Timeshare Industry Continues to Grow and Attract New Buyers 

According to the newly released 2016 U.S. Shared Vacation Ownership Consolidated Owners Report from the ARDA International Foundation (AIF), the timeshare industry remains healthy, showing that owners have become increasingly engaged with their timeshare and the timeshare lifestyle, while the industry continues to attract new buyers.

With 9.2 million households in America already owning a timeshare, the timeshare industry still continues to attract new owners for three core reasons:

• People love the locations of our resorts
• To save money on future vacation costs
• To ensure they take a vacation every year

The current make up of timeshare owners also revealed how diverse owners are:

• The average timeshare owner is just under 47 years old
• 60% of timeshare owners are white; 20% are African-American; 14% Asian American
• 68% are married; 17% are single, never married
• 84% own their own home 
• 44% have children under the age of 18 living with them at home 

Owners are also highly educated, with about 63% having at least a four-year college degree. The median household income for timeshare owners is $81,311, much higher than the median household income of $54,000 for the U.S. on average. With this higher income, owners are spending a varying amount of money to purchase their timeshares:

• 47% spent under $10,000
• 26% spent between $10,000-$20,000
• 27% spent over $20,000

Once purchased, owners are loving their properties, with seven out of 10 owners saying they would recommend timeshare ownership based upon their experience. In addition, a large majority (77%) of timeshare owners took a vacation at a timeshare resort during 2015, a very promising sign headed into the future. 

The report was conducted by Leger and commissioned by the ARDA International Foundation.  For more details, see ARDA’s infographic and for a copy of the full study, visit www.arda.org/foundation.

 A Journey and Friend 

 At ARDA World 2017, we passed the torch of leadership from Steve Weisz, who just finished his stellar two-year term as ARDA Chairman, to the new Chairman Mark Wang. During this period of transition, I want to take the time to share the heartfelt appreciation we are all feeling for everything Steve Weisz has done for ARDA and our members in his impressive turn as leader.

In the last two years under his very capable hands, ARDA faced head-on all the challenges of a consolidating industry with a disciplined strategy to navigate the shifting components and implement key changes to remain nimble. And with his focused leadership, we have developed a new strategic plan that will guide our association through the rest of this decade.

In short, he has left your association stronger and on a more sustainable path, in light of the changes that consolidation and new business models have meant for ARDA and vacation ownership as a whole.

On a personal note, it has been an honor and a pleasure to work with Steve—I truly feel I am a better executive for the experience. I look forward to seamlessly moving forward with Mark Wang in our strategic plan process, as Steve also had a hand in making sure that succession plan would be smooth and ready to deploy.

So we say a heartfelt thank-you to Steve for all that he has given to our association – we are grateful, and I am proud of all we have achieved together during this time and that I can truly call you a friend.

-- Howard C. Nusbaum