International hospitality company, Wyndham Vacation Resorts Asia Pacific celebrated the launch of its new sales office and education centre to great response from over 80 West Australian “Owners”.

The opening of the new site located at level 1, 46 Ord Street West Perth, marks the beginning of a new chapter in Western Australia for this global hospitality company that is part of the Wyndham Worldwide group of companies (NYSE:WYN).

Wyndham Vacation Resorts Asia Pacific launched the Vacation Ownership club, WorldMark South Pacific Club by Wyndham, in 2001 with one resort located at Coolangatta, Queensland. Today, the company has a network of 14 sales sites and 22 resorts located across Australia, New Zealand and Fiji, including two resorts in Western Australia and more than 44,000 owners in the WorldMark South Pacific Club.

The rest of this article is for registered users only.
Login now or Register Free Here for full access to all articles, groups and forums.

Interval International, a prominent worldwide provider of vacation services and an operating business of Interval Leisure Group (Nasdaq: IILG), announced that Joe Hickman, executive director for Asia Pacific, was recognised with the award for Outstanding Contribution to the Timeshare Industry by the Australian Timeshare and Holiday Ownership Council (ATHOC). The presentation took place at its 20th annual National Industry Awards ceremony held in the resort town of Surfers Paradise.

The award acknowledges Hickman’s 30-years of experience in all aspects of shared ownership, his numerous contributions to industry growth in the region, and his tireless efforts to educate new entrants, media, and government bodies about the industry.

Hickman was nominated by Craig Wood, chief executive officer of Accor Vacation Club, Australia’s first hotel branded holiday ownership club. Commenting after the award was made, Wood said, “Our nomination reflects the value that we place on Joe and the Interval team as partners in our success. Joe is an exceptional individual and a consummate professional. This win is recognition of the hard work and support that we have all grown to expect from Joe and his team over the years. He was the stand-out nomination and truly deserves this industry accolade.”

The rest of this article is for registered users only.
Login now or Register Free Here for full access to all articles, groups and forums.

Diamond Resorts International® Chairman and CEO addresses more than 5,000 attendees at International Pow Wow 2011

Chairman of the Board of the Corporation for Travel Promotion (CTP), Stephen J. Cloobeck, announced to more than 5,000 attendees at International Pow Wow 2011 in San Francisco that the U.S. marketing budget had reached a combined half billion dollars and that America was ready to compete for tourists with a global marketing strategy.

Stephen J. Cloobeck revealed that the CTP had a $200 million budget to promote the U.S., and when combined with the work of the individual convention and visitor bureaus, meant there was now a half billion dollars available to carry out strategic marketing initiatives for U.S. travel and tourism.

The rest of this article is for registered users only.
Login now or Register Free Here for full access to all articles, groups and forums.

Global hospitality and vacation ownership company commits to service excellence through branded hospitality experience

DIAMOND RESORTS INTERNATIONAL® (Diamond), a global leader in the hospitality and vacation ownership industry, strengthens its commitment to exceptional customer service by building upon the foundation of The Meaning of Yes® with the launch of a 30 minute brand video featuring an in depth conversation with Chairman and CEO, Stephen J. Cloobeck. The Meaning of Yes® is a service excellence platform that empowers Diamond team members to deliver a branded hospitality experience to every owner, member and guest worldwide, as the company continues to grow and expand globally.

Diamond Resorts International® thrives upon the service excellence platform set forth by Stephen J. Cloobeck. By responding to customer feedback and engaging in cost efficient and effective solutions, Mr. Cloobeck has successfully developed a hospitality product that is much more than vacation ownership, but guarantees a lifetime of memorable vacation experiences to all owners, members and guests. The Meaning of Yes® ensures that every guest receives the vacation they deserve. Diamond team members are currently being trained worldwide to work collectively to improve the guest experience and commit to providing relaxation… simplified.

The rest of this article is for registered users only.
Login now or Register Free Here for full access to all articles, groups and forums.

Online voting will end on April 29^th for timeshare and fractional industry professionals looking to assist in deciding the winners for the inaugural Perspective Magazine Awards Program.

Nearly 2,000 votes have already been cast online for nominees in the Perspective Magazine Awards program. However, timeshare and fractional industry professionals who have not yet cast their ballots only have until the end of this week to participate in the selection process.[membe]

April 29^th is the deadline for online voters to help choose between nearly 150 entries submitted for the awards program, with winners to be announced the evening of May 12^th, 2011 during a Gala dinner at the conclusion of global networking expo GNEX 2011.

Online voting is being conducted through the Perspective Magazine website at http://perspectivemagazine.com/awards, with voters asked to go to the website and follow the links for instructions on how to vote for their favorite individual or company. Once online voting is concluded, the votes will be added to the decisions of a select panel of industry experts in a process to decide the award winners.

“We are absolutely thrilled with the response from the industry so far during the voting process,” said Paul Mattimoe, president and CEO, Perspective Magazine. “With nominations coming in from around the world, we set up the website to make it as easy as possible for the industry to vote and they have exceeded our expectations. We are the only shared ownership industry awards program that includes this level of public involvement and look forward to expanding upon its success year on year.”

GNEX 2011 and the Perspective Magazine Awards will be held May 11^th-12^th, 2011 at the spectacular Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas and will take a comprehensive look at the industry from a global viewpoint. Industry associations from five continents have given their support to the event as attendees from the USA, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, South America, UK, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Russia, Thailand, Hong Kong, China, Malaysia and Australia will be examining creative new ways to grow their businesses.

Workshops discussing international best practices and new strategies to gain and maintain customers will provide outstanding value for delegates. The expo will also incorporate an exhibitor hall, networking sessions, a welcome reception, open networking time and areas for individual business meetings in addition to the Perspective Magazine Awards Gala dinner.

For more information and to find out how you can attend GNEX 2011, please visit http://perspectivemagazine.com/gnex

Sponsors and supporters of GNEX 2011 include:

The Absolute World Group, Dial an Exchange, Resort Television, Yucatan Holidays, Citadel Trustees Limited, Connex, First American Title Insurance Company, ICE, Interval International, LeisureLink, Max Generation, RCI, First National Trustee Company, Lloydshare, Alternative Ownership Conference Asia Pacific (AOCAP), Australian Timeshare & Holiday Ownership Council (ATHOC), Canadian Resort Development Association (CRDA), Cooperative Association of Resort Exchangers (CARE), La Asociación Mexicana de Desarrolladores Turísticos (AMDETUR), Ragatz Fractional Interest Conference, Resort Development Organisation (RDO), Vacation Ownership Association of Southern Africa (VOASA), American Airlines, Avis Rent A Car and Christel House International as Charity of Choice.

About Perspective Magazine

Perspective Magazine publishes four regional brands: industry publications Perspective Magazine North America, Perspective Magazine Europe & Middle East, Perspective Magazine South Africa and Perspective Magazine Asia Pacific. Together, the industry magazines are the most read independent trade publications globally for the shared ownership industry and the company is a media sponsor of 30 major industry events around the world. The company’s consumer magazine, Owners Perspective Magazine, is the only independent consumer publication that specializes in promoting the benefits of buying shared ownership products to the general public.  Distribution is via a variety of high-profile consumer channels including, but not limited to, more than 150 first class airport lounges worldwide with over a dozen airlines such as British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Emirates, Singapore Airlines, American Airlines, United Airlines, and Delta as well as hundreds of luxury hotels, resorts, spas and golf clubs.

For more information, please visit http://perspectivemagazine.com/gnex or email Steve Luba, Director of Public Relations, at steveluba(at)perspectivemagazine.com. For information on advertising and editorial opportunities visit http://perspectivemagazine.com/advertise. [/member]

Francis Taylor, CEO of Dial An Exchange, will examine the current state of the exchange business during Perspective Magazine’s timeshare and fractional ownership industry networking event.

Timeshare and fractional industry multi-media information leader Perspective Magazine announces that Francis Taylor, CEO of Dial An Exchange (DAE), will provide expert analysis of the timeshare exchange marketplace during the Global Networking Expo, GNEX 2011.

DAE is now the largest independent timeshare exchange provider in the world, servicing a global market from offices in the USA, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, China, Thailand and India. Mr. Taylor has steadfastly modeled the DAE business simply based on keeping its members happy while delivering on its promises. Members can access live availability online 24/7 and can search, hold, book and confirm in real time, making the exchange process simple.

Mr. Taylor’s position atop DAE allows him to see the industry from a unique, global perspective and bring an independent viewpoint to the discussion regarding timeshare exchange and how best to meet the needs of changing consumer behavior.

The rest of this article is for registered users only.
Login now or Register Free Here for full access to all articles, groups and forums.

International visitors to the Gold Coast were steady over the year ending December 2010, an increase of 0.5% on the previous year however they spent 6% less on their trips to the tourism capital according to figures released today by Tourism Research Australia.

Gold Coast Tourism CEO Martin Winter said the results were anticipated given the strength of the dollar in 2010 and a changing mix of visitors to the Gold Coast.

“The Gold Coast tourism industry knows from experience that a strong Australian dollar weakens international visitor spend, so when the Australian dollar jumped from 85 cents to over parity last year we were anticipating a decline in international visitor spend, that is reflected in these numbers,” he said.

The rest of this article is for registered users only.
Login now or Register Free Here for full access to all articles, groups and forums.

Dial An Exchange (DAE), one of the world’s largest independent timeshare exchange organizations has recently launched a new expansion of benefits for DAE’s Gold Advantage members. Gold Advantage is the premium membership offered by Dial An Exchange, (www.daelive.com) a free membership is also available.

Gold Advantage memberships can be purchased for $89 for a full year, with a renewal price of $59. Current Gold Advantage benefits include advance booking capability of newly available inventory, priority requests, discounts on the purchase of all DAE exchanges and bonus weeks, and a slew of lifestyle benefits that encompass travel, hotel, golf, recreation and even grocery discounts.

The additional features added to the Gold Advantage membership include a 365/24/7 concierge program that members can access both on vacation and at home. Concierge benefits include roadside assistance, currency exchange, medical assistance, and more. Another additional benefit is discounts on vacation, tour, and cruise packages, and an elite member buying service that gives Gold Advantage members discounts on thousands of brand name products from hundreds of manufacturers and distributors.

The rest of this article is for registered users only.
Login now or Register Free Here for full access to all articles, groups and forums.

Presents Awards, Names Board Members & Works With Charity Food Bank

There was a great deal of prideful celebrating going on in New Orleans as the Cooperative Association of Resort Exchangers (C.A.R.E.) reached a significant milestone in its 25-year history by welcoming members to its 50th semi-annual conference, held in late April. The Silver and Gold Conference celebrated not only C.A.R.E.’s quarter of a century as an organization, but also recognized special members who have helped their group succeed over the years.

Held at the landmark Hilton New Orleans St. Charles Avenue, the historical spring conference attracted over 160 member representatives in spite of the current economy. New Orleans was also the site of the first C.A.R.E. (www.care-online.org) conference 25 years ago. Former board members and award winners were recognized for their contributions in bringing the organization to its current respected status.

Emily Ceruzzi of Global Connections was honored at the conference with the prestigious Richard Gallardo Award. Emily was instrumental in raising sponsorship funds to help defray speaker and conference costs. Emily has been a C.A.R.E. member for 11 years and serves on the Membership Benefits and Sponsorship Committees. Presented annually in recognition of outstanding service to C.A.R.E., the award was created in honor of Richard Gallardo, who served the organization for many years. The award was presented to Emily by Ricky Gallardo, the son of Kathleen and Richard Gallardo, who were one of C.A.R.E.’s founding member families and present at the organization’s inaugural conference 25 years ago.

Another special celebratory event included honoring Travel Advantage Network (TAN) of Millersville, MD with the Silver & Gold award for contributing more than $300,000 in C.A.R.E. sponsorship donations over the past 25 years.

New officers installed at the conference were Vice Presidents, Debi Mongan of Travel Advantage Network (TAN), who was newly elected for a one-year term and incumbent Linda Mayhugh of Accommodations Unlimited, re-elected for a three-year term. Alain Carr remains C.A.R.E.President.

Since several C.A.R.E. members had expressed an interest in participating in a charitable activity to give back to the resort communities that have served them for many years. Board member Dave Dawson and others helped locate the Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana. After the close of the conference, several C.A.R.E. members donated their time and efforts by working at the food bank for half a day in a warehouse facility.

Described Dave: “Our volunteers sorted and repacked food donated by major grocery chains prior to distribution to soup kitchens that feed the homeless abused, and women’s shelters. Everyone was exhilarated by the team coming together and felt a great deal of gratitude for being able to serve the community through their efforts. It was an experience we will long remember.”

With leadership by Jeanette Bunn, the conference’s silent/live auction raised over $10,000 to help promote C.A.R.E. through advertising to attract new member companies. Five percent of the total auction proceeds were donated to the New Orleans chapter of Habitat for Humanity. Auction items donated included five RCI weeks, three Global Connections weeks, accommodations in Colorado, California and Branson, and ads in Resort Trades and the Management & Operations magazine, plus other popular items.

C.A.R.E. is comprised of resort developers and service companies, property management firms, homeowners associations, rental and exchange organizations and travel clubs engaged within the vacation industry. Members are located in the US, Canada, Mexico, Europe and Australia. The member companies of the association offer over 2,500 vacation properties and services to over a million vacation owner members, along with the tools to provide outstanding vacation services while remaining committed to the highest standards and ethics. www.care-online.org

As we all know, the past year or two have been some of the most challenging our industry has seen in a very long time. And while not every company around the globe suffered from the credit crisis, scores did, and the ripple effect meant that many suppliers and other industry-related companies paid the price as well.
By Matt McDaniel, editor

Today, though, the consensus is that the shared-ownership industry is stabilizing and regaining its footing. And, along the lines of “whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” the still-standing operators are lean and hungry to regain some semblance of their previous sales revenues.

In this edition, we’ve asked several influential EMEAA market leaders to talk about the state of the industry, its biggest challenges going forward, the availability of finance and the impact on exchange. Each  shared-ownership industry leader was individually asked to respond to the same five questions. The participants, in alphabetical order, are Mark Attwood, group sales and marketing director, Karma Royal Group; Paul Gardner Bougaard, chief executive, Resort Development Organisation (RDO); Ramy Filo, president of the Australian Timeshare and Holiday Ownership Council (ATHOC) and CEO and managing director of the Classic Group; Peter Hutchinson, Group Chairman, Citadel Trustees; Shaun Lamont, managing director, Club Leisure Group; Bryan Lunt, chairman, Absolute Group of Companies; Leslie McCann, group marketing director, Seasons Holidays; Richard McIntosh, chairman of the Resort Development Organisation (RDO) and managing director, Hilton Grand Vacations; and Nick Turner, vice president & head of new business development, The Registry Collection.

From your perspective, what is the current state of the shared-ownership industry?

Mark Attwood: I can’t really comment about outside Asia. In Asia, timeshare activity is very small. There is not much developer activity. The industry surged in the last decade but there are few reputable developers left.

Paul Gardner Bougaard, chief executive, Resort Development Organisation (RDO)

Paul Gardner Bougaard: From the RDO perspective, I think the industry in Europe is in remarkably good shape, bearing in mind that the world’s economies have been through the worst economic crisis since the 1930s. Whilst we’re not yet out of this and many countries in Europe have yet to announce measures to deal with the debt incurred in supporting their economies, I think it’s apparent that consumers continue to value the certainty of their shared ownership and see this as an important element of their lifestyle. I am therefore confident that the timeshare product continues to have a strong future even though we still have a lot of work to do to educate the media and public in Europe. I think the fractional side of the industry is still very much in its infancy in Europe and there is a huge task ahead in educating the public and media as to the attractions and advantages of the product. The fractional industry desperately needs to organize itself under a trade association in order to speak with a unified voice and get those messages out. We have set FSOTA up for that purpose and will work hard this year to recruit new members to support this education program.

Ramy Filo: The past 12 months have been challenging for companies in Australia. Some companies were quick to react to the situation and resulted in maintaining the momentum or increasing volumes. Other companies struggled in the current market conditions. All companies looked at their own backyard and restructured and focused on core businesses while maximizing revenue from their current member base.

Peter Hutchinson: The propensity of the public to commit to high ticket value leisure products in a recession is heavily reduced. However, in these days of tiny returns on funds invested with banks, some resorts can benefit from a switch of emphasis to investment returns. This cannot work in the conventional timeshare model of 50%+ sales and marketing costs, but it can work with a lower markup fractional product. There are other criteria which need to be fulfilled, such as a long high season, good rental income, etc. Also, there is the need to guard against the product being classified as a Collective Investment Scheme, which can severely restrict the sales potential. However, addressing these issues will potentially open the door to a significant alternative sales source.

Shaun Lamont: The Southern African Vacation ownership industry continues to flourish in both the fractional and points-based sales. We experienced market penetration and growth in 2008 of 27% and 6% in 2009, which I believe is phenomenal considering the current economy.

Bryan Lunt: In Asia we can only see the growth we are experiencing and the influx of quality staff due to recent downturns in the European and American markets and the closure/downsizing in Australia of several [sales lines] of Accor and Wyndham. I have seen and heard about a huge slowdown in the U.S. fractional markets as well as downsizing of many timesharing companies due to restricted cash flow.

Leslie McCann, group marketing director, Seasons Holidays

Leslie McCann: At industry events there’s a sense of gloom and despondency at the moment, which could turn out to be a selffulfilling prophecy. Really, we at Seasons feel very positive about the future – the  industry’s usually very good at adapting and evolving. There’s the uncertainty regarding consumer finance; as a result of the credit crunch having consumers who want the product but are rejected at the finance stage is a serious issue we haven’t had to face before. So the industry must evolve internal finance packages to support the very valuable external unsecured consumer loans that are available.

Richard McIntosh: Everything goes in cycles, and the shared ownership industry is no different. The ability to purchase for many may be slightly reduced at present, but this is only temporary, and as sure as the sun rises, so will demand return. Shared ownership is about holidays and leisure time, and in future we will see an even greater demand for our products as leisure time and life expectancies continue to grow.

Nick Turner: From my personal experience, in the last six months, lifestyle based products continue to be marketed with the emphasis on the best value and the best quality. People are still buying and are looking for great units with equally great specs, and want to know what the annual cost is going to be.

What are the biggest challenges facing the industry now and going forward?

Attwood: In Asia the biggest challenge is to create consumer desire for the product. In India it is to stop “pack companies” from wreaking havoc as they did in Europe.

Bougaard: I think timeshare faces two sets of challenges. Firstly the issues over resales and maintenance fees remain areas where the industry has to do more work. There are no easy answers to the resale issues but RDO will continue to work with its members to educate the public on this and to urge sellers to use resale companies who are RDO members. On maintenance fees I think we have failed to get the message across on
the influences at play on maintenance fees in general and although RDO’s 2009 industry survey demonstrated that fees had not risen disproportionately, we will be getting more information out on this during the year in our social network media program. The second set of challenges relate to the unscrupulous elements at the fringes of the industry seeking to take advantage of those consumers struggling in these current economic difficulties. The expansion of the Internet and the currently relatively low cost of TV advertising, particularly in the UK has led to a huge rise in the numbers of these organizations and RDO needs to and will defend consumers and its members against these people.

As to fractionals, the biggest challenge they face is getting the word out about the product in Europe. I am aware that individually, RCI and II are working on this, but as RDO speaks for the timeshare industry, so FSOTA should speak for the fractional industry and provide a focus for the media and a source of education and information for the public. That can only happen if developers and others in the industry join FSOTA and thereby provide it with the funds to pursue these programs. If they don’t then I am worried the industry will remain fragmented and not gain a foothold in Europe.

Ramy Filo, president of the Australian Timeshare and Holiday Ownership Council (ATHOC) and CEO and managing director of the Classic Group

Filo: The industry in Australia faces similar challenges that are faced in other markets such as regulation and compliance, cost of sales and marketing, and consumer finance. Moving forward there are similar challenges with the addition of the competition from other lifestyle products; products need to change to meet consumer expectations and competition from other lifestyle products.

Hutchinson: High annual costs of usage, in the form of maintenance and exchange costs. The winners will be those who address these areas and include them, as far as possible, in the capital sum. We need to recognize that, in times of recession, people who are still in employment are actually better off than previously! They have the capital to buy the product, but not the confidence to commit to long term annual expenditure. Addressing and reducing or capping these annual costs is crucial to ongoing success.

Lamont: The age of the traditional timeshare owner is of concern. Generally these are owners that purchased their traditional timeshare 20 to 25 years ago. Their needs have changed and they are well into their retirement. Continued affordability by this income bracket and the knock on effect maintaining resort standards needs to be carefully monitored.

Lunt: Industry challenges are the need to keep products real. I guess pack companies don’t help doing justice to the industry when product is smoke screened and not real compared to this companies who have invested real $$$$ into projects.

McCann: Generally the timeshare industry itself has got an undeserved poor reputation mainly caused by the activities of non-asset-based, unregulated holiday clubs. Thankfully there’s new legislation coming in, which puts us all on the same level playing field. But the attacks on the television and in the papers encouraging dissatisfaction among timeshare owners are sometimes creating the impression in owners’ minds that there must be something wrong with the product. But generally speaking, decades into the purchase, most timeshare owners in Britain and throughout Europe are satisfied with their purchase. So a challenge to the industry is how we’re going to react to this unfair attack on us by certain bogus resale companies and compensation groups.

Richard McIntosh, chairman of the Resort Development Organisation (RDO) and managing director, Hilton Grand Vacations

McIntosh: We must remember that every year we accommodate millions of shared ownership owners at our resorts, members who are enjoying today the decision they made to buy yesterday. We must continue to focus on looking after these guests by enhancing their holiday and leisure experiences, as their advocacy is critical to our future.

Turner: If I base this answer on fractional, in the UK now, there is reasonable awareness from middle-high income families. The challenge is to engage with the consumer/buying public especially in Europe. For the UK buyers, we should see a steady rise in fractional products post General Election.

Are we set to return to normal, or to a new normal?

Attwood: There has been no normal in Asia!

Bougaard: I think we are facing a period of economic difficulty and also environmental challenges so it’s probably a new normal. As a result consumers will be looking for value for money and products that meet their own perception of the environmental challenges ahead. I am confident our members can and will meet that challenge.

Filo: We are set to return to normal, but, there is an opportunity to forge niche opportunities as a result of what we all have learnt over the last 12 months.

Hutchinson: As and when consumer confidence returns we will see a return to previous sales performances. When will that be? In my opinion, it will be gradual over at least 5 years, by which time, I am sure the product will have evolved further to reflect the joint issues of high maintenance and exchange costs.

Lamont: I don’t believe their will ever be a “normal” again, but rather greater opportunities to introduce niche market products into the industry rather than the traditional approach of the past.

Bryan Lunt, chairman, Absolute Group of Companies

Lunt: What is normal? Business always has cycles and on downturns the tough get tougher and weaker ones crumble, whereas in good markets everyone finds it easy and then we have too much competition… Of course now everyone seems to be much more careful how they spend their hard-earnt money and this gives in general the shared-ownership industry even more sales opportunities.

McCann: A new normal. I think overall for the industry, 2010 is not going to be an easy one, especially for people in start-up situations and single-site resorts. I think it will be a steady one for the established hotel brands and strong independent brands – I suspect they will manage to maintain reasonable returns – but for new start-ups it’s challenging to get funding, development finance from banks and to sell consumers a pre-construction real estate product right now when’s there’s some uncertainty about property values. People are less likely to take a risk. I think there are a lot of challenges to see new growth in traditional timeshare – I think the new normal will be better targeting. We need to target more accurately what our market is, spend less on reaching that target market, and make sure we’ve got a product that’s appropriate for that market.

McIntosh: In my 25 years in this business, I have never known “normal” – all I have known is change. Change usually delivers things for the better, for our guests and in turn for our businesses, but only if you focus on the guest. For me it’s positive and all about change.

Turner: It is the beginning of a new normal. The days are gone when people threw money into buying second homes, etc. The new normal is all about the value-conscious lifestyle buyer. The emphasis is on more value, less cost and tailor making the second-home ownership.

How would you describe the current state of the availability of finance – for consumers and developers – and how do you see things going through the rest of 2010?

Bougaard: In 2009 the industry in Europe saw a withdrawal from the market of one consumer finance provider, but during that year there has also been at least one new entrant to the market and a continuance of lending by another. In general I believe lenders see the timeshare product as a good lending line with low default rates and high consumer satisfaction. I do not therefore have great concerns over the availability of consumer finance in Europe for UK buyers, who are still the biggest buyers of timeshare in the EU, but it would be good to see more finance available for other EU nationalities.

Filo: Australia was not hit as hard by GFC on finance in our industry directly on consumer finance; however, banks have tightened up their conditions. The low interest rates provided by traditional banking institutions have opened up new sources of funding from investors wanting a higher return.

Peter Hutchinson, group chairman, Citadel Trustees

Hutchinson: The availability of finance for developers and non UK + Irish consumers in Europe has always been very limited and hence the recession has brought little change! For UK + Irish consumers, however, there is now only one major credit provider in the industry for this key market and the fallout from their withdrawal would be cataclysmic! The only way developers can cater for this potential hit to sales is to prepare to provide in-house consumer finance: This entails preparing the necessary paperwork (a not-inconsiderable task), which will need to cater for the loans being transferable to a new lender without further reference to the buyer. The developer will also need to look at the cashflow implications and prepare revised release rates of sales commission and incentives to buyers and salesmen alike to achieve as many cash deals as possible. In the long run, those that can cope with this setback will benefit substantially from the income from high interest rates.

Lamont: Southern Africa is in a “fortunate” situation – we experienced what the global market experienced in 2008/2009, 15 years ago. This forced us to change the rules of the game and slowly introduce “self funding” to sustain growth. The first few years were extremely challenging but we are reaping the rewards thereof now, 12 years down the line where the management of “in house” funding and a mature debtors book alleviate the need to outsource finance.

Lunt: There is no finance available for us so we went out and created our own Absolute Finance Worldwide and we have been forced to finance our own products to help sales reach this year’s targets. The banks are not lending – as I said everyone is more careful these days so to offer finance, customers are seeing this as a great opportunity. We’d all love to drive a new Ferrari, Bentley or Rolls Royce – it’s just a matter of how much will it cost me per month … if it’s affordable we’d do it! That’s what we have created with Absolute
World products.

McCann: I think the outlook is pretty gloomy for 2010. All of us who are fortunate enough to have an unsecured consumer finance facility should do our absolute utmost to protect that facility by making sure that the clients are sold in a professional, responsible way to ensure that the institutions that are currently in the market don’t suddenly get cold feet. It only takes one developer to sell in an irresponsible way for us to lose a major institution and that would have a devastating consequence for the whole industry because, in the British market at least, we’re in the hands of one main lender. The established players with a good track record will continue to be able to draw down loan facilities. If people are not able to demonstrate real success in our industry in the last 12 months, it’s going to be harder to borrow money to build new. Certainly as a start-up it will be very difficult. The irony is this is a time of opportunity with real estate being keenly priced – now is the time for developers to get in. But unfortunately, it’s not just about the acquisition costs.

Nick Turner, vice president & head of new business development, The Registry Collection

Turner: Regarding consumer finance: The current state of finance availability is frustrating and slow. There are only a small amount of financial institutions offering finance at the moment. We need to see a broader adoption of fractional products by the high street banks in the next 12 months and interest rates from some lenders coming down. Regarding developer finance: There have been a number of large institutions sitting on the fence for the past 18 months watching asset values drop. Mixed-use developments such as hotels with golf, spa facilities, etc. seem to have more comfort for the institutional investors.

Are people exchanging more or less? How has exchange demand been affected?

Mark Attwood, group sales and marketing director, Karma Royal Group

Attwood: In India we find members are exchanging abroad more than before.

Filo: There is no doubt the GFC has a dramatic influence on every part of the industry, including the exchange patterns of the timeshare owners. Long-haul exchanges literally disappeared faster then what the international airlines were able to reduce the number of their international flights. The demand for domestic and short-haul exchange space increased to compensate, and the number of owners deciding to go back and use their hone resort during 2008 and early 2009 was also very evident from all reports. Having said that, the timeshare community is fairly resilient, or at least that’s the experience certainly in Australia and New Zealand. Having paid their annual levies, the majority of owners went ahead and made use of their entitlements either using within their home resort or club, or exchanging to other local destinations. By mid-2009, the exchange demand for the longer-haul destinations had gone back to pre-GFC times and the start of 2010 has been nothing but highly surprising at the number of owners looking for exchange holidays again.

Shaun Lamont, managing director, Club Leisure Group

Lamont: Based on our statistics, exchanges have continued to increase over the last few years. I believe this is as a result of the value of and advantages of owning a timeshare product for vacations rather than looking at more expensive alternatives like hotel accommodation or owning a private condo. The consumer has been forced to watch every cent as a result of the economy, and is realizing the value and competitive pricing of their timeshare acquisition versus the more costly alternatives.

Lunt: Definitely – people have committed to the shared ownership industry, whether via fractional ownership or vacation club memberships, and these owners will use their time wisely looking to get the most out of what they have bought. Exchange demand has surprisingly risen – albeit a small amount during the last year or so.

McCann: Slightly less. There was certainly a higher demand for our UK sites last year. I think this is a reflection of owners, particularly last year, frightened off by the strong euro. I think there’ll be more of that this year – families will tend to stay in country or go to drive to European destinations if they can. For us, the number of exchange guests in the UK last year was lower than normal because there was more space taken up by members wanting to holiday within the UK. There was a slight decrease in exchange activity and a slight
increase in members using their own resorts within the British Isles.

Turner: All exchange platforms are robust models. People are trying to utilize all their second-home time instead of wasting it, as every penny counts. They want to get the most out of their exchange. Exchanges are continuing – especially in The Registry Collection – more members mean more exchanges.

A Final Word
Overall, it seems that the shared-ownership industry is on the path to recovery. But it is important to learn the lessons from the events that brought us to our knees if we are to minimize the effects of the next cycle. And the next cycle will come – it may be 25 years from now or it may be much sooner, but it will come.