CHICAGO- At the Fall Meeting of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) here, Edwin McMullen Sr., partner in Edwin H. McMullen & Associates, said that the incremental vacation ownership arena has grown some 14% in the past 20 years and will continue to grow at a fast clip.
However, he said changes in the very fabric of this segment over the course of the coming five years may well relegate what has already transpired to the realm of little more than an afterthought.
As McMullen gazed into his crystal ball for a glimpse of the timeshare marketplace five years hence, some of the conclusions he shared included:
– substantial growth of the sector will continue…albeit there will be a shake-out among players;
– increased segmentation of the market (by product);
– a dramatic change in the historical role of exchange companies;
– “commoditization” of the timeshare product and experience; and
– entry into the market by large travel- and leisure-based companies.
On this late point, McMullen suggested that- by the year 2005- three of the top 10 timeshare organizations will be entities which are not even in this end of the hospitality business today. To this end, he said watch for major hotel companies as well as firms with solid access to extensive financial resources to be among the newcomers cracking the timeshare ranks. (11/2/00) –Michael Billig