Timeshare

This article is about the type of property ownership. For the computing term, see Time-sharing.
A timeshare is a form of ownership or right to the use of a property, or the term used to describe such properties. These 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, andalmost always the same time every year) in which they may use the property. Units may be on a part-ownership or lease/"right to use" basis, in which the sharer holds no claim to ownership of the property.
Contents [hide]
1 History
2 Industry
2.1 Scope of the industry
3 Legislation
4 Methods of use
4.1 Exchanging timeshares
5 Varieties
5.1 Deeded versus right to use
5.2 Fixed weekownership
5.3 Floating
5.4 Rotating
5.5 Vacation clubs
5.6 Points programs
6 Types and sizes of accommodations
7 Critique of timeshare concept
8 Secondary Market
8.1 Timeshare Resales
8.2 Donate Timeshare to Charity
8.3 Timeshare Rentals
9 See also
10 References
[edit]History

The notion of the term "time-share" was originally created in Europe in the 1960s.[1] A ski resort developer inFrench Alps wanted to sell his resort at a very large price but was having difficulty finding customers. On one fine day he got inspired by a coffee shop where he ordered a cake with his coffee and the waitress came with a slice of the cake, on asking the waitress explained that they sell the cake in slice as the cake as a whole is expensive.[2] The ski resort developer (Hapimag) in the French Alpsmarketed 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 oftheir 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 inventoryflows briskly through two international exchange companies: RCI and Interval International (II).[citation needed]
[edit]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 popularitywith vacation-goers. This form of lodging has spawned a variety of products sold on similar occupancy schemes; cars, planes, boats, 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)[3]
[edit]Scope of the industry
The scope of today's timeshare industry in the USA is welldocumented.[4][5] The ARDA International Foundation (AIF),[6] which is the research arm of the American Resort Development Association (ARDA),[7] 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.[8] Approximately 4.4 millionhouseholds 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...