Special Report: Timeshare body discusses protection with ABTA

The Organisation for Timeshare in Europe is meeting ABTA this week to see if the two bodies can work together to provide financial protection for timeshare owners.

The OTE, which will meet with the association’s Keith Richards and Keith Betton, is keen to capitalise on the public’s confidence in ABTA and improve the image of the timeshare industry.

It also wants to convey to the public the difference between legitimate timeshare companies, which adhere to strict guidelines laid out by the European Timeshare Directive, and Holiday Clubs, which have attracted negative publicity in recent years.

Typically, Holiday Clubs do not own properties but charge an upfront fee, often several thousand dollars, in return for discounted holidays over a 25-year period which fail to materialise. As they are not timeshare companies, they do not abide by the European Timeshare Directive, which insists consumers are given full details of a property and a cooling off period to allow them to change their mind.

“At this stage we would just like to talk through the possibilities,” said a spokeswoman for the OTE.

A spokeswoman for ABTA said it was open-minded about working with the OTE.

“We have worked with them before and are aware that they have done a lot of work to improve standards in the industry. In principle, anyone offering pre-arranged travel should offer a level of protection.”

The OTE spokeswoman added: “Holiday Clubs tend to be marketed as a flexible alternative to timeshare and as a low-cost alternative to package travel holidays, promising a lifetime of discounted luxury holidays anywhere in the world.

“However, unlike timeshare, non-timeshare based holiday clubs do not own or control the accommodation offered within the club portfolio and often overstate their access to such holiday accommodation.

“Many holiday clubs charge a substantial membership fee for what amounts to little more than a booking service and there is concern that these clubs will be unable to fulfill their contractual obligations over the term of the contract, which can run for up to 25 years.”

The Office of Fair Trading head of European enforcement Mike Haley said complaints against Holiday Clubs had risen steadily over the past few years and now were at around 160 a month.

Haley pledged to clampdown on rogue traders but admitted action against?foreign-based firms could often be a lengthy and complicated process.

OTE secretary general Peter van der Mark said the number of complaints against timeshare companies had fallen to 199 in 2003, from 366 the previous year.

“This is still 199 too many, but we are very much going in the right direction,” said Peter van der Mark, secretary general of the OTE.

“The important thing is that 93 per cent of the disputes were resolved to a satisfactory conclusion. Most of the complaints were about marketing practices or experiences in particular timeshare properties.”

The OTE said 75 per cent of timeshare owners were satisfied with their purchase and researched showed 6.1m adults in the UK expressed an interest in buying timeshare.