| Timeshare Awareness Skyrocketing |
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During the last decade timeshare has become a lynchpin of the hospitality industry. It’s a significant driver of business, injects funds into under development multi-purpose projects and better maximizes income at resorts that have a timeshare component. And while that’s a great for hotel and resort developers, the real story is the heightened awareness of timeshare among the traveling public. According to a just released survey by Interval International, a timeshare exchange company owned by IAC, timeshare has not just reached critical mass, but almost everyone has heard of timesharing. Findings in Future Timeshare Buyers: Market Profile 2007 shows that 91 percent of travelers know timeshare, which is up from just 68 percent seven years ago. “Leisure travelers across United States are significantly more familiar with timeshare than ever before,” said Howard Bendell, director of market research and analysis with Interval International. “The number of adult leisure travelers who say they are familiar with timeshare has grown 57 percent over last eight years.” Bendell added that timeshare awareness increase has been driven by what he dubbed an “extraordinary consumer education program” by timeshare developers as well as the America Resort Developers Association (ARDA), timeshare’s professional association. And the heightened understanding of timeshare has also been propelled by extensive and growing media coverage during the last half dozen years. Its been so successful, in fact, that ARDA notes nearly four percent of all U.S. households own timeshare, which is an increase from 4.1 million in 2005 to 4.4 million in 2006. “The results of the 2007 survey reveal, once again, that timesharing has gone mainstream among U.S. leisure travelers, and this evolving consumer sentiment augers well for the continued growth of the industry,” said Peter C. Yesawich, chairman and CEO of Ypartnership, co-author of the annual survey with Yankelovich, Inc. The annual study is developed for Interval International from a relationship with YPB&R/Yankelovich. Bendell explained timeshare’s growth mirrors a societal desire to strive to achieve personal goals and agendas. A timeshare vacation facilitates that sense of achievement by serving as a platform where families can reconnect and have new and engaging experiences, which when combined with the comforts and spaciousness of a home sets the stage for memories. “The timeshare product is more appealing because it reinforces what consumers are looking for. Frankly, it’s become a mechanism to elevate sense of self worth and value,” he said. According to the study, leisure travelers interested in vacation ownership have a strong commitment to their values, personal needs, and lifestyles. It’s driven an explosion in personalization and customization of timeshare product. It’s also driven a segmentation of the market that runs from luxury products to more budget minded fare. By moving up and down the price-point spectrum, more individuals are finding products and terms that match their desires and sensibilities. The report also notes that these people are known for seeking originality, trying new products ahead of other people and are more likely to associate having a balance between work and personal life with success and accomplishment. Vacationers are also more interested in attending a timeshare presentation or taking a two- to three-day mini-vacation that includes a sales presentation (76 percent), and are more likely to stay at a vacation ownership resort (62%). The typical U.S. leisure traveler interested in purchasing vacation time is white (79 percent), married (63 percent) and has an annual household income of $50,000 or more (66 percent). Nearly four in 10 have completed four years of college education (39 percent), are part of the Baby Boomer generation (36 percent between 42 to 60 years of age) and have white-collar professional occupations (36 percent). Generation Xers (28 to 41 years old) represent a market of emerging potential purchasers for developers because of their increasing interest in vacation time. Among the future leisure travel patterns and preferences measured, the study found that nearly all leisure travelers who are interested in purchasing vacation time are planning to take one or more leisure trips during the next 12 months. Weekend trips remain the most popular. Nearly two-thirds of prospective timeshare buyers intend to take a cruise during the next two years. Also, their preferred vacation destinations are Florida (34 percent), Hawaii (29 percent), and California (27 percent). Europe (58 percent) remains the preferred international destination of choice among leisure travelers interested in purchasing timeshare, followed by Australia (23 percent) and the Caribbean (16 percent). “All these things put together bodes very well for timesharing’s continued success,” said Bendell. A Demographic Snapshot Prospective timeshare buyers are:
Glenn Haussman, Hotel Interactive's Editor In Chief, has been specializing in the hospitality industry for more than 10 years. He often speaks at lodging industry events, is quoted frequently as an expert source by newspapers and is an adjunct professor at New York University. |
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