POV: date=July 2008 advert: date=July 2008

A timeshare is a form of ownership or right to the use of a property, or the term used to describe such properties. Timeshare properties are typically resort condominium units, in which multiple parties hold rights to use the property, and each sharer is allotted a period of time (typically one week) in which they may use the property. Timeshares may be on a part-ownership or lease/"right to use" basis, in which the sharer holds no claim to ownership of the property.

History

According to one account, this notion was originally created in Europe in the 1960s. A ski resort developer (Hapimag) in the French Alps marketed his resort by encouraging guests to "stop renting a room" and instead "buy the hotel". Subsequent success followed, and the concept was quickly embraced by developers worldwide, boosting sales of surplus condominium units at a time when the resort industry was depressed.

Due to the promise of exchange, these units, called "vacation ownership" by the industry, often sell regardless of their deeded resort (most are deeded into a certain resort site, though other forms of use do exist). What is not often disclosed is that all differ in trading power. If one is in Hawaii or Southern California it will exchange extremely well, however, those areas are some of the most expensive in the world, subject to demand typical of a highly trafficked vacation area. The vast majority of inventory flows briskly through two international exchange companies: Resort Condominiums International (RCI) and Interval International (II).

Industry

This concept has attracted many resort developers and prominent hoteliers, such as Starwood, Wyndham, Accor, Hyatt, Hilton, Marriott, and Disney. Vacation ownership has proven to be lucrative for stakeholders in these major resort families, due to its popularity with vacation-goers. This form of lodging has spawned a variety of products sold on similar occupancy schemes; cars, planes, condo-hotel units and luxury fractional properties (at which affluent guests may stay for as long as a quarter of a year, and which often command a six-figure price tag)

Scope of the industry

The scope of today's time share industry in the USA is well-documented. The ARDA International Foundation ("AIF"), which is the research arm of the American Resort Development Association ("ARDA"), reports there are 1,604 timeshare resorts, with 154,439 units, in the USA as of January 1, 2006 (AIF 2006). Though reportedly fewer than six percent of U.S. households own one, the prevalence of vacation ownership continues to expand. Approximately 4.4 million households own one or more U.S. weekly intervals or points-equivalent as of January 1, 2007, an increase of sixteen percent from the prior year.

About half of the resorts in the USA are currently selling, generating sales of $8.6 billion in 2005 (AIF 2006).

The global scope of the industry is not as readily quantified. Interval International, one of the two major exchange companies, reports there are 1800 resorts in nearly 80 countries, with 2004 worldwide sales estimated at nearly $11.8 billion (Interval International 2006). RCI has 4000+ resort in nearly 100 countries.