2024 State of the Vacation Timeshare Industry
United States 2024 Edition
The State of the Vacation Timeshare Industry: United States Study 2024 edition provides an overview of important summary information on the U.S. timeshare industry for the year 2023.
Results contained in this report are primarily sourced from a survey of timeshare resorts, developers, and management companies. Ernst & Young LLP (EY) conducted the survey and also reviewed current and previous ARDA Research & Insights research to conduct this analysis. The study focuses on timeshare resorts that sell and maintain interval and points-based vacation lodging products.
It excludes fractional resorts and private residences or destination clubs. Of the 1,524 identified timeshare resorts, 607 responded — a 40% response rate. Of these 6071 responding resorts, 542 belong to a network of ten or more resorts, while 65 belong to a network of less than ten resorts. Of these 65, 46 were single-site resorts. For a full discussion of the methodology used, please see Appendix C of the report.
As noted above, the 2023 U.S. timeshare industry consisted of 1,524 timeshare resorts with approximately 200,530 timeshare units — an average of 132 units per resort.
Resorts sell each of these timeshare units to consumers in parts or ownership pieces corresponding to varying amounts of time. Typically, these parts are either weekly intervals (seven nights worth of vacation time) or points-based. Points represent a reservation currency for the use of units in nightly or weekly increments.
Figure ES.1 summarizes industry operating performance for 2023 and shows five- year performance trends. In 2023, the timeshare industry cemented its return to pre-pandemic levels. Sales volume2 increased by 1% to $10.6 billion in 2023. Average occupancy was 76.8%, decreasing by 0.8 percentage points from the previous year. By comparison, hotel occupancy was 63.0%3 in 2023, according to Smith Travel Research. Rental revenues totaled $3.0 billion, increasing by 12% in 2023.
The average maintenance fee billed increased by 8% in 2023 to $1,260. The average transaction price increased by 1% to $24,170; this metric tends to fluctuate year over year based on the mix of sales by unit configuration and brand.
After two years spent recovering from the effects of the pandemic, 2023 re-established historical patterns in timeshare industry trends for key metrics. Sales volume and price per transaction both rose slightly, while occupancy decreased slightly. Maintenance fees increased more than usual, likely due to broader inflationary trends in the economy. Rental revenue continued its recent pattern of strong growth, and now stands 20 percent above pre-pandemic levels.
