Group RCI Commissions Extensive Study to Measure Untapped Demand and Supply in the U.S. Resort Timeshare Industry
August 27, 2009 by Perspective Magazine | Timeshare & Fractional ReviewsThe world’s largest vacation exchange company continues legacy of innovation and leadership; shares key findings with its affiliates and business partners
Global vacation ownership leader Group RCI, which is celebrating 35 years in the industry, has commissioned an in-depth study of the timeshare industry to pinpoint untapped demand (i.e. consumers) and supply locations (i.e. resort timeshare projects) throughout the U.S.
The new study by Ragatz was completed this summer and focuses on the top 100 tourist destinations in the US. The report suggests where new resorts would be best located (i.e. either purpose-built resorts, or existing developments ripe for conversion into vacation ownership model resorts) and the findings apply to one-offs as well as “add-ons” to multiclub resorts.
The study taps into new markets with potential and promising prospects both on the supply and demand side, but also spotlights locations to avoid because of market saturation. The detailed findings include valuable nationwide information on potential obstacles to growth, expansion and overall opportunities in the industry, making it a must-read especially for those involved in the areas of sales and resort and business development.
Not surprisingly, the individual States with the highest concentration of timeshare resorts are Florida, top of the list at 22.6%, California (8.8%), South Carolina (7%), Hawaii (6.1%) and Colorado (5.2%).
One of the most significant and surprising findings was that out of the 100 top tourist destinations (not timeshare destinations), 27 of them have no timeshare facilities at all.
Thanks to the findings, developers and affiliates will be able to positively impact the vacation exchange industry as a whole and the study will also benefit lenders looking to research and validate projects or marketing ventures throughout the US.
This new data will not only enable affiliated developers to determine where to costeffectively solicit and market to potential buyers, but also where to build or acquire new resort properties and which are the best locations for off-site sales operations to help maximize return on investment.
- Gordon Gurnick, Group RCI
“The vacation exchange industry continues to be a major part of the overall real estate and hospitality industries,” said Gordon Gurnik, President, North America, Group RCI. “With Group RCI’s 35-year legacy of leadership and innovation, this research should play a vital role in continuing to help our affiliates successfully maintain and grow their businesses. The ground-breaking data we’ve acquired offers previously unmeasured information to help expand their presence in new markets and increase their member base.
“By commissioning this comprehensive study we’ve tapped into the overall scope of the industry and can offer timely and valuable insight to help our affiliates to help determine new markets for growth, expansion and opportunities in the industry, even in these uncertain times, “added Gurnik.
In addition, the new Ragatz data reveals the degree to which market depth remains for resort timeshare ownership among incomeeligible households in 291 sectional centers across the U.S.
- Dr. Richard Ragatz, Ragatz Associates
Dick Ragatz, President of Ragatz Associates Inc., explained: “Despite the impressive growth of the resort timeshare industry over the past 30 years, it has traditionally not focused on research as a means to decide where to build new projects and where to market new inventory. The typical approach in selecting project locations has been an opportunistic model, such as inexpensive land, capricious deal making, and friend or family referrals. The same can be said for selecting off-site markets, which is usually simply based on total population or proximity to the resort.”
“We found that in the top 100 tourist destinations in the U.S., 27 do not currently contain any resort timeshare projects,” added Gurnik. “This and other statistics from the study present some great opportunities for expansion in the industry. We hope our affiliates will be able to use this study to strengthen their business and continue to grow with Group RCI as their exchange provider of choice.”
The study reveals:
• Some 4.4 million households already own timeshare, both in the States and overseas, and of those, 3.2 million make over $50,000 a year. (The remaining owners are either older and retired, and purchased years ago, or are recent buyers of low-priced resales.
• There is still a huge potential market for timeshare sales: there are 109.2 million households that do not own timeshare, and of these, 56.6 million earn over $50,000 pa.
• There are still a surprising number of as yet undeveloped regions in the US which the timeshare industry has not yet penetrated. Currently, there are 1,640 timeshare projects in the US, comprising about 179,220 units for an average size of 109 units.
• The best locations to direct off-site marketing programs for new resort timeshare projects
• The top five cities from which leisure-oriented visitors originate to the USA’s top 100 tourist destinations.
About Group RCI
Group RCI, part of the Wyndham Worldwide family of companies, (NYSE: WYN) is the worldwide leader in vacation exchange and the European leader in vacation rentals, with exclusive access for specified periods
to more than 73,000 vacation properties in approximately 100 countries. The company is comprised of vacation exchange, including RCI, the worldwide leader in vacation exchange and provider of travel services to businesses and consumers and The Registry Collection® program, the world’s largest luxury exchange program; vacation rentals, including Endless Vacation Rentals®, Landal GreenParks®, Novasol®, and other renowned vacation rental brands, through which vacationers can rent a variety of property types, from city apartments to villas; and NorthCourse® Leisure Real Estate Solutions, an international leader in providing a full spectrum of advisory, research, and asset management services.
Wyndham Worldwide Corporation is one of the world’s largest hospitality companies with leading brands in lodging franchising, vacation ownership, vacation rentals and vacation exchange. For additional information visit www.grouprci.com or the media center of www.wyndhamworldwide.com.
About Ragatz Associates
Ragatz Associates is a highly respected international consulting and market research firm in the resort real estate industry. It was founded in 1974 by Dr. Richard Ragatz and has serviced clients from both the private sector (from small, individually owned companies to international corporations) and the public sector (from small municipalities to national governments). The firm has worked on over 2,500 assignments in the resort real estate industry in 48 states and over 70 countries. For more information visit www.ragatzassociates.com
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