The American Resort Development Association (ARDA) International Foundation released today preliminary results of the new 2006 Timeshare Resort Owners: Who They Are, Why They Buy study. A sample from the report : -

• Of recent buyers, only 18.5% are under 40.
• 31.4 percent of recent buyers have children under 18 years of age living at home
• 12.7% of buyers in the 'single female' category, up from 8% in 1996.

For more information, head over here.

Hotel & Leisure Group De Vere will be taken over by the Alternative Hotel Group (AHG).

AHG will take over De Vere which operates 19 De Vere hotels, 155 timeshare lodges and 16 hotels & leisure clubs through a court approved scheme of arrangement.

Press reports and research indicates that fractional ownership is on the uptrend in real estate investment, particularly in vacation home ownership. In Canada, the industry has grown 36% over 2005. With 77% of buyers wanting to buy again, the market is booming. For more information on this industry in Canada, click here

Starwood Vacation Ownership is adding more than 1600 timeshare villas to its portfolio, boosting its grand total to more than 6000.

Villas are being added in Mexico and New York. Eleven separate villa developments are also under construction or planned and will operate under the Westin and Sheraton brands in Hawaii, Virgin Islands and in Phoenix, Arizona.

Marriott Vacation Club International(MVCI), a division of Marriott International INC, has opened its Asia Pacific Regional HQ in Singapore. MVCI Asia Pacific will introduce a new Club Points product uniquely tailored to the vacationing habits of consumers in Asia. The program offers flexibility of use such as duration of stay, accommodation size and location at Club resorts in addition to exchange at MVCI resorts around the world. As to their gameplan in changing industry image, click here

August 4, 2006
Bangalore