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Agents will turn to timeshare, experts predict
Timeshare resorts will be regularly sold on the high street within a year, one
of the UK’s leading developers has predicted.
De Vere Resort Ownership has a portfolio that includes Slaley Hall and Belton
Woods in England and Cameron House in Scotland. Speaking at a seminar on the
benefits of timeshare, managing director Craig Mitchell said it was talking to
estate agents and travel agents about selling the product.
“This will be a high street product within a year and it is time for travel
agents to think this through because there is money to be made on this,” he
said.
A week ownership at De Vere’s new property, The Carrick, adjacent to Cameron House, costs from around £6,000 in the off-peak period to around £40,000 in
the peak period.
“We’re talking to all kinds of people, including estate agents and travel
agents, about how we can construct deals for them to sell timeshare,” said
Mitchell.
He added that the current cost of sale for timeshare companies was high, as they have to spend a significant amount of their revenue on marketing.
“If we can sell on the high street, the days of 20 per cent marketing costs
will be over,” he said.
Independent chain Travelcare, consortium Advantage and Travel Counsellors have signed deals with timeshare exchange company RCI to sell its unsold timeshare weeks deposited by owners.
Organisation for Timeshare in Europe secretary general Peter van der Mark said
retailers were gradually becoming more interested in the product.
“Travel agents backed away about 10 years ago because the timeshare industry
had a bad reputation, but they are now starting to come back into it, although
many timeshare companies have become agents themselves in the meantime, selling flights and car hire,” he said.
According to the OTE, around 500,000 UK families own timeshare properties and
the figure has been rising annually by around 7% to 10%.
Mitchell said many people now preferred owning a week at a luxury timeshare
property rather than a second home.
“They don’t want the hassle of having to maintain a place or make sure the
lawns are cut. Convenience and having everything ready for you is a big
factor,” he said.
Report by Jeremy Skidmore
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