Hospitality and Related Services - Tourism: Principles, Practices, Philosophies - page 133

'' Right to Use'' Vacation Interval Option

In this option, a developer owns the resort, which is made up of condominiums or units. Each condo or
unit is divided into intervals—either by weeks or the equivalent in points. You purchase the right to use
an interval as the resort for a speci c number of years—typically between 10 and 50 years. At some
point the contract ends and all rights revert to the property owner. The interest you own is legally
considered personal property. The speci c unit you use at the resort may not be the same each year. In
addition to the price for the right to use an interval, you pay an annual maintenance fee.
Within the

'' right to use '' option several plans can affect your ability to use a unit:

Fixed or floating time. In a fixed time option, you purchase the unit for use during a speci c week

of the year. In a floating time option, you use the unit within a certain season of the year, reserving
the time you want in advance; con rmation typically is provided on a rst-come, first-served basis.

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Fractional ownership. Rather than an annual week, you buy a large share of vacation ownership,

such as 13 or 26 weeks.

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Biennial ownership. You use a resort unit every other year.

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Lockoff or lockout. You occupy a portion of the unit and offer the remaining space for rental or

exchange. These units typically have two to three bedrooms and baths.

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Points-based vacation plans. You purchase a certain number of points, and exchange them for

the right to use an interval at one or more resorts. In a points-based vacation plan (frequently
called a vacation club), the number of points you need to use an interval varies according to the
length of the stay, size of the unit, location of the resort, and when you want to use it.

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A number of countries have limits on foreign property ownership, so right to use is a way to
develop resorts. An example is Mexico. Over the years, resorts have added innovation and
sophistication to the way owners can buy timeshare intervals. Just over half (51 percent) still offer
a traditional weekly interval, while 49 percent offer some form of points-based product and
31 percent offer biennials. To further increase flexibility, many resorts make special programs
available: 28 percent allow conversions from fixed intervals (the same week every year) to floating
intervals (owners can select different weeks from year to year), 46 percent offer an upgrade program,
53 percent offer conversions from weekly intervals to points-based equivalents, and 71 percent offer
asampleortrialmembership.
In a majority of resorts today, your vacation ownership interest will include a deeded interest in real
estate. Other timeshare programs do not include an interest in real property, but are structured more
like a membership. How you actually use your timeshare vacation is generally not affected by the
absence or presence of a real estate interest.
The timeshare concept is typically thought of as vacation lodging ownership at a destination resort;
however, this form of lodging has created a variety of products sold on similar occupying concepts.
Today, the concept has been applied to airplanes, automobiles, recreation vehicles, boats, cruise ships,
campgrounds, luxury fractional properties, and private residence clubs.

Exchanging Timeshares

A major attraction of vacation ownership is the opportunity for owners to exchange their week, or
interval, either independently or through exchange agencies, to stay at one of the thousands of other
resorts worldwide. There are many exchange agencies with Group RCI and Interval International being
the largest. Group RCI (formerly, Resort Condominiums International) is a division of Wyndham
Worldwide. RCI was founded in 1974 as an exchange service for condominium owners and now serves
its global community of more than 3 million timeshare owners with exchange vacations at more than
3,700 resorts in 101 countries through RCI s week-for-week and points-based timeshare exchange

networks. Visit their Web site at www.rci.com . Interval International (II) has been serving the vacation
ownership market for over 34 years. Interval has an exchange network of more than 2,500 resorts in

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