Industry

Timeshare boom benefits the regions most

The timeshare sector is a booming area within the accommodation industry.  

Standing strong in times of economic uncertainty the sector is proving to play a vital role in Australia’s tourism accommodation industry.

In a recent study by the Australian Timeshare and Holiday Ownership Council Ltd found there are approximately 155,000 timeshare owners in Australia. Generating $157.9 million in property revenue and employing 3864 people in Australia, timeshare occupancy remains a steady 86% annually across the national average and approximately 95% in Queensland. While more than 95% of all holiday ownership resorts in Australia are located in regional areas outside capital cities, providing much needed economic growth and employment in local economies.

Charisse CoxCharisse Cox
Ramy FiloRamy Filo
Barry RobinsonBarry Robinson
Francis TaylorFrancis Taylor

Chief executive officer and managing director of Wyndham Vacation Resorts Asia Pacific, Barry Robinson, says timeshare accommodation is an integral part of Australia’s tourism accommodation sector. “With the industry investing millions of dollars in Australia every year, coupled with its power to attract long-stay visitors, timeshare is one of the fastest-growing and most resilient segments of the accommodation and tourism industries.

“With today’s timeshare offering flexibility, choice and the assurance of an industry, which is today regulated by ASIC, we have seen a steady growth in our timeshare owner numbers. In just over a decade we have grown to having over 45,000 owners in our WorldMark South Pacific Club by Wyndham,” he said.

A spokesperson for Accor Vacation Club says holiday ownership “continues to report above market occupancy rates and provides a constant food and beverage revenue stream especially when traditional hotel occupancy is low”.

Francis Taylor, chief executive officer for Dial An Exchange, believes for many regional towns and populations around the country, timeshare resorts are a vital part of the local economy generating much-needed revenue for the resort, local attractions, retail and entertainment venues. “The resorts create employment opportunities and award local contractors and suppliers with valuable income streams week in, week out through the provision of the wide array of goods and services required for the maintenance and refurbishment of resort buildings, fixtures and fittings,” says Mr Taylor.

Timeshare resorts run at occupancy levels much higher than normal holiday accommodation industry standards because once an owner pays their yearly maintenance levy (like a body corporate fee), they are free to book and use their timeshare. In addition they pay much less for their accommodation and would therefore have more cash to spend with local small businesses during their stay,” he said.

“Timeshare also generates traffic that normal tourism might not. Owners are locked into paying their annual levy/body corporate and this is a stimulus for them to plan and book a holiday every year – they’ve basically already paid for it so very few allow their week to go unused in some way. The majority of timeshare owners rate owning in these resorts and clubs very highly and, because of the exceptionally low rental rates they enjoy as owners, many bring their family or friends with them, which provides an even greater boost to the local economy,” said Mr Taylor.

The most important and beneficial change the sector has seen in recent years according to Mr Taylor is the shift by many of the reputable timeshare companies to a ‘points’ or ‘credits’ model as opposed to the older ‘weeks’ model. The flexibility of paying as you go, rather than incurring annual levies – and the ability to choose from a portfolio of ‘club’ resorts rather than just the one ‘home’ resort has made the timeshare product highly desirable to a new generation explains Mr Taylor.

“As an exchange service provider, DAE has added additional staff to our Gold Coast customer service centre to meet member demand in this part of the world. We’ve also developed new holiday rental services and enhancements to our own product offerings outside of timeshare to help supplement increased demand not available through traditional timeshare means.

“Our members may own timeshare but, like everyone, they take all manner of holidays and travel far and wide to destinations that have nothing to do with timeshare. As their trusted holiday accommodation specialists, we’re asked to help with more of our member’s general travel plans. People love to take a holiday and get away from the pressures of everyday life of work, and having access to the best of both worlds (timeshare and non-timeshare) through the one service provider such as DAE makes the process of planning and booking easier and in most cases significantly cheaper, increasing satisfaction levels of Timeshare owners,” says Mr Taylor

Classic Group chief executive officer Ramy Filo says Classic Holidays has seen an increase in new sales year on year of double digits for the past four years, in 2012 projecting over $50 million in new sales.
“Currently we have some 45,000 timeshare owners under management and this is growing at a rate of around 10% per year, the resilience of our product against hard economic times is a testament to the long term value the product brings to the consumers,” he said.

RCI Pacific is the world’s largest holiday exchange company and globally facilitates nearly 1.9 million member exchange holidays per year.

“In an otherwise tough economic period for the tourism industry, timeshare resorts are running at high occupancy rates nationally,” said Charisse Cox, RCI Pacific managing director. “As the Pacific arm of RCI, we have proven ourselves to be extremely resilient and our industry continues to contribute significantly to both the Gold Coast and the Australian economy.”

Despite the global economic downturn over the recent years, Australia has largely not been affected as much as other countries with our economy remaining fairly strong. The Pacific region therefore continues to grow with major clubs reporting steady sales explains Ms Cox. “Some developers are being more creative in their timeshare products offering innovative new holiday ownership options aimed at different market levels and pricing to suit the needs of a wider range of prospective buyers.

“Australia, New Zealand and Fiji are very popular destinations for holidaying and demand from RCI members living overseas surpasses our available supply of local timeshare exchange inventory.

“Currently there is a rapidly increasing number of families becoming financially able to purchase timeshare in developing Asian markets and this is very advantageous for the overall timeshare industry, given the large base of potential new owners. As new markets open up this means new resorts are developed and then made available through RCI on exchange, providing exciting new holiday destination options for our members,” says, Ms Cox.

The Pacific timeshare industry is considered a mature marketplace with many existing independent timeshare resorts up to 20 years old and, with an ageing owner base, Ms Cox says the industry needs to ensure there is a supply of new owners taking over weeks that become available if the older owners are no longer interested in travel.

“We also need to see continual upgrades to these existing resorts to ensure they are kept at a high level to appeal to new club members who are buying into and used to the facilities of newly developed resorts. With a relatively low population we face an ongoing challenge in finding new ways to market to new prospects,” she said

“While in terms of timeshare property development, the Pacific region is less active than some other global markets due to property and developments costs. However with the fractional markets gaining momentum globally, we see potential growth here in upcoming years,” Ms Cox added.

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