- Joined
- Jun 6, 2005
- Messages
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- Resorts Owned
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Grandview At Las Vegas
[triennial - points]
Outside The Box.
As it is now, the closest thing to innovation -- which is of no help to timeshare vacationers, only to 1 of the companies -- is DRI's discovery that it's cheaper, quicker, & easier for them to build full-freight sales inventory by moving pieces of paper than by moving concrete & steel & lumber & wiring & piping & furnishings & appliances, etc.
BTW -- buying from the resort does not always mean buying from the timeshare company. When a timeshare resort is a separate entity from the timeshare company, sometimes the resort itself owns foreclosed or deeded-back units, which the resort may then sell. Those are more akin to resales than to full-freignt units from timeshare companies. Trouble is, timeshare companies often have an exclusive right to sell timeshares on site, meaning that even if the resort (as distinct from the timeshare company) has units to sell, the resort is not permitted even to advertise their availability on the premises.
Apparently timesharing is such a tiny part of the overall travel & vacation economy that there are no real innovations in the business & nobody is seriously looking for ways to innovate. Otherwise somebody by now would have tried sales approaches other than high-pressure ballyhoo & razzle-dazzle -- maybe something along the lines of Walmart or Costco for developer sales, & possibly something like CarMax for resales. (Wouldn't that be something?)indeed the industry does its best to keep the resale market a secret to the average Timeshare owner.
would literally transform this industry overnight if even a decent percentage of owners had any idea you could buy a timeshare from an existing owner, vs from the resort.
As it is now, the closest thing to innovation -- which is of no help to timeshare vacationers, only to 1 of the companies -- is DRI's discovery that it's cheaper, quicker, & easier for them to build full-freight sales inventory by moving pieces of paper than by moving concrete & steel & lumber & wiring & piping & furnishings & appliances, etc.
BTW -- buying from the resort does not always mean buying from the timeshare company. When a timeshare resort is a separate entity from the timeshare company, sometimes the resort itself owns foreclosed or deeded-back units, which the resort may then sell. Those are more akin to resales than to full-freignt units from timeshare companies. Trouble is, timeshare companies often have an exclusive right to sell timeshares on site, meaning that even if the resort (as distinct from the timeshare company) has units to sell, the resort is not permitted even to advertise their availability on the premises.
-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.