Introduction and Decription of the (changing) Landscape and (challenging) Marketspace of the International Service Indjustry

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Services and amenities

Increased recreational product has become standard for the vacation ownership property. Although many purpose-built vacation ownership properties have extensive resort-like recreation facilities, recent years have seen an expansion of these to include water parks, spas and spa services. These amenities contribute significantly to the success of their vacation ownership offerings. While location dictates the types and extent of recreational offerings, these high-profile recreational facilities enhance sales of the vacation ownership unit. Several vacation ownership companies offer an advance concierge service, differentiating them from their competitors. Recognizing that ‘time may be the most precious thing an owner has, [they offer] a resort stay equipped to help better manage the time of the owner’. According to (Serlen, 2005), an added benefit of this service is the increased revenue the property receives as a result of the guest engaging in more activities. There was a consensus among the participants in the study that food and beverage offerings need to be examined further, or, in the words ‘reinvented’. The executives cautioned that in many markets the abundance of outstanding food and beverage offerings in the immediate community preclude the need for food and beverage service on property. Yet, executives indicated profit in offerings of branded quick service, take-out and pizza. The executives indicated that many of the meals eaten within the unit are not prepared in the unit. They expressed an opportunity for take-out or home meal replacement markets. Betsy B. Stringam 2009

Demographic markets

According to (Coulter, 2005) the changing demographics are providing opportunities for new markets and potential customers. Although most of the vacation ownership executives considered 30 – 40-year-old consumers to be the most frequent and coveted prospect. The “American Resort Development Association, 2008b” states that the average age of the new vacation owner is 52.6-years. This represents an increase in ownership in recent years by the older or senior segment, creating a demand for a softer adventure travel product. The older segment of the market still wants to experience the outdoors and recreation, but at a slower, safer pace than their younger counterparts. As populations become more diverse, the demand for

multigenerational and family group travel has increased. The larger unit provided in most vacation ownership properties more readily accommodates this increase in the number of persons traveling together. Multigenerational travel has led to opportunities in amenities and services. One executive described these opportunities, noting that ‘there is also an increased demand for recreational activities that can be enjoyed by parents and children together’. Betsy B. Stringam 2009

Timeshare as an accommodation product option has been around since the 1960s. From

the 1970s there occurred an era of rapid and significant expansion internationally of timeshare

developments (Terry, 1994a, 1994b; Hitchcock, 2001). Importantly, over time, the timeshare

product evolved in order to remain relevant to changing consumer tastes, the growth of

segmented markets and accelerating segmentation of tourism accommodation products as a

whole. This innovation and change of the product over time has been one of the drivers of

continual dynamism in the timeshare industry. Haylock (1994a, 1994b), Upchurch & Gruber

(2002) and Powanga & Powanga (2008) demonstrate that as an accommodation product

timeshare has increasingly evolved and influenced shifts in the broader lodging sector within

which it is located. Currently timeshare as a product can be found throughout the world in a

variety of forms from single holiday flats, luxury condominiums, hotel destination resorts,

mixed resorts, and single urban tourist hotels, to cruise ships, boats, villas, yachts and exclusive five star apartments (Kaufman et al., 2006). From precarious beginnings timeshare

has emerged as a profitable and dynamic branch of property development and several

international corporations have branded the timeshare industry with their expanding scope of

development and long-term business planning (Deng, 2013). Christian M. Rogerson; Wayde R. Pandy 2014

ECONOMIC AND INDUSTRY ANALYSIS OF STRATEGIC TRENDS AND (INDUSTRY AND BUSINESS) DEVELOPMENTS IN/TOWARDS (THE BUSINESS OF) SUSTAINABILITY IN THE INTERNATIONAL SERVICE INDUSTRY

Time share Market leaders

This market industry is defined by a intense competition amongst the big players focusing their competition based on quality, location, flexibility of usage and other exclusive services they offer in the attempt to differentiate from the competition. Actual Leaders in the timeshare industry include the leading player which is Wyndham World Wide Corporation with regards to revenues, the number of resorts and number of owners. Other leading players include Marriott International, Starwood Hotels, Hilton Hotels and Hyatt Hotels.

Time share figures and analysis:

Vacation ownership sales, timeshare and fractional sales combined, expanded at 7% in 2013 vs. 2012 – which combined with a 10% rise in 2012 (over 2011) – are the biggest back-to-back sales growth years vacation ownership has experienced since prior to the economic downturn which set in hard in 2008. Timeshare sales alone increased 11%, again the largest jump since 2006 to 2007 (13.5%). Fractional/PRC[1]) volume decreased 1.2%.

The performance of the U.S. economy is as important to vacation ownership as it is to other industries.

Based on analysis done in 2013 including the sales leaders who had attained 5 million or more in 20/11/12/13 sales are as follow:

A total of 30 developers participated (27 participated in 2012; 24 in 2011). Just like every year since 2009, there were many PRC/fractional developers who reported no sales or one or two sales for multiple month periods.