Back in the 1960's, a ski resort developer in the French Alps came up with a novel idea to boost attendance and revenue at his resort. He simply suggested to his many customers to buy "fractional" ownerships in the resort. This would allow them not only a week each year, but ownership of that week at his resort instead of renting a hotel each year.
The occupancy of his ski resort increased which led to a revenue gain. The new marketing scheme spread like wildfire amongst the other resorts in the French Alps who quickly adapted the idea. Not long, thereafter, a new industry was born, the timeshare industry.
Since then, the timeshare industry continues to grow every year with close to 9 billion dollars of sales each year amongst more than 5,000 resorts worldwide.
As the industry has evolved, the use of timeshares also has continued to evolve with many options available for the timeshare owner.
1. Use of timeshare week
Owners purchase a week out of the year at a resort. So the most basic use of a timeshare is for the owner to use it for their annual vacation.
2. Timeshare rentals
Timeshare rental has increased as well as owners find they may not be able to vacation every year. Renting a timeshare, just like renting real estate, helps put money back into the pocket of owners.
3. Gifting A Timeshare
Instead of renting, sometimes it is easier to make it a gift. Owners can give the gift as a honeymoon present to newly married friends. Owners can also use it as a business networking device and give a week to a valued colleague or prospective client.
4. Timeshare exchanges
Exchanges have become one of the most beneficial elements of ownership. For the traveler who does want to travel but wants to travel to a new location, or during a different time of the year, exchanges offer this benefit to the owner. There are two types of exchanges: a. Internal
This means exchanging your timeshare with a person within the same resort group.
In this kind of exchange, timeshare owners can exchange with other people owning timeshares of the same resort under a common umbrella group.
b. External exchange
When you exchange internally, you stay "within the system". These types of exchanges are generally easier with less overhead, which means less cost. An external exchange means there is double the overhead: the paperwork and process within your own group and the paperwork and process within the external group. What this means is that while having external exchanges available means that many more vacation possibilities, if you can stay within network it is easier and cheaper.
An internal exchange is naturally easier and less of a headache as well as less cost then doing an external exchange.
One of the largest timeshare groups is the Resort Condominiums International group, or RCI. Because they are the largest, they offer the most internal exchange opportunities. Here is some more information about RCI.
RCI has almost 4000 destinations within their group. The second largest is at 2,000 (Interval International, or II). This means RCI has a huge advantage for internal exchanges over any other group in the world.
A RCI timeshare owner also have varied resort affiliations. Members of this program of RCI can, however, only exchange with the affiliate resorts of RCI. A RCI timeshare is only available for exchange to a RCI resort.
Also, at the current status of the affiliation programs, there is no dual affiliation for a RCI timeshare. A particular resort would only be either affiliated with RCI or not.
RCI uses an interesting system of points purchased rather than deeded weeks. Each destination within RCI is assessed a point value. When you choose a resort for your vacation, you simply redeem your points for that destination week and location.
The RCI system is pretty well-oiled and with its large number of options, it is one of the most popular timeshare programs. Now if you're the type of person who wants to stay in the same location almost each year, this may not be for you. This is the case with my wife and I when we purchased our Honolulu timeshare.
On the other hand, our grandmother loves taking vacations to new places every year. This past year she had a luxurious stay in Las Vegas. The year before she took a cruise to the Riviera. If this is you, then having a large exchange program at your disposal is more suited for your lifestyle, and RCI timeshare ownership may be just the thing you're looking for.
The occupancy of his ski resort increased which led to a revenue gain. The new marketing scheme spread like wildfire amongst the other resorts in the French Alps who quickly adapted the idea. Not long, thereafter, a new industry was born, the timeshare industry.
Since then, the timeshare industry continues to grow every year with close to 9 billion dollars of sales each year amongst more than 5,000 resorts worldwide.
As the industry has evolved, the use of timeshares also has continued to evolve with many options available for the timeshare owner.
1. Use of timeshare week
Owners purchase a week out of the year at a resort. So the most basic use of a timeshare is for the owner to use it for their annual vacation.
2. Timeshare rentals
Timeshare rental has increased as well as owners find they may not be able to vacation every year. Renting a timeshare, just like renting real estate, helps put money back into the pocket of owners.
3. Gifting A Timeshare
Instead of renting, sometimes it is easier to make it a gift. Owners can give the gift as a honeymoon present to newly married friends. Owners can also use it as a business networking device and give a week to a valued colleague or prospective client.
4. Timeshare exchanges
Exchanges have become one of the most beneficial elements of ownership. For the traveler who does want to travel but wants to travel to a new location, or during a different time of the year, exchanges offer this benefit to the owner. There are two types of exchanges: a. Internal
This means exchanging your timeshare with a person within the same resort group.
In this kind of exchange, timeshare owners can exchange with other people owning timeshares of the same resort under a common umbrella group.
b. External exchange
When you exchange internally, you stay "within the system". These types of exchanges are generally easier with less overhead, which means less cost. An external exchange means there is double the overhead: the paperwork and process within your own group and the paperwork and process within the external group. What this means is that while having external exchanges available means that many more vacation possibilities, if you can stay within network it is easier and cheaper.
An internal exchange is naturally easier and less of a headache as well as less cost then doing an external exchange.
One of the largest timeshare groups is the Resort Condominiums International group, or RCI. Because they are the largest, they offer the most internal exchange opportunities. Here is some more information about RCI.
RCI has almost 4000 destinations within their group. The second largest is at 2,000 (Interval International, or II). This means RCI has a huge advantage for internal exchanges over any other group in the world.
A RCI timeshare owner also have varied resort affiliations. Members of this program of RCI can, however, only exchange with the affiliate resorts of RCI. A RCI timeshare is only available for exchange to a RCI resort.
Also, at the current status of the affiliation programs, there is no dual affiliation for a RCI timeshare. A particular resort would only be either affiliated with RCI or not.
RCI uses an interesting system of points purchased rather than deeded weeks. Each destination within RCI is assessed a point value. When you choose a resort for your vacation, you simply redeem your points for that destination week and location.
The RCI system is pretty well-oiled and with its large number of options, it is one of the most popular timeshare programs. Now if you're the type of person who wants to stay in the same location almost each year, this may not be for you. This is the case with my wife and I when we purchased our Honolulu timeshare.
On the other hand, our grandmother loves taking vacations to new places every year. This past year she had a luxurious stay in Las Vegas. The year before she took a cruise to the Riviera. If this is you, then having a large exchange program at your disposal is more suited for your lifestyle, and RCI timeshare ownership may be just the thing you're looking for.
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