American beach travelers take longer vacations, spend more money on their trips, and are more likely to stay in a timeshare than the average traveler, according to a new survey from the Travel Industry Association. Sample this:

• Over 54 million trips to the beach were made by U.S. households last year.
• These households spent an average of $737 per trip, excluding transportation to their destination, compared to just $339 for traveling households overall.

The survey was conducted for the Travel Industry of America by DK Shifflet and Associates, which obtains data on travelers and trips through mail and Internet surveys of 70,000 households annually. For more information, head over here.

New regulations that aim at minimising the harassment of tourists by timeshare promoters, better known as OPCs, by properly licensing marketing companies and levying heavy fines in the eventuality of defaults have generated a positive outcome, according to the Malta Ministry of Tourism & Culture. To facilitate enforcement, the Ministry has dedicated greater financial and human resources to intensify monitoring. Marketing companies are also being requested to deposit money, in the form of bonds, from which eventual fines will be drawn. Since the relatively recent establishment of the regulations, a dramatic drop in the number of complaints has been observed which is indicative that this exercise is indeed having the desired effect. More on this story here.

Earlier, Wyndham Worldwide Corporation spun itself off from Cendant Corporation and began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol WYN. Its three business segments will include: Wyndham Hotel Group, one of the world's largest hotel franchisors and a provider of hotel management services; RCI Global Vacation Network, operator of the world's largest vacation exchange network and one of the largest vacation rental networks; and Wyndham Vacation Ownership, the world's largest developer of vacation ownership resorts in terms of owners and resorts. Wyndham Worldwide, headquartered in Parsippany, N.J., employs approximately 28,800 employees globally.

The Dubai government's Department of Economic Development (DED) is preparing to pass the emirate's first timeshare law later this year. The groundbreaking legislation will pave the way for international timeshare brands such as Marriott Vacation Club International (MVCI) to enter the burgeoning hospitality sector in the emirate, and will provide yet another revenue avenue for would-be investors. Timeshare professionals from 19 companies, including the two largest timeshare exchange companies RCI and Interval International, have been working with the DED since 2003 to create a first draft of the timeshare legislation, which was submitted for approval at the end of June.

The first DED draft looks at how to protect the consumer, by offering a cooling-off period on all contracts, while enabling sales teams to still take deposits. The law will also provide protection for purchasers investing in properties still under construction, in the form of an Escrow account or bank guarantee. The aim of the legislation is to avoid some of the mistakes made in Europe in the 1980s and 1990s with regards to timeshare marketing. Operators will have to get a licence to run a timeshare resort and to sell it. They have to be bonded to the amount of AED1 million (US $275,000). When the new legislation will come into effect is still not certain, although Interval's Clifton is hopeful that the new law will be in place by the new year. "We are hopeful that we will see timeshare legislation as soon as possible. However, the reality is that Dubai has to finish its land law first," he said.

October 4, 2006
Bangalore