What’s Fueling the Urban Timeshare Market?

5/25/2016 Unknown
Marriott Vacation Club Pulse - San Diego
Though the majority of timeshares are still in areas where you would expect them to be - Hawaii, Mexico, Florida, the Caribbean - some vacation clubs are urbanizing into cities like New York, Boston, Phoenix, D.C. and San Diego. Large hospitality chains such as Marriott, Hilton and Starwood, in response to a demand for urban timeshares, have already moved or are in the process of moving into metropolitan areas with their timeshare offerings.

Responding to Customer Desires

Though it's been suggested that the urban timeshare market might be a reaction to trendy companies like Airbnb, there may be other issues at work. "There's a strong demand for city-centric properties," said Ed Kinney, Marriott Vacations Worldwide VP of corporate affairs and communications, who was recently quoted in skift.com. 

"We've known our owners and guests are eager to explore new places and try new experiences, especially those in more urban areas," Marriott's new Vacation Club Pulse is one of five properties in U.S. cities (New York, Boston, D.C., Miami, and San Diego) where Kinney says owners and guests can "immerse themselves in the cultures, local scenes, and neighborhoods of some of their favorite cities."

Dr. Amy Gregory, assistant professor at the University of Central Florida's Rosen College of Hospitality Management agreed, "Companies like Marriott Vacations and Hilton Grand Vacations Club are expanding their collections with city locations to get new experiences for their owners who want city vacations. More and more people are going to urban areas and wanting to explore what they have to offer."

Urban Vs. Resort 

How do the urban timeshares differ from traditional timeshares? 
  • Limited space and expensive real estate
Urban timeshares are usually smaller than timeshares in resort areas because metropolitan cities have less space for development than resort areas, and the space they do have is more expensive.
  • Shorter stays and quick getaways
Urban stays are shorter than traditional timeshare stays. Urban travelers are not looking for swimming or golfing, or even ocean views. They are looking to experience the city's culture, feel its vibrancy and do what the locals do. For example Dr. Gregory says, "Marriott’s Vacation Club Pulse in New York might offer historical walking tours, or wine and food experiences." She speculated that because people are there for such a short time, a full-fledged program isn't as necessary or critical. Owners will have more flexibility in being able to use up their points for the smaller trips or getaways.
  • Meeting the needs of the business traveler
Urban timeshares are attractive to the business traveler and corporations who want to get away from the more institutionalized hotel atmosphere, and offer employees and clients a more comfortable space that is also close to business, cultural activities, restaurants and sporting events.

For more information on urban timeshares visit www.marriottvacationclub.com/mvpulse 
www.hiltongrandvacations.com If you've done any urban timeshare vacationing, we'd love to hear about your experience! Contact us at www.timeshare-info.org 
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Merger of Starwood Vacation Club with Interval Leisure Group Complete

5/18/2016 Unknown
Owners at Starwood Vacation Club (SVC) can now breathe a collective sigh of relief, as the planned merger with Interval Leisure Group, in the works since February 2015, is now complete. A letter recently sent to owners confirmed the completion and announced that SVC is now officially Vistana Signature Experiences Inc., one of the industry's largest providers of world-class vacation experiences.

Starwood Benefits Will Stay the Same

Chief Operating Officer of Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Stephen G. Williams wrote to owners, "This is an exciting time, and we look forward to our continued relationships with Westin and Sheraton as we remain their exclusive provider of vacation ownership." He also assured owners that they would be able to enjoy their timeshares as always, and still receive the same valuable benefits, branded experiences and preferred access to the Starwood Preferred Guest program (SPG).

More Opportunities for Owners

Bigger picture mergers often mean more opportunities for owners and this latest one sounds good. Williams says Vistana is committed to adding more resorts and products. Opening in the summer of 2017 on North Ka'anapali Beach in Maui is the newest resort, Westin Nanea Ocean Villas. In the Caribbean, poolside buildings are being converted to villas at the Westin St. John Resort & Villas providing more availability in 2017.

Five new "upper-upscale" resorts have been added as part of the transaction. Scheduled to reopen in second quarter 2017, after renovations following Hurricane Odile, is the Weston Resort & Spa Los Cabos. The Weston Resort & Spa Cancun, Westin Resort & Spa, Puerto Vallarta, Sheraton Kaua'i Resort and Sheraton Steamboat Springs, are expected to provide additional villa accommodations over time, but until then owners can continue to access them through the SPG program.

Commitment Continues

Williams ends the owner letter with a promise of continued commitment to creating memorable vacation experiences and giving owners a better way to see the world.

To get the full picture visit the new website at www.vistana.com 




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Project: Time Off

5/11/2016 Unknown
Last week, we wrote about the value of taking a vacation and the sad truth that many of us are not taking our vacation time. Well, there actually is a group of people that are trying to do something about changing that. Project: Time Off is the U.S. Travel Association's initiative to prove the value of taking time off for personal well-being, professional success, business performance, and economic expansion.


A Nation of Work Martyrs

Project: Time Off research shows that Americans are taking less vacation than at any point in the last forty years. From 1976 to 2000, workers used an average of 20.3 vacation days each year. From 2000 on that number continued to drop, reaching a low of 16 days used in 2014 - almost a full work week. If this trend continues, we'll be using less than a workweek of vacation in 20 years, and zero days by 2046.

According to Project: Time Off, Americans have become a nation of work martyrs, and that is keeping us from taking time off. We are overworked, stressed out, and exhausted, yet our culture encourages it by placing a stigma on vacationing. Though we realize that we should take a vacation, our workplace culture is shaped by fear and silence. Two-thirds (67%) of American employees, report either hearing nothing about vacation time, or negative or mixed messages from their managers about using vacation time. In addition, 58 percent of employees believe that our work culture stresses productivity over personal balance. 

Part of the martyrdom syndrome is how employees think about their work - they may think that no one else can do their job like they do; they may worry about jeopardizing their position - they don't want to look bad taking a vacation when others are not, or they may worry that when they're off, someone else may do their job better.


Small Changes May Lead to Big Results

Project: Time Off is leading a national movement to transform American attitudes with small changes. They suggest that with these small changes, we may be able to overcome our work martyrdom and break free from the culture of silence in the workplace. Try these out:

  • Spot the Symptoms 
Identify if you are a work martyr. Ask yourself - do you know you need a vacation, but are not letting yourself take one? Do you feel you are the only one who can do your job? Do you worry about others taking over for you? You should feel proud about a strong work ethic, but don't become a work martyr.

  • Plan your Vacation Days
As we mentioned in last week's blog, part of the fun is planning a vacation. It puts you in a good mood. Confirm your vacation days and schedule them. Bosses do believe in the benefits of vacationing too, and will appreciate you scheduling ahead of time and getting your vacation days on the calendar.

  • Show and Tell
When you get back from vacation, share with your coworkers how much fun you had and how good you feel. That way they will want to take their vacation too!


Managers Can Help 

Managers can improve the workplace culture by setting an example. They need to take their vacation time, encourage their employees to take their time off, give their employees the support they need when they take time off, and consider creating policies that more openly encourage employees to take vacation time.


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A Timeshare at the International Space Station?

4/27/2016 Unknown
It looks like the "last frontier" may be closer than you think for timeshare - a recent article from mashable.com says maybe even by 2020! A partnership between Boeing and Lockheed Martin called United Launch Alliance (ULA), and Bigelow Aerospace are collaborating on how to launch a small (330 cubic meters) apartment-like habitat to attach to the International Space Station (ISS) or float freely as an autonomous space station.


NASA Primary Customer

The habitat would serve as a test bed for industry partners and science organizations interested in launching experiments to space.  Founder and President of Bigelow Aerospace, Robert Bigelow, hopes that NASA would be the primary customer and give permission to the partners to commercialize. 

"Essentially we would be time-sharing," said Bigelow at a National Space Symposium press conference. ULA President and CEO, Tony Bruno added, "How exciting is that? A timeshare in space? Come on." The habitat called B330, could also be a short-stay tourist destination for those wanting to explore what life in space is really like.  


Democratizing Space

Bigelow and Bruno see their partnership as a major step toward democratizing space. They'd love to see companies brand their own space station - maybe even a Disney space station. Sure to be timeshares there!


Virgin Galactic Transportation 

In related space hospitality news - Virgin Galactic is moving forward on their quest to provide space flight to all people. Its purpose - to become the spaceline for Earth; democratizing access to space for the benefit of life on Earth. Its aim - to make space accessible to almost anyone who dreams of viewing Earth from space and experiencing weightlessness. 


Become a Virgin Galactic Astronaut

It won't be easy to become a Virgin Galactic Astronaut. Safety of their passengers, crew and vehicles is their top priority. First, you'll have to prove that you don't have any medical conditions that would prevent you from flying into space, and then you'll have to submit an application of the Virgin Galactic Future Astronaut submission form. If accepted (and this may be what stops most of us), you have to give them the full price of $250,000 as an upfront deposit. Only then can you go through the three days of intense pre-flight training at Spaceport America, where you'll learn all the good stuff such as tips on how to be the most comfortable in macrogravity. Have a good flight!

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Hundreds of Shenandoah Crossing Owners Given Foreclosure Notices

4/13/2016 Unknown
Hundreds of owners at Bluegreen Vacations' Shenandoah Crossing Resort were given foreclosure notices in March. The foreclosures are related to tenant-in-common ownership stakes in properties recorded in Louisa County, Virginia. The defaults date to January 1, 2012 according to the legal ad for the notices.

Attorney Comments

"There are clearly a lot of people who have not paid their timeshare assessments and probably an owners' association that would like to resell the timeshares to new owners that will pay future assessments," said John D. McPhaul, an attorney for Troutman Sanders, a Richmond law firm, specializing in commercial lending and foreclosures.  

McPhaul went on to say, "Legal advertising for the sale of timeshares tends to be done in bulk because it is more cost-efficient, as the sale of individual timeshares does not typically generate the same amount of proceeds that the sale of a single-family home or condominium unit would."  He added that he didn't know if the Shenandoah notices represent more than the usual number of owners in default for this particular timeshare project, and that the number of timeshares in any project can vary widely.

Timeshare Resort Offers 1000 Acres of Wilderness

Shenandoah Crossing is located near Gordonsville, Virginia and northeast of Charlottesville. It's owned by Florida company Bluegreen Corporation, which manages and markets the Bluegreen Vacation Club that includes Shenandoah Crossing. The resort opened in 1989. According to the website of the sales center, the resort offers 1000 acres of wilderness area, including a 60 acre lake for fishing, pastures, hiking, biking, and horseback riding. Accommodations include yurts, round canvas tents with central air and heat, recreational vehicle pads, cabins and town homes.

Notice to owners in Richmond Times-Dispatch

According to an article in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, a notice to Shenandoah Crossing owners which ran Monday through Friday at the end of March stated, "You are in default on your assessment due to the association. Unless you take action to protect your property, it may be sold at a public sale. If you need an explanation of the nature of the proceedings against you, you should contact a lawyer."

The property owners were listed individually as having a 1/6,000th undivided interest as a tenant-in-common. The default amounts listed for each owner range from about $2,700 to more than $20,000. The estimated foreclosure cost for each property owner is $650. 

Investment Banker says "Not a Good Deal"

An investment banker at John B. Levy & Company in Richmond, commenting on the notice said "it looked like Bluegreen sells each home site for a separate week out of each year, which would allow them to sell 52 shares." He added that, "he couldn’t say anything else because the notice was hard to decipher, but that it looked like a deal to stay away from as a potential real estate investor."

Foreclosure Sale Draws Small Crowd

According to NBC.com, the foreclosure sale for the timeshares went ahead on March 30th and drew a small crowd. Prices ranged from $830 to $23,000. Staff at Shenandoah Crossing told NBC.com that 144 properties will foreclose and released a statement, "We are positive that this foreclosure process will allow for the sale of the delinquent inventory to new owners who will enjoy visiting the resort." The management company claims it tried to work with timeshare owners for many years on the issue, but wasn’t able to get the problems resolved.


No Word from Bluegreen Corp.


So far Bluegreen Corporation isn't talking. Calls to the company, from the Richmond Times-Dispatch were not returned.  Bluegreen Vacations is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bluegreen Corporation which manages and markets the Bluegreen Vacation Club. Its website says the vacation ownership program connects 195,000 owners with 60 Bluegreen resorts in more than 40 destinations across the U.S. and Canada.
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The Best Days of the Industry are Ahead

4/07/2016 Unknown
"The Best Days of the Industry are Ahead" - those were the closing remarks of Howard Nusbaum, ARDA CEO and President, in a recent interview with Shep Altshuler of Time Sharing Today Radio. The interview entitled "The State of the Industry" was mostly positive and addressed such issues as consolidation, the new buyers of timeshare, legacy resorts, and the effect of big brands on the industry.  Nusbaum says, "The 'Golden Days' of timeshare are ahead of us, not behind us and the industry is now on solid ground." There are currently 8 million timeshare owners domestically and another 3-4 million in Mexico. A worldwide study by ARDA to be completed within 6 months will show the total global numbers.

The Headline is Consolidation

Nusbaum said it's probably not surprising that the headline in the industry is consolidation, as large brands have been buying smaller timeshare companies for the past 15 years. He feels that consolidation is a good thing as we are a capitalistic society. The big brands like Hyatt and Hilton contribute to making the industry more mainstream, they are well capitalized and have the ability to "weather the storms and to grow their business."

What New Owners Want

According to Nusbaum there is a culture shift in the industry from 30 years ago. New owners are more diverse. Of the purchases made in the last 36 months, only 49 percent were Caucasian, buyers are younger and more affluent. They are college educated and own a home. Fifty percent have kids at home and that’s the reason they are looking for a better family vacation. The millennials in particular don’t want to vacation in the same place year after year - they want to see the world. 

Legacy Resorts

Altshuler questioned Nusbaum about legacy resorts and asked what was being done to help the aging owners and the piling up of inventory at these resorts. Nusbaum said the industry should work to "create elegant exits" for the long-time owners who may no longer be able to use their timeshare, or have no one to leave the timeshare to.  He stated that the ability to recycle inventory is a key to a solution for struggling legacy resorts. Currently, ARDA is working on tools to help legacy resorts. Says Nusbaum, "We have the responsibility to educate owners." He urges owners to contact him at nnusbaum@arda.org and says he answers all of his emails.

Negative Press

Another question posed by Altshuler was concerning a New York Times article about the hard sell being back and if in Nusbaum's opinion, it was still around. Nusbaum, who says he has been going to timeshare presentations for 25 years, doesn't agree. He finds now that the presentations are much more consumer centric. He says the regulatory structure we have that includes rescission has helped greatly. Also, buyers are more educated. The average person attends 3 tours before buying a timeshare. 

Nusbaum feels the big brand companies have brought in a new level of hospitality that has helped the timeshare industry. According to Nusbaum, there is an 83 percent satisfaction level among timeshare buyers, but it is the 17 percent dissatisfaction level that concerns him. We need to find out what happened to those 17 percent. Did they not understand what they bought? Could they not afford the timeshare? Did they not get the service they expected?  He indicated that possibly the negative press comes from people who want to profit from helping buyers get out of a contract.


For more information: www.tstoday.com
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David Siegel Back in the News Again

3/30/2016 Unknown
The first time we wrote about Westgate Resorts' CEO, David Siegel, was to talk about Versailles, David and Jackie Siegel’s 90,000 sq. ft. palatial home. The construction of the home and Siegel’s subsequent financial challenges in building it after the 2008 economic crisis, was made into a documentary that actually became a viral hit. The Siegels are back in the news again, but this time the news is not so innocuous.

Federal Consumer Watchdogs on the Prowl

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently issued an order to determine if Orlando-based Westgate Resorts' sales people are violating federal law. According to a March 25 Orlando Sentinel article, a probe was launched to gather information on Westgate's timeshare selling and finance tactics. The Bureau order stated that it had received consumer complaints that suggested Westgate sales representatives made statements directly related to financing.

An attorney for Westgate, Kate Saft of Greenspoon Marder, provided this written response to the accusations, "Westgate cannot comment on the pending investigation except to say that it believes that it is in compliance with all consumer protection finance requirements under the CFPB’s jurisdiction."

Promises Unkept

Westgate already lost a legal war over alleged high-pressure sales tactics in Tennessee this past December. In the Tennessee lawsuit, Nathan and Patricia Overton bought a timeshare in Gatlinburg in 2011 for slightly less than $40,000. They claimed they were promised they would be able to use additional nights at other Westgate resorts for only $59 more per night. According to court testimony, when they tried to book the nights, they were told they didn't qualify.  Westgate's former sales manager was accused of high pressure sales tactics and the Tennessee judge agreed. The plaintiff's lawyers said they had heard similar complaints from other Westgate buyers.

The judge ruled that Westgate engaged in intentional and fraudulent conduct, and issued a $500,000 judgement against the company. A review of the $500,000 judgement was requested by Westgate, but was turned down by the U.S. Supreme Court. 

Initial Stage of Investigation

It's yet to be seen if Mr. Siegel can weather this new storm of controversy. He is adept at bouncing back from adversity, and seems to hold on to his empire even through numerous complaints and lawsuits. Westgate Resorts was founded by Siegel in 1982. More than 30 years later, the company consists of more than 13,500 villas at 28 resorts throughout the U.S. The company employs 10,000 people. 

The latest investigation of Westgate began in September 2015 and is in its initial stages.  Among other things, the CFPB is investigating possible violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Electronic Funds Transfer Act, and the Fair Credit Billing Act. 


For more information, check out:
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