Big Name Travel Brands Behind Increased Confidence In Timeshare

The recent entry into timeshare holidays of two more big-name travel brands - Thomas Cook and Airtours - is helping to boost consumer confidence, according to the "VO 2000 United Kingdom" survey sponsored by Interval International, resort exchange specialists. The research into timeshare trends was carried out in the UK by MORI.

Acknowledged for many years as one of the fastest-growing sectors of the British travel industry*, timeshare owners have already begun to benefit from the involvement of several international resort developers - including Marriott, Hyatt and Disney - all committed to providing the same quality service levels as their mainstream business.

"The participation in timeshare of these strong international, blue-chip companies is shown as being 'extremely important' or 'very important' to 68% of people interested in buying," says Kim Keble-White, Group Marketing Director of Interval International, which commissioned the study.

Announcing the findings this week at the annual OTE (Organisation for Timeshare in Europe) conference in Tenerife, he also pointed to the EU's recent crackdown on poor marketing practices as the other driving force behind increased public trust. * See notes for industry growth statistics

"The European Union's introduction of stronger safeguards for buyers has substantially improved timeshare's image for 64% of potential purchasers." He went on to add, "Since the introduction of EU legislation, the road is clear for more travel industry players to get into timeshare."

"The focus today is on the quality of timeshare accommodation and its range of facilities, to the extent that 66% percent of respondents* said that they are extremely interested in buying" concluded Kim Keble-White.

More than 365,000 families own timeshare in Britain alone, with 70% of first-time owners going on to purchase a second week. * See notes for research sample.

Notes:

About Interval International: Interval International has served the vacation ownership industry since 1976, offering innovative products and leading the industry with the highest level of quality, service and value. Interval has attracted leading independent and brand name developers to its network, which now includes more than 1,800 resorts in over 70 countries. Interval serves more than one million member families worldwide and its resort members through 31 offices in 23 countries. Beyond exchange, Interval offers its clients a range of services, including programme design, sales and marketing support, travel, telecommunications, reservations and financial services.

About the survey: The 'Vacation Ownership 2000 United Kingdom' sponsored by Interval International, is based on benchmark research carried out in the US earlier this year by Yesawich, Pepperdine and Brown. The research in the US was also sponsored by Interval International. The UK research covered 500 respondents (interviewed by telephone between 13 August and 4 September 1999) who had previously expressed either positive or neutral attitudes towards timeshare ownership. Of those surveyed 97% of them were familiar with the timeshare concept, one in five of them already owning. 66% expressed strong interest in buying timeshare.

About the EU legislation: The European Directive on Timeshare is implemented by the 15 EU member states. Confidence has grown amongst consumers since its introduction, as it regulates certain aspects of timeshare sales contracts. Its provisions include a 10-day cooling off period after the contract is first signed. During that time, the buyers have the right to withdraw from the agreement if they are not totally happy with the arrangements. Additionally contracts must be written in the language of the purchaser (provided it is in an official language of the EU).

The explosion of timeshare holidays and current growth: Back in 1980, there were just over 500 timeshare resorts around the world, with only 155,000 owner families. By the end of the Millennium, these figures will have mushroomed to well over 5,000 international resorts, 130 of them in Britain, with four million owners globally. In the UK timeshare is growing at a rate of 10% per annum, compared to the package holiday industry which experienced a growth of 9% in 97/98 and which year to date for 98/99 is showing a 3% growth according to figures supplied by OTE.

What is timeshare?: Timeshare gives you the opportunity to visit exciting destinations and enjoy quality accommodation across the world, year after year. The idea behind timeshare is simple. You purchase a furnished resort accommodation at a fraction of whole ownership costs and pay an annual maintenance fee. You own your holiday unit but only for the amount of time you plan to use it. There are many ways timeshare is sold. The traditional fixed week programme offers owners the use of either a fixed unit or type for a specific week during the year. Increasing in popularity are vacation clubs and point-based ownership programmes

The latter allows owners to purchase points that give them either membership or a deeded right to access specific types of accommodation, resort locations, amenities, number of days and other travel services. The main benefit of points-based programmes is that they provide owners with the flexibility to design their own holidays.