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Articles and Products of History The History of TimeshareBy Ian ParkerFor the purposes of this article, the word “timeshare” refers to deeded ownership (or a rental/right-to-use agreement) of an interval of time at a hotel unit, resort condominium, or other vacation property. The vacation ownership/timeshare industry first originated in Europe in the 1960's. During this time, commercial air travel opened up new vacation possibilities, causing considerable growth and change for the travel and tourism industries. In France and Switzerland , two different companies debuted the first vacation ownership offerings. Between 1964-1968, The Société des Grands Travaux de Marseille, a French development company, began offering a time-sharing product. The first resort to benefit from this concept was SuperDevoluy, a ski resort based in the French Alps. Paul Doumier of the Société des Grands Travaux is credited with developing the timeshare industry's first advertising slogan, “No need to rent the room; buy the hotel, it's cheaper!” The other company touted as being timeshare's chief progenitor was based in Baar , Switzerland . Called Hapimag (short for Hotel und Appartementhaus Immobilien Anlage AG), this company was founded in September 23 of 1963. Hapimag's owner, Alexander Nette and his associate Guido Fenngli began buying resort properties in Italy , Spain , and Switzerland . Hapimag's members had a choice of vacation destinations, on a right-to-use basis (not deeded ownership). Hapimag is still a successful company today, and has remained independent of the largest exchange companies. Kauai Kailani on Kauai was the first vacation spot in the United States to feature a time-sharing program. Starting in 1969, weeks were sold on a leasehold basis by Bob Burns and Bob Ringenburg, who subsequently started the company Vacation Internationale. Being leased property, these units were sold in 40-year increments, a practice that still goes on to this day. The first “points” system was introduced here, in order to offer greater vacationing flexibility to timeshare owners. Florida was the first state in the continental US to embrace timeshare developments. The 1970's saw condo developments in Fort Lauderdale , St. Thomas , and Puerto Rico being transformed into time-sharing resorts. The original “deeded ownership” time-sharing program in the United States was put forward by Sausalito , California 's Innisfree Companies, in 1973. In a joint venture with the Hyatt company, Innisfree's first development was at Brockway Springs in Lake Tahoe , California . It was here that the term “timeshare” was first used to describe an interval of vacation time purchased from a resort. This stems from a group of developers: Carl Berry, Greg Bright, Paul Grey, Dave Irmer, and Doug Murdock. These men sought financing to help develop the resort property. In order to communicate the nature of interval ownership, they likened it to the preexisting concept of “timeshare”, a term already used to describe a way in which groups of people working with computers shared access to the mainframes. Since most bankers were already familiar with this terminology, the word “timeshare” became more and more associated with the Brockway Springs project. When Innisfree filed paperwork with the California Department of Real Estate, the term “timeshare” was used on the application, henceforth popularizing the term at the State administrative level. Using the term “timesharing” in promotional materials, Innisfree succeeded in making “timeshare” into a household word. Resort Condominiums International (RCI) was founded in 1974. First based in Indianapolis , RCI has grown into the largest exchange company in the world, with offices in a growing number of countries as well as all over the United States . RCI presented timeshare owners with the ability of being able to exchange weeks between different resorts, offering more flexibility and variety of vacation options than was previously available. The oil crises during this time made people look for ways to cut vacation costs. Because of this, timeshare continued to gain favor among Americans. Proceeds from timeshare sales totaled over $50,000,000.00 by 1976. The timeshare industry continued to develop during the 1980's. More people were taking vacations than ever before. New resorts were opening up all over the globe, particularly in Western Europe . Those riding high on the wave of success during this time were attracted by the promise of luxurious new resort properties in exotic destinations, while the less affluent liked the idea of spending less money on a vacation. By 1990, four million timeshare owners worldwide owned property at over 2,300 time-sharing facilities across the globe. The 1990's saw wide-scale expansion in every area of the timeshare industry. Timeshare expanded into new territory in Eastern Europe and Asia . Most American vacation destinations experienced rapid and extensive development. Following Marriott's lead (this hotel chain was arguably the first large corporation to add timeshares to its lodging and hospitality options), big hotel companies realized that there was money to be made with timeshare. Sheraton, Ramada, Hilton, Disney, Four Seasons, Ritz-Carlton, Radisson and Westin all began offering timeshare properties during the 1990's. This infusion of big-brand respectability boosted consumer confidence, and sales of timeshare units reached new record highs. By the year 2000, timeshare was a booming multi-million dollar business. Today, timeshare resorts worldwide number about 5,400. The United States currently accounts for 45% of all timeshare owners worldwide. More than 1,500 timeshare resorts are located in this country, comprising 29% of all timeshare developments worldwide. This means that the US has more timeshares than any other country. Timeshare today is an industry which benefits from a significant degree of organization and regulation. In the United States , the American Resort Development Association (ARDA) advocates for high standards of ethical professional conduct in the industry, and also serves as a lobbying organization for the industry. In Europe , this function is carried out by OTE, the Organisation for Timeshare in Europe . In many areas of the globe, local governments are taking measures to regulate the sale and ownership of timeshares, and implement legislation to protect timeshare buyers from fraud. These measures have paved the way for resort developers to begin expanding to new destinations. At the same time, because of increased consumer protection legislation, consumers in general are feeling more confident about buying timeshare overseas. Today, the sale of timeshares generates an estimated two billion dollars each year. However, this data doesn't include timeshares sold on the fast-growing timeshare resale market, so the actual amount may be much higher. Industry analysts predict that the revenue generated by timeshare sales will double within the next decade. This is good news for large resort chains already seeing huge profits from selling timeshare. Throughout the coming years, the concept of timeshare is likely to continue gaining favor among corporations and consumers alike. Further Reading
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