In yesterday’s Timeshare Owners Blog, we looked at an ABC 20/20 investigation of Royal Holiday vacation club. Here is Part II of that post:

The hidden camera videotape made by ABC’s 20/20 investigators reveals that Royal Holiday breaks a lot of rules when it comes to selling timeshare. People who attend the Royal Holiday sales presentation are promised an incentive if they sit through a 90-minute sales pitch, which actually lasts 3 or more hours. They are told that they can only take advantage of special pricing if they buy today…on the spot, and if they prove reticent to buy, that price may mysteriously be cut in half in hopes of getting them to sign up now, as first one and then another salesperson tries to break down their resistance.

Royal Holiday also serves alcoholic drinks to their prospects. It is poor business ethics to do this, and it is an absolute no-no for you, as a prospective buyer, to make the mistake of clouding your good judgment with alcohol. Never, I repeat never, mix alcohol with the decision to buy timeshare.

Other criticisms of Royal Holiday’s sales tactics include promises made by salespeople that a buyer’s money is invested in a foreign bank account and will be returned to them in 30 years; that rooms shown as examples of what you are buying are far nicer than the rooms you actually can book; and that availability in busy seasons is scarce.

How to Avoid High Pressure Timeshare Sales Tactics

All in all, 20/20’s report was extremely negative. There is however, one foolproof way to avoid the heavy hand of a timeshare company salesperson. Buy resale timeshare. Deal only with the person who already owns the timeshare or vacation club membership. Bypass that salesperson who works for the timeshare company yet counts on you to pay his or her salary through commission.

When you shop for timeshare resales or timeshare rentals online, you can take your time. You can ask questions, you can compare products. You can sleep on your decision and consult your attorney or your financial planner. Money doesn’t come easily these days; take your time deciding how you will spend it.

Royal Holiday Vacation Club Timeshare Resales

Currently Sell My Timeshare NOW timeshare resales and timeshare rental advertising company has more than a hundred different listings for Royal Holiday vacations. Some start at under $1000.

The Royal Holiday vacation club affords you the opportunity to travel the United States and Mexico without joining an exchange company. Royal Holiday Club has occupancy rights at Sheraton Cancun Resort and Towers in Cancun; Sol Caribe in Cozumel; Sheraton Ixtapa, Mexico; the Raddison Xanadu in Freeport, Bahamas; Wave Crest in Del Mar, California; Powell Place, San Francisco; Marriott’s Streamside at Vail; Tropicana Golf Estates in Las Vegas; High Point in Orlando; and Brigantine Beach, NJ.

Sell My Timeshare NOW can help you buy, rent, or sell Royal Holiday vacation club timeshares, without the hassle.

Apparently Disney Vacation Club Timeshare is trying to get the message across that they are not just about Disney vacations.

In an article published by the Orlando Sentinel on April 9, Jason Garcia writes about Disney’s new television commercials designed to promote timeshare sales, in which the actors focus on other vacation destinations before they get around to talking about the Disney theme parks. Now that is an interesting way to back into your timeshare sales pitch.

Disney Vacation Club Timeshare Advertising

The 60-second commercial, called “Little Travelers,” opens with children talking about all the places they have visited with their families, through Disney Vacation Club timeshare membership. The children talk about Costa Rica, the Grand Canyon, and England while the camera rolls on pictures of the Venice canals and the Eiffel Tower. Eventually, of course, the commercial gets around to talking about Disney theme parks.

The strategy is to eliminate any objection that buying Disney Vacation Club timeshare limits you to vacationing only at Disney properties. The marketing minds behind Disney Vacation Club timeshare want consumers to understand that Disney timeshare is owned in the form of timeshare points, which can be exchanged at hundreds of non-Disney resorts around the world.

Morningstar Inc., lodging industry analyst, Jeremy Glaser says, “I think when people look at discretionary spending, time shares are places that are pretty easy for some people to cut out.”

Yet just as we are hearing from so many timeshare resort developers, Disney Vacation Club timeshare’s director of marketing, Sylvia Woolfork says that they have seen no slowdown so far. According to quotes in the Orlando Sentinel, Woolfork says, “We’ve actually seen some pretty healthy trends in our business.”

Opportunities in Disney Vacation Club Timeshare Resales

To learn more about the opportunity to become a Disney Vacation Club timeshare owner, by purchasing a Disney timeshare resale, visit Sell My Timeshare NOW.

There are Disney Vacation Club timeshare resales available at these resorts:

• Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas Resales
• Disney’s BoardWalk Villas Resales
• Disney’s Hilton Head Island Resort Resales
• Disney’s Old Key West Resort Resales
• Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa Resales
• Disney’s Vero Beach Resort Resales

Starwood Resorts and Timeshares has announced that they are building a freestanding timeshare sales gallery inside the Sheraton Atlantic City Convention Center Hotel for the purpose of selling timeshare weeks at that property and at the Sheraton PGA in Port Lucie, FL.

This is the first time Starwood Resorts and Timeshares have used a purpose-built, freestanding timeshare sales office to sell timeshare units and timeshare weeks. The new Starwood Timeshare office will employ 20 to 25 timeshare sales people, and will ultimately sell timeshare weeks at all 25 Starwood properties, which includes Sheraton timeshare resorts and Westin timeshare resorts.

In an article published by PressofAtlanticCity.com, written by business editor Kevin Post, Starwood Vacation Ownership spokesperson David Matheson was quoted as saying, “Timeshares are becoming more and more of a mainstream product. Starwood and companies like it are bringing credibility to the industry.”

The article noted that Starwood timeshare units range from about $13,000 to $28,000 with annual maintenance fees of $400 to $800. On the same day that this article ran, CrainsNYBusiness.com published an article identifying that their new chief executive officer, Fritz Van Paasschen, who took the helm in September of 2007, earned approximately $9.1 million during that 4-month period.

Sheraton Timeshare and Westin Timeshare

While Van Paasschen’s base salary is less than $300,000 annually, his bonuses, incentives, and stock options accounted for the rest of his 9 million dollar-plus compensation. Leaving you to draw your own conclusions here, now seems like a good time to remind you that you can get excellent timeshare deals on Starwood timeshare resales, resorts that carry the brands of Sheraton timeshare resales or Westin timeshare resales.

Timeshare Resales from Sell My Timeshare NOW

When you buy timeshare directly from the person who owns it, you are purchasing vacation time at the same resorts as people who buy timeshare new, from the developer and typically pay much higher prices. Here’s a list of some the opportunities available in timeshare resales in Sell My Timeshare NOW’s current inventory:

• Sheraton Broadway Plantation - Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
• Sheraton Desert Oasis - Scottsdale, Arizona
• Sheraton Mountain Vista - Avon, Colorado
• Sheraton PGA Vacation Resort - Port St. Lucie, Florida
• Sheraton Vistana Resort - Orlando, Florida
• Sheraton Vistana Villages - Orlando, Florida
• The Westin Ka’anapali Ocean Resort Villas - Maui
• Westin Kierland Villas - Scottsdale, Arizona
• Westin Mission Hills Resort and Villas - Rancho Mirage, California
• Westin St. John Resort and Villas - St. John, US Virgin Islands
• Harborside Resort at Atlantis - Paradise Island, The Bahamas
• Lakeside Terrace - Avon, Colorado

A weakened US dollar may be creating a tighter economy here at home, but international travelers are enjoying the benefits.

According to a recent article in Hotels Magazine, titled, “Weak Dollar Becomes US Welcome Mat,” not long after Saks Fifth Avenue opened its all-shoe floor last summer, one hundred European women chartered a plane to New York for the sole purpose of shopping - shoe shopping!

International consumers spent almost $3 billion in New York City stores in 2007, insulating many NYC merchants against the economic slump felt by other retailers across the US. Recognizing the value of the foreign shopper, many New York merchants are directing their advertising dollars toward an international clientele.

Historically, New York City is the number one destination for foreign travelers to the US but other cities, such as Miami and Los Angeles, also benefit from international tourist dollars. “According to NYC & Co.,” 46 million people visited the city in 2007, an increase of 5 percent over the previous year. And of those visitors, 8.5 million were non-American, a whopping 20 percent increase for the same time period.” (source: Hotels Magazine ©2008 international herald tribune, February 6, 2008, Special Report; pg. 11. Katie Weisman, The New York Times Media Group, New York)

Saks has partnered with The Daily Telegraph in London, offering four day excursions to New York City this spring. Bloomingdale’s has long maintained an international marketing department in addition to their marketing and sales promotion division, because they recognize the importance of the foreign dollar in their New York stores. Bloomingdale’s also cultivates their foreign consumer at their stores in Miami, Chicago, and San Francisco. At their New York City store, where the employees collectively speak more than 40 different languages, Bloomingdales saw an increase of 35 percent in the number of foreign shoppers for 2007.

As the Hotel Magazine article points out, “No one expects revenues from international shoppers to totally compensate potentially flat or declining sales due to continued economic woes of the American economy.” Yet the reality for timeshare owners is that you do not have to depend on the US economy alone if you are looking to sell timeshare or rent timeshare; but you do have to advertise and market your timeshare resales and timeshare rentals in a place that provides vast global exposure. Look for a timeshare advertising and marketing website with a strong and leading presence on the World Wide Web; look for Sell My Timeshare NOW.

Wyndham Vacation Ownership, (Wyndham timeshare) has opened their third timeshare resort in the San Diego area, the WorldMark Mission Valley timeshare resort. With 167 one or two-bedroom timeshare condos, this new resort becomes the company’s largest urban timeshare destination.

The Mission Valley timeshare condos are located in an area near the Sand Diego Zoo, SeaWorld San Diego, Presidio Park, Balboa Park, and the Qualcomm Stadium, home to the San Diego Chargers and the San Diego State University football.

Franz Hanning, president and CEO of Wyndham Vacation Ownership, says, “As one of the largest urban timeshare resort developers, San Diego is an important market for us. By continuing to expand our portfolio of urban properties, we offer our owners and their guests the comfort they have come to expect from our resorts, close to the city amenities they desire.”

Wyndham Timeshare has also recently opened (or is currently developing) urban timeshare resorts in Washington, D.C.; San Antonio; New Orleans; and San Francisco. The two other Wyndham Vacation Ownership resorts in San Diego are: Wyndham Harbour Lights and WorldMark San Diego, and in both locations, Sell My Timeshare NOW offers excellent opportunities in timeshare resales and timeshare rentals.

I think the whole world is watching the fires in California, sharing the heartbreak, and trying to imagine the mixture of fear, frustration, and desperation that everyone affected by the fires must be feeling.

Fires of this magnitude are hard to understand. Walls of flame; intense furnace blasts of heat; and winds blowing the monster toward you with hurricane force. Miles and miles from the actual flames, your eyes burn and the thick, acrid air catches in your throat, turning each breath into an effort. The smell and taste of the smoke permeates your home and your car; you can’t seem to get away from it. Even if you are outside the zone of imminent danger, travel screeches to a halt as the smoke swallows on-coming traffic and makes driving impossible.

I am sure all of us have wondered this week what we would reach for if the mandate came down, “You have five minutes to evacuate your home.”

Considering that the number of California timeshare resorts is second in the US only to Florida timeshares, it is hard to imagine that some timeshare properties have not been damaged or destroyed by the fires. It is also hard for me to keep you updated on the conditions at each resort with the fire moving so rapidly and unpredictably.

In a few areas, timeshare units have been used to house emergency workers and firefighters. Winner’s Circle Beach and Tennis Resort in Solano Beach, is one resort in a voluntary evacuation area, where timeshare units have been made available to firefighters. I also know that San Clemente Inn Timeshare Resort has a waiting list of evacuees who want to stay there. And on Tuesday, a TUG member posted an update on TUG’s website saying that at that time, there were no fires near the Marriott Newport Villas but smoke was blanketing the area.

Your best source of information about the condition of your California timeshare is to call your resort itself. For general updates, here are some other resources you may find helpful:

Here’s one of many YouTube videos that looks at the fires. This one includes the reminder that we should all include the people of southern California in our prayers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fiwa09duHyE

The Disneyland Resort in California has announced plans to add 250 units to the Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, 50 of which will be timeshare units.

This is the first Disney timeshare offered on the West Coast. Until now, Disney timeshare resorts have all been located at Walt Disney World Orlando, which has six timeshare resorts along with a resort located in Vero Beach, Florida and another one at Hilton Head, South Carolina.

Disney’s timeshares currently include approximately 2000 units in the 8 existing resorts. Many insiders are speculating that the 50 units planned for the Grand Californian are only the tip of the iceberg for Disney’s west coast timeshare plans.

The Los Angeles Times quoted Disneyland Resort President Ed Grier as saying, “This expansion underscores our commitment to growing and investing in both the Disneyland Resort and the Anaheim Resort area.”

Becoming a member of the Disney Vacation Club starts around $17,000, with $26,000 being the average expenditure, if you purchase through the Disney Vacation Club. But you can also buy Disney timeshare resales at very competitive prices at Sell My Timeshare NOW.

Disney Vacation Club Timeshares:

• Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas
• Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort
• The Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
• Disney’s Beach Club Villas
• Disney’s BoardWalk Villas
• Disney’s Old Key West Resort
• Disney’s Vero Beach Resort
• Disney’s Hilton Head Island Resort

When an idea works, it’s bound to be copied. And the concept of timeshares, which we all know from vacation ownership, has shown up in many other industries. There are timeshares for jets, timeshares for luxury cars, timeshares for sports stadiums, and now - timeshares for dogs.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not talking about actually timeshare resorts for dogs; I mean timesharing OF A dog.

Flex Petz is a California-based company that now allows you to be a pet owner for only the percentage of time that fits your schedule. Membership in Flex Petz includes dog food, toys, a dog bed, veterinarian care, pickup and delivery of your pet, an identity chip for Fido, boarding at a cage-free kennel, and of course, your part time pet.

ABC News affiliate KGI-TV/DT in San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose reported that Flex Pet owner Marlena Cerantes said, “We’re connected with our dogs through local rescue groups and shelters.” She describes many of their dogs as, “retired show dogs and retired studs.”

Members of Flex Petz cite the need to travel and other job-related responsibilities as reasons they can’t always be there for their pets and would rather be timesharing their dog with others than leaving Fido home alone. Critics of the service say that bouncing a dog around among multiple owners may not be good for the animals’ emotional state.

Flex Petz reportedly screens their members and requires them to participate in dog care training. Currently there are Flex Petz locations in San Diego and Los Angeles, with plans to open in San Francisco, New York, London, and other cities around the globe.

If your idea of a California timeshare, New York timeshare, or London timeshare has more to do with relaxation and luxury accommodations then you will want to check the great timeshare deals at Sell My Timeshare Now.

The sale and rental of new timeshares and of timeshare resales benefits the economy both directly and indirectly.

The American Resort Development Association, known as ARDA, recently released statistics on the economic effect of the timeshare industry in certain geographic regions. The study showed that the timeshare industry positively impacts regional, state and local economies in measurable ways. In fact, resale timeshares specifically are a significant and sometimes overlooked economic contributor within the industry.

The studies prepared for ARDA by PricewaterhouseCoopers and released by ARDA International Foundation, show that the Florida timeshare industry contributed $12.3 billion to that state’s economy in 2005, and the Nevada timeshare industry contributed $2.8 billion to the Nevada statewide economy during the same period. While many states in the US gain considerably from the presence of the timeshare industry, Nevada and Florida head the list, with California and South Carolina coming next in line.

Timeshares positively impact the economy through the sale of new and resale timeshares, job opportunities created by the industry, direct and indirect expenditures of timeshare vacationers, and revenues realized through local property taxes. Every time someone buys a timeshare resale, two positive things happen. First, a new owner takes possession of the timeshare unit, begins to use it, and feeds money back into the economy where it is located. But secondly, a person who no longer wants or needs that particular timeshare is relieved of the on-going cost of vacation property ownership and is freed-up to put his or her money into something else, including even new timeshares.

One Nevada developer has finally received government approval to commence constructing six timeshare units at Homewood, Nevada, in the Lake Tahoe area. The West Shore development received the go-ahead earlier this month after the developer agreed to downsize the plan from nine timeshare units to six timeshare units. The proposed timeshare vacation homes will be constructed on Highway 89, across from Homewood Mountain Ski Resort approximately twenty miles north of South Lake Tahoe and six miles south of Tahoe City.

Conditions of the approval, according the website for Placer County, California government, include demolition of an existing property known as the Marina Lodge; constructing a facility for washing boats; building screens to block views of existing boat racks; and contributing $100,000 to the Homewood Home Owners Association for public beach access.

This particular project is one more instance where local government officials agonize over whether an area should be zoned for use as residential property, traditional hotel property, timeshare units, or as fractional ownership. I think it is the concept of fractionals that has really added to the justifiable confusion and concern of planning boards.

Residential property has predictable patterns for use, density, and the type of traffic, tax revenue, and demands on government services it will create. The pros and cons of hotel use are equally predictable. In both cases, a zoning or planning board can realistically project what an area will be like in five, ten, or even fifteen years, based on its zoning. But when you add timeshare vacation property—most especially fractionals—to the mix, neither the standard projections for residential property or for hotel property accurately apply.

As developers of fractional properties or timeshare units often explain, fractional ownership (whether it is one week at a time or a thirteen-week increment) creates more business for area restaurants, attractions, and other businesses and services that benefit from tourist trade. On the other hand, fractional owners generate less business for services such as dentists, hardware stores, or computer repair shops, which are all good examples of places a vacationer is less likely than a resident to spend money. And from a third perspective, some restaurateurs argue that timeshare units (because so many of them have kitchen and dining areas) and fractionals (which essentially offer all the features of a private home) hurt their business by comparison to hotels, where guests often have little choice but to dine out three times per day.

It’s always a tough call for those who carry the responsibility of planning our cities’ futures, but this past year, I have definitely seen more instances like this one. City planning boards are compromising and permitting developers to intermingle small developments that have a limited number of fractionals or timeshare units, into areas that are traditionally zoned for residential use only.

To learn more about other Lake Tahoe timeshare resales and timeshare rentals, or Nevada timeshare resales and California timeshare resales, visit the website for Sell My Timeshare NOW.