How Can ARDA Be Global….When the “A” Stands for American? 

By Howard Nusbaum

May 14, 2012

As I travel the world talking to timeshare developers, owners and other industry watchers, it occurs to me that many of them are probably wondering how ARDA can say that it has a global reach when our title has “American” in its name.

Well, the only real part of our charter that is uniquely "American” is our advocacy effort. One of the big things we do for our members is to monitor and impact the regulatory issues that affect timeshare by engaging in lobbying efforts. These efforts focus on the establishment of a legislative environment that enhances consumer confidence and protection.

But beyond this, everything we do is global. 

Our convention attracts industry people from around the world, and this year it was dubbed “ARDA World” to highlight the focus on global issues and opportunities, as well as the global marketplace in which we all operate. 

In addition, the ARDA International Foundation (AIF) offers professional and educational development and important primary research to our members. We are close to releasing our World Wide Shared Vacation Ownership Survey that will give perspective on the timeshare market in many countries around the world.

So whether our owners want to travel to Breckinridge, Bangkok, or Belize, they will be supported by the “ABCs” of ARDA.

ARDA Issues Tips for Exchange

by Lou Ann Burney

March 16, 2012 

 
As a part of our consumer education campaign, ARDA worked with RCI and Interval International to issue a news release with consumer tips on “Making the Most of Exchange.” We are sharing these with the media, posting on VacationBetter.org, and getting the message on exchange out through our social media channels.

After all, this is one of the main reasons people continue to buy and love their timeshare vacations. Here are the tips…feel free to share them!

Tips for getting the most out of your timeshare exchange:

Deposit early: In general, the earlier you deposit your interval the greater trading power you will receive. This will result in more available vacation choices. Members of the RCI Weeks program can deposit their timeshares up to two years before their start dates.

Be flexible: The more specific you make your vacation searches, the less options you will find. Allowing for some flexibility in the dates you plan to travel or the destinations or resorts you want to visit will greatly increase your chances of finding a match.

Strength in Numbers: Members who own multiple weeks or points intervals can deposit them at once and may be able to redeem them to secure additional units to travel with family and friends. RCI also allows its RCI Weeks subscribing members to combine units so they can trade up and exchange for an interval with a higher trading power.

Exchange Online: Search for your next vacation online at your convenience by visiting IntervalWorld.com or RCI.com. These online sites allow subscribing members to search through thousands of vacation options and complete their vacation exchange in a few simple clicks.

Protect Your Vacation: Purchasing vacation protection gives timeshare owners the peace of mind in knowing that if they need to cancel their exchange vacation for any reason, the deposited interval they used for exchange will be restored and they will receive a credit for the exchange fee they paid that can be used toward another exchange in the future.

Watch and Learn: Get the story on placing pending requests, finding a pet-friendly resort, and more by watching Interval’s informative tutorials on IntervalWorld.com or by visiting RCI.com and checking out the educational videos at RCI® TV.
 

ARDA World Convention in Las Vegas Hits the Global Jackpot 

February 23, 2012  

ARDA World 2012 will be here in just six weeks, and everyone at ARDA is excited about this year’s global theme—featuring attendees from over 35 countries, international development organizations from around the world, and internationally-focused sessions and events. The general sessions and one select session from each educational wave will feature simultaneous translation into Spanish and Portuguese. Expect valuable insight from this year’s keynote speaker, loyalty expert Frederick Reichheld of Bain & Company’s loyalty practice, which helps companies achieve results through customer and employee loyalty. New this year is the ARDA World mobile application, available for web-accessible and smart phones, where attendees can access or customize the convention sessions.  ARDA World will also feature interactive Twitter (using the official hashtag #ARDAWorld), Facebook, and Flickr walls throughout the convention space. 

Register now, or for more information, visit the ARDA World website.

Caribbean Waves in as the Most Travel-Intensive Region in the World 

February 16, 2012 

The good news is that the Caribbean region continues to be the most travel and tourism intensive region in the world, according to the 2011 Caribbean Travel and Tourism Economic Impact Study, sponsored by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC).   

However, the Caribbean was also fraught with severe economic distress due to the global recession and now faces more potential legislative challenges as Caribbean governments face funding struggles in their recovery process. What that means for our industry is that we need to be prepared to fend off such legislative proposals that would negatively impact the timeshare industry (both developers and owners) and the entire Caribbean travel and tourism industry. Fortunately, ARDA-Caribbean is proactively addressing these challenges. One example of this can be found in the U.S. Virgin Islands where ARDA-Caribbean is actively involved in the strategic planning discussions with the US Virgin Islands Department of Tourism and the Office of the Governor in their 5-year Tourism Development plan to chart a sustainable future for tourism in the territory.  Look for more legislative updates in the ARDA-Caribbean section of the website. 

Worldwide Shared Vacation Ownership Survey (non-US) 

From Darla Zanini 

December 15, 2011 

 

Hopefully all of you with international properties have had a chance to participate in the ARDA International Foundation’s (AIF) first worldwide survey in over a decade. We will complete data collection at the end of December and begin tabulating results to provide the industry with statistics on the importance of vacation ownership and its most recent performance trends around the world.

Shared vacation ownership sales and resort operations represent a significant and growing force in the global economy and this major research undertaking will begin to quantify that.

The survey was developed and launched in early November with the ARDA International Foundation (AIF) working closely with Tourism Economics, an Oxford Economics Company to conduct the supply portion of the study and The Research Intelligence Group to conduct the consumer portion of the survey.  In that piece, we are measuring number of owners, residence by country, international travel preferences and for non-owners, industry awareness.  

We will ascertain key industry metrics including sales volumes, product types, resort occupancy rates and operating metrics for every world region. The results will help the financial and investment communities better understand the state of the industry and help the industry professionals around the world to educate the public, the press, lawmakers and business partners alike about the industry so that a better business environment can be created or maintained.

The survey reached 99 countries and was available in five languages. The full report will be available in Spring 2012.