Timeshare Trends Blog

The timeshare industry has contributed $69 billion of economic output in the US economy. A recently released economic impact study of the timeshare industry highlights the key economic and fiscal impacts on the U.S. economy in 2009, according to the American Resort Development Association (ARDA). Developed in conjunction with Ernst & Young, the report shows that the U.S. timeshare industry generated an estimated $69 billion of economic output with 465,800 full and part-time jobs, more than $22 billion in income and nearly $8.4 billion in total taxes. “The contribution of the timeshare industry on local economies goes beyond the resort footprint,” said Howard Nusbaum, ARDA president and CEO. “In addition to sales and corporate operations, development of new resorts and renovation projects, it also includes the impact of expenditures from vacationers during timeshare stays.”

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Harrah’s Entertainment has assumed ownership of the Las Vegas Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino. Harrah’s customer-loyalty program, Total Rewards, will be fully integrated into the property in April 2010, enabling guests to earn and redeem Reward and Tier Credits. Planet Hollywood A-List points will automatically convert into Total Rewards. Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc. is the world’s largest provider of branded casino entertainment. Since its beginning in Reno more than 70 years ago, Harrah’s has grown through development of new properties, expansions and acquisitions, and now operates casinos on four continents. The company’s properties operate primarily under the Harrah’s, Caesars and Horseshoe brand names. Harrah’s also owns the World Series of Poker and a majority interest in the London Clubs International family of casinos.

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One of Westgate Resort’s most anticipated vacation ownership properties will be open soon. The Planet Hollywood by Westgate in Las Vegas is putting the finishing touches on this much-ballyhooed project and plans to begin hiring workers soon.

In preparation for the new Westgate Tower opening, the Planet Hollywood held a job fair on July 30. Their plans call for hiring between 600 to 800 workers. Planet Hollywood President, Bill Feather, has said that the hiring for all positions will begin in November.

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Orlando is the favorite destination according to a survey recently released from the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA). The 2009 summer survey reveals the top 10 vacation choices, and for the seventh year in a row, Orlando and Las Vegas remain the most popular summer destinations booked by ASTA travel agents.

Orlando came out on top with 17.2% of responses and Las Vegas maintained the second spot with 16% of the votes. Orlando and Las Vegas were followed by San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami, Honolulu, San Diego, Washington (DC), Chicago and New York. While the same cities have remained in the top ten since 2006, their rankings have not. New York, for example, fell again this year from seventh place in 2008 to tenth place after five years in the number three spot from 2003 to 2007. San Francisco, Los Angeles and Miami maintained their spots at numbers three, four and five respectively. Honolulu moved up from number eight to number six in this year’s survey.

When looking at which states see the most summer travelers as booked by travel agents, not surprisingly, Florida again came out on top in 2009, accounting for 20.3% of all responses with cities such as Orlando, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and Tampa. Nevada drew the second largest number of responses at 16.1% share with almost all the travel for Las Vegas. California, New York and Hawaii took third, fourth and fifth places respectively. Overseas, the top four international destination cities are London followed by Rome, Paris, and Cancun

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