TIMESHARE

Issue

What is timeshare?
Timeshare is defined by the American Resort Development Association (ARDA) as “a term used to describe the right and joint ownership of a resort property (e.g., a condominium) shared with others. Each ‘owner’ owns a certain period of time and occupies a unit of accommodation on a regular basis for a number of years. Timesshare is sometimes referred to as ‘Vacation Exchange’, ‘Holiday Ownership’, Multi Ownership’ or ‘Group Ownership’.”

 Technically, owning a timeshare means having access at a specific ‘time’ to the ‘share’ owned in a property. There is no ownership of the physical asset, only the right to use it, within certain parameters of time, and in a way that does not affect the rights of other owners of similar ‘times’.

Why is it important?
There are around 7 million timeshare owners in the world with the USA accounting for over half of the total and Europe under 20 per cent. While growth in the USA has remained buoyant throughout the first years of the current decade, the increase in the number of owners in Europe is reported to have remained sluggish at best.

(source: The Changing face of Timeshare in Europe, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Hospitality Directions Europe Edition, September 2005)

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