According to the American Resort Development Association (ARDA), there are more than 5,300 timeshare resorts around the world. This number has been growing at approximately 5% per year. If I were starting my career over again, I would focus all my attention on this dynamic component of the hospitality industry. A successfully conceived and executed timeshare resort offers significantly greater profit potential than an ordinary hotel. Prior to the time that Marriott, Disney, Hyatt, Starwood and Four Seasons entered the interval ownership arena, timesharing had a mixed reputation. During the 1960s and 1970s, some unscrupulous developers took advantage of timeshare buyers, selling them intervals in rundown, worthless resorts. Their mass-marketing, high-pressure sales tactics literally intimidated vacationers into buying into dreams that never materialized. Today, the big hotel companies have strengthened the timeshare industry, giving it legitimacy and producing huge profits for their stockholders. This favorable trend is going to continue, and anyone who owns a desirable resort or destination hotel should investigate the potential for incorporating a timeshare component into their operation.
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