Major Hotel Chains Continue to Invest in Timeshare Resort Development

Major hotel chains like Hyatt, Marriott, Ritz-Carlton, Wyndham, Starwood (owners of Westin and Sheraton), and Hilton (which counts Embassy Vacation Resorts among its holdings) have had success developing new timeshare resorts across the globe. As an added bonus, their brand power has brought respectability to a once-maligned industry.

Traditionally, hotel properties are developed in a number of different towns and cities throughout the world to serve different types of travelers. Timeshares on the other hand are marketed exclusively for the benefit of tourists. Because of this, major hotel companies who want to tap into the lucrative timeshare industry will naturally center their focus around tried-and-true resort destinations located in heavily developed vacation spots. Consider Mayan Palace and Fiesta Americana, both successful luxury resort companies operating in Mexico. Mayan Palace has developed a series of timeshare resort properties and upscale hotels in hot destinations like Acapulco, Puerto Vallarta, and the Mexican Riviera. Elsewhere in Mexico, Fiesta Americana and Club Casa Dorada have both established a strong presence at Los Cabos, a fast-growing vacation hub at the picturesque tip of the beautiful Baha California penninsula.

You can browse through our selection of ads featuring some of the most popular timeshare resort brands in the world. Click on the links below for more information about each family of timeshare resorts.

Atlantis Timeshare
Bluegreen Timeshare
Celebration World Resort Timeshare
Club Casa Dorada Timeshare
Diamond Resorts Timeshare
Embassy Vacation Resorts Timeshare
Fairfield Timeshare
Hilton Grand Vacation Club Timeshare
Manhattan Club Timeshare
Marriott Timeshare
Mayan Palace Timeshare
Orange Lake Timeshare
Polo Towers Timeshare
Premiere Vacation Club / ILX Resorts Timeshare
Shell Vacations Club Timeshare
Silverleaf Timeshare
Starwood (including Westin and Sheraton) Timeshare
Summer Bay Resorts Timeshare
Signature / Sunterra Resorts Timeshare
Westgate Timeshare
WorldMark / Trendwest Timeshare
Wyndham Resorts timeshare

Since 1993, $1.3 billion has been raised through the sale of stock from timeshare resort developers, many of which also have a significant presence in the lodging/hospitality industry. Of this figure, more than $700 million resulted from transactions in the last 12 months. Signature Resorts (Sunterra) raised more than $500 million in its initial public offering in 1996. Fairfield, which has been traded publicly for some time, has raised $125 million, and Silverleaf's IPO in 1997 netted it $61 million. Timeshare companies such as Shell Vacations Club, the Summer Bay family of resorts, Premiere Vacation Club/ILX Resorts, Silverleaf, WorldMark/Trendwest and Bluegreen have experienced dramatic growth in stock offerings, regardless of when these companies actually began to be publicly traded.

Between 1995 and 1997, the entire timeshare industry experienced a huge increase in value when timeshare jumped to $3 billion market capitalization from $200 million market capitalization. The top 10 timeshare companies alone reported combined timeshare sales in excess of $2.64 billion in 1999.

The events of September 11, 2001, sent the hospitality, tourism and lodging industries into a sharp decline. Across the board, the outlook was decidedly grim. RevPAR (revenue per available room) fell by 7.1% in 2001. At the time this figure was expected to fall another 2.6% in 2002. In addition, average daily room rates experienced a 1.3% decline in 2001, with hospitality industry analysts predicting a further decrease to 2% in 2002. However, while the hotel business was losing money, timeshare resorts experienced pronounced growth. Sale of timeshare units increased 12.5% to $4.8 billion in 2001. In 2002, timeshare sale figures rose another 14.5 percent to $5.5-billion. Timeshare unit sales volume increased 7%, according to the ARDA, the US timeshare industry's trade group. Almost $6 billion in timeshare sales were recorded in 2003 at about 1,600 timeshare resorts in the United States. This contributed to an 11% increase from 2002's findings. Between 1991 and 2001, the number of households owning timeshares more than doubled, from 1.18 million to 2.7 million. Industry insiders predict that a mere 5.3 percent of the entire market for timeshare has been developed thus far. The hotel industry recognizes the enormous potential of timeshare property development and the significant profits associated with the retail sale of timeshare units.

Facts And Figures

• The timeshare industry is valued annually at more than $6 billion.
• Florida has 27,600 timeshare units, more than any other state. About 70 percent of them are in Orlando.
• About 3 million U.S. households own timeshares at U.S. resorts.
• Roughly 5,500 timeshare resorts exist throughout the world in over 90 countries
• On a worldwide basis, more than 12 million people took a timeshare vacation in 1999.