Shifting Historic Industry Perception with Owner Data 

By Peter Roth

Data is an essential ingredient in any intelligent discussion, and thanks to the work of the ARDA International Foundation (AIF), I believe our industry has the right data to continue to shift away from old industry perceptions and tell our real story. 

The Shared Vacation Ownership U.S. Report: 2016 Edition was a study conducted by AIF that gave us a compelling set of data that allows us to tell our story through the experiences of more than 9.2 million owners. Using the data found in this study we can counter many “myths” our industry might carry from its past. Let’s take a look at six different “myths” we were able to debunk with this research:

Myth #1: Timeshare owners are mostly from an older generation.

Fact: 67% of timeshare owners are between the ages of 18 and 54, and 41% are ages 35-54. Only 33% of owners are over 55, and only 3% are older than 75. 

Myth #2: Timeshare owners are from lower income brackets.

Fact: In general, the incidence of timeshare ownership increases with household income. Approximately 6.9% of the U.S. population owns timeshare, and 10.9% of those owners have $100K+ of annual household income (compared to 5.3% earning under $50K annually).

Myth #3: Retirees make up the largest group of timeshare owners.

Fact: Only 19% of timeshare owners are retired as compared to 67% either hold a fulltime job or are self-employed.

Myth #4: Timeshare owners are not highly educated.

Fact: This could not be further from the truth. 42% of timeshare owners have a college degree and 21% hold a graduate degree—with only 12% having a high school degree or less.

Myth #5: Most timeshare owners want to get out of their contract.

Fact: 70% of owners would recommend timeshare ownership, and nearly three quarters would recommend their home resort to others, based upon their experience.

Myth #6: All timeshare owners disliked the buying experience.

Fact: More than seven out of 10 recent purchasers (71%) found their buying experience to be excellent or good.

It is important for individual brands and industry members to weave these facts into their stories to discredit the old “myths” of our industry.

Travel and Tourism Week is a Reminder for the Importance of Vacations 

Facts About a Leading American Industry That’s More Than Just Fun   

  

According to the 2017 Alamo Rent A Car Family Vacation Survey, U.S. workers are feeling more guilt than ever before about planning and taking their vacations. It seems as if the health benefits associated with vacations aren’t enough to get people vacationing -- but what if vacations we a part of something bigger, like helping sustain the U.S. economy?

This is what the 34^th annual National Travel and Tourism Week (May 7-13) hopes to accomplish through uniting communities nationwide to celebrate what travel means to American jobs, economic growth and personal well-being, while also showcasing the impact of travel to policymakers, business leaders and local media. 

Let’s take a closer look at just what the travel industry supports:

The travel industry is an indispensable source of American jobs—jobs that cannot be outsourced. 

• The travel industry supports 15.3 million American workers—8.6 million directly and 6.7 million indirectly.
• One in every nine American jobs depends on travel.
• Travel is one of the top 10 employers of American workers in 49 of the 50 states, plus the District of Columbia. 

Travel workers have helped shape travel to be one of America’s strongest industries. 

• Travel generates $2.3 trillion for the U.S. economy. 
• Direct travel spending in the U.S. totaled $990.3 billion by domestic and international travelers in 2016. 
• International travel spending directly supported about 1.2 million U.S. jobs and $32.4 billion in wages. 

Vacations (or leisure travel) plays a huge in making up the travel industry as a whole. 

• Direct spending on leisure travel by domestic and international travelers totaled $683.1 billion in 2016.
• Spending on leisure travel generated $106.4 billion in tax revenue.
• Nearly four out of five domestic trips taken are for leisure purposes (79%).

And we know that timeshare is an important component of these numbers!

Be sure to take part in this year’s Travel and Tourism Week, so that you can be a part of the celebration for what this means to our industry.  Encourage your followers and owners to participate by calling on elected officials and supporting travel-friendly legislation that impacts our local, state and national economies.  

It Has Been an Honor… 

Two years can go by in a blink of an eye, but I can honestly say that I’ve enjoyed every moment of serving as your Chairman. Through that relatively short period of time, our industry has grown, prospered, changed, and weathered some interesting times. All in all, it has been an amazing period of unprecedented evolution and growth.

 As an industry, we have truly come of age over the past two years and are now being seen as a significant player not just in the hospitality world but also as a business that offers a diverse portfolio of services and revenue streams. We are a unique industry with passionate owners and associates who are extremely engaged in making the most out of enjoyable vacations around the world.

The quality of our physical products has never been better, and the level of amenities and services are amazing too. And what we are doing collectively to drive innovation and create unique owner and guest experiences is pretty astounding—this is why our owners love us!

And as we look to the next two years, I am so pleased that Mark Wang will now assume this honored position and create his own legacy that will only build on this tremendous momentum. I rest easily, knowing that the organization is in good hands with his capable leadership!

Thank you all for your amazing support during my term—it truly has been an honor to serve you.

-- Steve Weisz