Buying time for future holidays

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 6, Issue 254, 14 September 1988, Page 12

Buying time for future holidays

In the Pacific, in Europe, in the Americas, luxury holiday resorts are springing up to cater for the demand in timesharing, without doubt, the fastest growing concept in holiday ownership in the world today.

The time-share concept originated i n France int he early 1960s where it was devised as a way of bringing holiday home ownership to middle income earners. The early system was perhaps a bit restrictive, but since it has been refined over the last 10 years particularly , ownership is estimated

to be growing at the rate of 250,000 families per year worldwide. It's not difficult to see the attractions of time sharing. Primarily of course, it means paying for a building only for the amount of time you stay in it. Secondarily, as the capital cost i s spread over a large number of owners, it's

possible to incorporate facilities that the average holiday home owner could never afford. Indeed the average owner would probably never justify the cost either. That's undoubtedly the reason why many potential holiday home owners never take the final step. For many people it's hard to justify the cost of owning a second property that might be used for no more than one or two weeks a year. Apart from tying up capital, the maintcnance costs

go on for 52 weeks a year. Today there's also the added problem of security. For many people the whole attraction of a holiday home is its isolation; by its very nature therefore, it becomes equally attractive to intruders. So for thousands of people all over the world, time-sharing is the ideal compromise between ownership and renting. It means ownership in the real sense; that is, the purchaser actually holds legal title to his share.

It means renting in the sense that the purchaser pays only for the time in occupations. There are some variations in the way ownership is structured and this is usually reflected in the price. Typically, a purchaser will *buy' a week in a resort. This may be a week fixed at the same time every year, but most resorts now sell most of their shares in 'floating time';l that is, you can take 'your' week anytime of the year you like. As with any normal

property purchase, ownership of that week's share is secured by possession of a legal title. The owner is free at any time to sell the title at a profit, to rent the property, loan it to friends, or leave it in a will. Although most holiday resorts were originally established at a lake or seaside location, the growth of other participant sports means that skiers for example, have been quick to see the benefits of time sharing. Winter Park Ski Lodge at National

Park is a typical development; perhaps a little unusual in the way ownership has been structured. At Winter Park, the title is not held in perpetuity. It is a form of lease for 21 years. This makes the 'purchase' of a week's share particularly price competitive and at the end of 2 1 years the building will be sold. Owners will then get a share of the profit. Naturally there are maintenance costs involved in time-sharing Turn page 13

Buying time for future holidays

From page 12 just as there are in any form of property ownership. This is a fixed annual fee which varies, depending on such variables as the number of owners, the construction standards and the equipment that is provided. It has the advantage of being a fixed amount. Out-right ownership offers no such benefit. Presuming that you have the m a x i m u m number of people staying in your apartment for the seven nights of 'your' week the cost will be $20 per head per night at Winter Park, for the next 21 years. For most people $20 a night is a rate that they may have enjoyed about 10 years ago. The only increase will be some inevitable adjustment in the maintenance fee. A further advantage to the timeshare concept is the exchange facility. Winter Park Ski Lodge, for example, is affiliated with a worldwide nctwork of luxury resorts. This means that a person may decide to forego the week's ownership at Winter Park one year in exchange for a holiday elsewhere. Although you might 'own' a week's timeshare it doesn't mean that you've fixed your annual holiday for life. Many people do not realise that you're free to exchange your period of timeshare ownership at another luxury resort linked to an exchange that manages a network of these properties all over the world. The incredible choice of options is one of the many reasons why

timesharing is the fastest growing type of holiday ownership in the world today. In fact the leading exchange network. Interval International, receives 6000 phone calls a day at its Miami headquarters from people enquiring about exchanges. Most holiday resorts were originally developed at beaches and there's no lack of these in Interval Ipternational's exchange directory. There are sophisticated resorts in Mexico. An almost endless beautiful islands throughout the Caribbean; then up through T e x a s , Louisana Florida and the Carolinas in Mainland, USA. Across in Europe, the list of possibilities obviously starts in the Mediterranean. The choice runs from Portugal round to Marbella, the smartest resort in southern Spain. There seems to be a timeshare

option in almost every well known spot in the South of France and the choice continues down into Italy, to the Greek Islands ... and across the world to the equally attractive Pacific region. Timesharing is well established in many of the islands, Australia and of course New Zealand. Some may argue that a beach holiday is the same anywhere in the world. Sea, sand and sunshine. Probably the planners of many of these resorts had this thought in mind, for plenty of them are designed and equipped to cater to specific holiday activities. Many include golf courses or tennis courts and special coaching schools are available to residents. Others offer wind-surfing, sailing, diving and water-ski-ing. Away from the sea there are resorts at lakes and mountains

where activities range from climbing to horse-riding. Just as Winter Park Ski Lodge at National Park has been developed specially for skiing, there are also facilities in other countries for this popular sport. Again, the major choices are centred in the United States and Europe. The Interval International exchange network includes accommodation options at many of the most famous resorts in the skiing world. The local timeshare network is becoming quite comprehensive. Now that competition has brought internal air fares down to a reasonable level, a holiday in Queenstown or Wanaka becomes a serious possibility for the family that owns a week's timeshare. It is not necessary to take exchange at the

same time as the week you 'own' - a summer holiday down south may be appealing. The 'doubling-up' option is the other feature of the exchange scheme that makes timeshare such an attractive holiday ownership concept. This means that you can take a two or three week break in another timeshare resort simply by giving up your own timeshare for an equivalent period of time. It means that holiday accommodation costs are virtually eliminated.