This is an interesting move by MVW, "Marriott Vacations Worldwide Appoints Christian Alejandro Asmar to Board of Directors"

[daviator]

When we bought most of our timeshares, it was when many people were buying second homes in vacation destinations. We thought timeshares would be a good alternative and we didn't have to worry about our investment being ruined by natural disasters. The cost of a timeshare was much lower than investing in second homes/ condos. I don't think this is the case any more because the cost of housing has increased so much that most young people don't have the discretionary money to spend. Many young people with money prefer to travel more spontaneously to more exotic destinations.

Agreed. And for me/us, timeshare ownership HAS been a good alternative to buying a vacation home, with the added benefit that we aren't married to a single location. And despite the dramatic increases in maintenance fees, I'm sure we still pay less than it would cost to maintain a second home somewhere.

 

[jp10558]

Many young people with money prefer to travel more spontaneously to more exotic destinations.

I think one place the big TS companies have missed is that they don't really cover "international" / "exotic" locations that well. It also seems like for too long (and we're still seeing this) the companies rejoice in "yet another Orlando location" for a sub brand or maybe one more tower in Hawaii. I find again they're focusing maybe a little too much of "where to have a sales office" vs "where people want to go".

They also are very fast to "do more of the same" a la buying Bluegreen or whatever, but ~5 years in, they still haven't even tried to expand much from the "vacation" market to capture "digital nomads" / work from anywhere, or to try and capture some of the people who are looking for alternatives to assisted living (like that one person who lives on a cruise ship for less than a lot of "elderly focused housing" - IDK what to call it, it's obviously not a nursing home, but they do get weekly cleaning and food options etc that some resorts can compete with).

Of course I don't know if there are big regulation / legal issues in advertising "work from a new paradise every week (or 3)" or "Embrace the nomadic lifestyle across the US" and so live in TS like Timeshare Traveller etc...

I also feel like the TS companies could do something like the "AI travel agent" market is offering with a TS twist. That is, offer people something like the original thing (1 week per year) but for a extra yearly fee take in some basic info about "type of location", "a set of weeks that can work" and kind of like an II OGS they each year just automatically assign a week to people that fits in their use year, and maybe give a day or two to reject the assignment to spin the wheel again. Sell it as "Discover new places that fit you" with "none of the stress and planning needed, your agent gets you something fun every year". Of course, that would require actual IT competence or a lot of decent travel agents to figure the stuff out, and ideally they could bundle some of the travel stuff also - at a price of course. The important part IMO is to make them optional things, but perhaps something more useful than "Vacation Sidekick".

 

[Superchief]

We bought our first timeshare at MVC Royal Palms when a Disney family vacation was affordable. We typically spent three days at the World Center and three days at Disneyworld. We always bought the multi-day passes that could be used at all parks and had no expiration date. The timeshare made lodging and meals more affordable and it was easy to take a break midday to get away from the heat and crowds. We typically made Orlando trips every other year until Eisner took over at Disney. We stopped going when the multi-day passes no longer allowed park hopping and had to be used in the year purchased. If we go, we now spend most of our time at the World Center and will only go to Disney to use our unexpired tickets from several years ago. Additionally, fewer families have children so Orlando is no longer a top destination for young people.