MIAMI? Developers are increasingly capitalizing on the symbiotic relationship between timesharing and other types of development, including hotels, residential, golf courses, and ski resorts. As a result, timeshare developments are springing up across the county, not only in traditional resort areas but also alongside residential communities with sports amenities, near attractions and spas, and in urban settings. According to Kathleen Conroy, president of the HVS Timeshare Division, three major areas stand to benefit from a mixed-use timeshare operation: the food and beverage outlets; fee-based recreational amenities, such as golf; and other commercial facilities, such as shops and stores. Given the appropriate resort location and product design, hotel and timeshare facilities can work well together . ?Vacation ownership offers hotel companies the potential to leverage their brand names and create cross-marketing and cross-utilization opportunities between traditional hotel products and timeshare services and products,? said Craig Nash, chairman/CEO of Interval International. ?The result is the opportunity for significantly enhanced efficiencies and a positive impact to the bottom line.? Synergies With Hotel Development The most common form of mixed-use development involving timeshare is that which involves hotels on-property or nearby. Attracted by the growth dynamics, favorable demographics and numerous synergies with their existing business, almost every major hotel chain not already involved in the industry has considered or is currently considering vacation ownership. Investment in this industry can offer potential new profit centers in the development, sales, management and consumer-financing areas. Vacation ownership also creates the opportunity to cross-utilize many related services, while optimizing marketing efficiencies through prospect-generation programs. For instance, hotel frequent-user programs and in-room promotions are used to promote vacation ownership products to consumers already familiar with and loyal to the hotel brand. ?Many of our vacation owners are already loyal Marriott customers,? said Ed Kinney, senior director/brand advertising and communications for Marriott Vacation Club International. ?Integrating a vacation ownership property with a hotel/resort allows us to share services, providing the guest with more diversified amenities.? In a mixed-use project, timeshare owners often have access to a wide array of hotel services. ?By having a luxury Four Seasons Hotel as an anchor to the overall resort development, owners at Four Seasons Resort Clubs in north San Diego and Scottsdale have the seamless integrated benefits of so many amenities second homes typically cannot offer,? said Duffy Keys, senior vp/vacation ownership, Four Seasons. ?For example, we offer owners preferred tee times, in-home catering, and daily housekeeping.? Rather than cutting into market share, timeshare resorts offer a valuable source of guests for nearby hotels. According to a 1999 survey by Simmons Market Research of the U.S. membership of Interval International, timeshare owners average 34.8 nights per year away from home, with 12.4 nights spent in timeshare and 18.4 nights in a hotel. The same survey found that more than 75% of respondents mostly or sometimes dine on site at the hotel or motel where they are staying. Additionally, through vacation ownership, hoteliers further enhance their existing hotel properties, help amortize land and infrastructures costs, and increase food and beverage business.
