando area’s hotel occupancy rate has decreased another 6.7% from a year ago despite providing deep discounts. Orlando’s hotels filled 57.5% of their rooms, according to a report by Smith Travel Research, and the decline occurred despite heavy cuts in prices.

The average daily rate fell 14.6% to $91.36. Revenue per available room, a key industry measure fell 20.3% in October. The hardest hit area was International Drive, where the Hilton Orlando opened in September adding 1,400 rooms. Occupancy in the International Drive area fell 9.2% in October despite price cuts of more than 18%

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Disney Vacation Club has launched a new bonus strategy for its staff in a bid to boost the number of people that use its resorts. The timeshare club is adjusting its salary and bonus strategy to try to encourage members of its staff to help increase sales of Disney timeshare units.

Rena Langley, spokesperson for the Disney Vacation Club, explained that the pay structure among advance sales associates will enable them to provide more reward and recognition to top performers in the sales team. Disney timeshares have long been a popular option among European timeshare holders and new research shows that sales have been increasing among adults and couples without children.

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Worldmark By Wyndham recently celebrated 20 years of success. Wyndham Vacation Ownership, the world’s largest vacation ownership company and a member of the Wyndham Worldwide family celebrated a milestone anniversary commemorating 20 years in business. WorldMark by Wyndham has successfully grown from a small product portfolio in Oregon to more than 70 resort properties throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the South Pacific and more than 270,000 owners.

In October 1989, WorldMark by Wyndham (then known as Trendwest Resorts) recorded its first sale in Kirkland, Wash. and offered a very limited selection of vacation options, such as a two-bedroom town house in Eagle Crest, a two-bedroom condominium at the Inn at Otter Crest and a one-bedroom hotel suite at the Ashland Hills Inn. In 2000, WorldMark welcomed its 100,000th owner to the WorldMark family. The company also debuted seven additional resort properties that same year and spanned the globe with the introduction of Trendwest South Pacific, which is now known as Wyndham Vacation Resorts Asia Pacific, in Australia.

The company added yet another seven resort properties to the ever-growing portfolio, including WorldMark Steamboat Springs, WorldMark Lake of the Ozarks and WorldMark Branson. In addition to resort development, the company also added a variety of owner benefits, including expansive owner education programs and online booking capabilities. In 2002, WorldMark by Wyndham was acquired by Cendant Corporation, which would spin off into four separate publicly traded companies in 2006. One year later, as part of the Wyndham Vacation Ownership family, WorldMark eclipsed 250,000 owner families. Today, WorldMark provides vacations to more than 270,000 owners at more than 70 resort properties.

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Timeshare owners often rent first. Half of recent purchasers have rented a unit prior to buying, according to the Vacation Timeshare Owners Report, 2009 Edition by the ARDA. Also reported, recent timeshare purchasers are younger, wealthier and happy with their vacation product.

Overall, more than six in ten timeshare owners are age 45 or older, with Bby Boomers ranked as the largest generation of timeshare owners (45%). However, recent purchasers are younger than timeshare owners in general, with 58% under the age of 45.

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