Fractional Ownership News
Miami- Destination & Private Residence Club Industry Symposium
I’m fresh back from my trip to Miami attending the (deep breath) The Second Annual Destination Club & Private Residence Club Industry Symposium. We’ll be posting up stories on some of the nuggets of information and announcements made at the event elsewhere so check out the other news stories on our News page- a page that is groaning under the weight of news at the moment of current fractional events and developments, a positive sign reinforced by the upbeat tone of this event despite the overall downbeat economic climate we hear so much of in the mainstream media.
The event was well-attended by some of the leading lights of the Destination Club & PRC market including Ultimate Escapes, Everlands, Exclusive Resorts, the new Abercrombie & Kent club, One Key, LUSSO, Solstice, Equity Estates and Distinctive Holiday Homes as well as a number of related fractional service providers and media including our very own Senior Staff Writer Susan Kime of Kimedia.
So we popped on our pastel suits, rolled up our sleeves and slipped on our loafers (sans socks) and got involved! There were a number of key themes that ran throughout so I have broken down into the following headed areas:
Awareness
A big ‘problem’ for the fractional market in general is a lack of consumer awareness. Problem in inverted commas as the market is booming and as Howard Nusbaum, President and CEO of ARDA, told us that fractional property achieved $13bn in sales for 2007 and with the 78m upcoming boomers that are on the increase, yet still not enough of the general populace are aware that fractional property is out there.
Jim Tousignant, President and CEO of Ultimate Resorts stated that there are 4 million people in the US alone that meet the minimum income criteria for joining a Destination Club yet so far there is only a 1% market penetration. For those who are savvy to the opportunities there still needed to be more understanding as to the differences between a deeded real estate, right to use, equity, or non-equity club.
Jim predicted tremendous international growth of members as marketing efforts look to the large base of current timeshare owners looking to upgrade to a PRC or Destination Club. Despite timeshare being a much maligned term in the UK there are apparently still 4m+ timeshare owners out-there who have spent up to $100k and beyond so if even a small percentage of those could be ‘converted’ that would represent a massive boon.
Credibility
As a flow-through from awareness the key to achieving adopters is having a highly credible product. As the market grows it is undoubtedly attracting major players from related industries who bring their big name brands to the party and thus add credibility in the eyes of the man-in-the-street. Jarvis Slade, President of Abercrombie & Kent Residence Club – has many years of experience with wealthy customers through his work at American Express and said that once aware of the opportunities in the fractional world he feels that many would take the plunge and that Abercrombie & Kent’s long history in travel would add to the credibility of the industry.
Awareness and credibility was a rich thread that ran throughout many of the presentations.
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