Grandparents are Trendsetters: Paved The Way For Modern Timeshare Experience

With its clear-cut mission to highlight the new version of the timeshare industry across the U.S., the American Resort Development Association (ARDA) has a message for a new generation of travelers who are ready to get back in the swing of vacationing: Today’s timeshares are not your grandmother’s timeshare anymore. From the flexibility in curating, tailoring, and planning stays to exclusive experiences that take travel over the top, timeshares and the major hospitality brands that market and operate them are superbly suited for contemporary vacationers seeking reliable and remarkable experiences on the road.

The timeshare industry is a vibrant marketplace for not only Boomers but Millennials and Generation Z, seeing 10 straight years of growth leading up to the start of the pandemic in 2020. The industry has recovered mightily since, with sales of $8.1 billion in 2021, up 64% from the previous year. There are now more than 1,500 timeshare vacation club resorts welcoming vacationers across the U.S., with more than 200,000 units and nearly 10 million owners between them.

“So much of the growth that timeshares are experiencing can be traced to the industry’s evolution toward meeting the needs and desires of today’s travelers,” said Jason Gamel, President, and CEO of ARDA, who points to previously unheard-of flexibility and an impressive number of vacation options available to timeshare owners, as well as exclusive membership experiences that are now standard from many timeshare resort brands. “Taken together and in combination with the value proposition of the industry, timeshares really deliver for the modern-day traveler.”   

A Brief History of Timeshare

How did the timeshares evolve into such a solid vacation choice? The industry began in the 1960s and took off in the 1970s. The desire to travel for pleasure fueled the development of vacation homes and condominiums from seashores to ski mountains. Initially unregulated, the burgeoning industry couldn’t truly grow until key regulations were adopted starting with the bellwether Florida Timeshare Act in 1983, which established procedures for the creation, sale, exchange, promotion, and operation of timeshare plans.

As other states followed suit, the industry grew from a handful of timeshare developers to attracting major hospitality brands including Marriott, Hilton, and Disney, to name a few. And they kept coming including Holiday Inn, Wyndham, and Westgate.

Meanwhile, under the leadership of ARDA, the timeshare industry developed a wealth of programming to benefit owners and create a sense of community, including #LoveMyTimeshare, a social channel for owners and industry insiders to celebrate all there is to love about timeshares and correct nagging misconceptions.

Related: Yes, Timeshares Are Actually Cool

Today’s Timesharing Experience

What can a new generation of vacationers look forward to from timeshares now? Innovations that gild timeshare ownership and expand the vacation experience: 

• Flexibility: The traditional home resort/fixed week arrangement that saw timeshare owners bound to one resort destination for the same time every year is yesterday’s news. Resort concepts now offer owners the ability to choose from an array of resort offerings, travel experiences, and length of stay that is tailored to their vacationing needs, most of them based on a timeshare point system.

• Credibility: Today the industry teems with well-established and widely recognized hospitality brands, ensuring clientele a comforting level of trust. Vacationers in the market for a timeshare can pick and choose from Hilton Grand Vacations, Marriott Vacation Club, and Disney Vacation Club, to name a few.

• Exclusive Travel Experiences: Along with access to must-enjoy amenities from swimming pools to spas, exclusive travel experiences are often part of the package for timeshare owners to round out their vacations and continue to expand. The new HGV Max is a tiered membership program with Hilton Grand Vacations giving members access to unique benefits, special events, and more memorable experiences.  Abound by Marriott Vacations™ , coming later this summer, is helping travelers embark on new travel adventures around the globe. The program provides access to over 90 vacation club resorts across Marriott Vacation Club^®, Sheraton^® Vacation Club, and Westin^® Vacation Club, as well as more than 8,000 Marriott Bonvoy hotels, 2,000 vacation homes, and 2,000 unique experiences like cruises, guided and culinary tours, premiere events, outdoor adventures.

• Settings for Every Taste: Think the seashore is the only place for a timeshare vacation? Think again. Hospitality brands now offer vacation club resorts in a range of styles and all over the map.
  • Chic Urban Resorts:  Holiday Inn Club Vacations New Orleans Resort, Hilton Club The Quin New York, Hilton Club Liberty Place Charleston and The Club Wyndham Resort Atlanta
  • Outdoor Oasis:  Grand Colorado on Peak Eight, Marriott’s Timber Lodge (Lake Tahoe) Club Wyndham Park City, and Mount Ascutney Resort (Vermont)
  • Family Vacationers: Westgate River Ranch Resort & Rodeo (Florida), Marriott’s Canyon Villas (Arizona), The Welk San Diego, Scottsdale Links Resort, and Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa

To discover more about how far timeshares have come and how suited the industry is to a new generation of vacationers, please explore all the American Resort Development Association has to offer at www.arda.org.

About ARDA

The American Resort Development Association (ARDA) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, Washington, DC-based trade association for the timeshare industry, representing more than 350 privately held and publicly traded companies. ARDA’s work — including proactive advocacy — touches every role within the timeshare industry. Developers, exchange companies, vacation clubs, timeshare resellers, timeshare owner associations (HOAs), resort management companies, industry vendors, consultants, and legal and regulatory experts are all part of the ARDA network, including popular companies such as Disney Vacation Club, Hilton Grand Vacations, Marriott Vacations Worldwide, Westgate, and Wyndham Destinations. As the U.S. is the global headquarters for the timeshare and shared ownership industries, ARDA is seen as a leader amongst its peers worldwide and regularly works with established and emerging associations and markets across the globe to help advocate for the interests of ARDA members and beyond.