KG News

According to a study into timeshare carried out by the Christel DeHaan Tourism and the Travel Research Institute on behalf of RDO, formerly known as OTE, there are over 1.5 Million timeshare owners in Europe and apparently 87% are happy with their holidays.

The sixty-four million dollar question is then why the world wide web mostly contains negative statements and conclusions about timeshare? Is it just the fact that people tend to express negative thoughts more than spread a positive word?

Let’s face some good and bad market facts at this point:

Average occupancy rates throughout the year are 72% in Europe’s 1,312 resorts – that’s 67 million bed nights. Timeshare owners are spending an average of 1,588 Euros per trip on goods and services in the local area like restaurants, car rental, groceries, souvenirs and clothes.
It is a form of holiday property ownership for those with an average household owner’s income and an attractive alternative to a hotel room.
The total number of jobs created directly linked to the resort areas is 63,000 for Europe.
According to the concept it is a gateway to luxury at affordable prices to enjoy high end amenities. The numbers above clearly show that this concept appealed to many tourists. With the economic conditions as they are it is a great option to enjoy quality accommodation, affordability and flexibility.

Despite these figures the following facts don’t paint a very positive picture. Fraud headlines continue to dominate consumer and media views of timeshare as unscrupulous traders have managed to sidestep and overtake the legislation of the timeshare industry.
Purchasing a timeshare from a developer, owners pay a high upfront cost, but few are able to use their timeshares enough to warrant the initial cost. Too often, timeshare owners must book their timeshare well in advance, sometimes up to 2 years before their planned visit. The owners are contractually obligated to pay their annually increasing maintenance fees – sometimes up to over £2000 – even if they don’t use their timeshare week/s. Many of the timeshare contracts require a binding long term commitment from the timeshare owner and make it very difficult to dispose of it.

The new Directive that has been adopted in October 2008 might give consumers better protection and more confidence before they sign a contract. Traders are obliged to provide prospective purchasers with comprehensive pre-contractual information ensuring that consumers are fully informed before signing the contract. It enables them to withdraw if they have any concerns.
Consumers have a standard period of 14 days to withdraw free of charge from the contract. There is a total ban on advance payments to ensure equal consumer protection Europe-wide.

The enforcement of legislation in protecting timeshare owners in the past has been quite unsuccessful in this regard the new law could be good for consumers and for the legitimate timeshare businesses in Europe. It might polish the tarnished reputation of the timeshare industry and as a result we may see a much more balanced happy-unhappy view emerging.

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