Percentage of timesharers who exchange

[Carolinian Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Carolinian]

In timesharing, many of us who exchange don't really think about the large group out there who own to use. Looking at use records at the resort where I served on the board on the OBX, I found that less than 30% of owners exchanged, with the majority using their weeks at the resort and generally not even belonging to exchange companies. Talking to managers and board members at other OBX resorts, I found that they also had about the same percentage of exchangers vs. owners who used their weeks.

In a couple of resorts in Europe where I have asked managers about similar data on their resorts, I was somewhat surprised to find even lower percentages of exchangers. At a resort in Germany, the percentage of exchangers was only about half of what it was on the OBX. At a resort in France I traded into, only less than 5% of owners deposited for exchange last year.

Does anyone have any figures on exchangers vs. own-to-use owners in any other resort areas?

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

In Bluegreen, I attend the annual meeting every year. Bluegreen owners exchange only 2% of their points through RCI. So, Bluegreen owners tend to own to use.

To me, 30% exchangers seems that a lot of owners exchange when compared to Bluegreen. I guess when you own in a resort group, you have less of a need to use an exchange company.

[GrayFal Silver Contributor and supermoderator Find all posts View Profile Close GrayFal]

I don't have any figures to offer but find that very interesting abut the OBX - it surprises me that even the off season owners buy to use unless when u say 30% - it is really all the Nov-March owners!

I imagine that people who purchased OBX weeks 15-43 DID buy to use, more then the off season owners.

Do you have a breakdown at YOUR resort about which weeks do get deposited?

[lawren2 Malibu Beach Barbie & A Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close lawren2]

Does anyone have any figures on exchangers vs. own-to-use owners in any other resort areas?

I imagine each resort/resort group would have that data.

I still believe that a vast majority of timeshare owners do not participate in any way on-line.

A poll here would be next to meaningless.

There are probably a large amount of people that do own to use or rent. I wish I were one of them at times but that would bore me to tears. Except Morritts.

[GrayFal Silver Contributor and supermoderator Find all posts View Profile Close GrayFal]

In Bluegreen, I attend the annual meeting every year. Bluegreen owners exchange only 2% of their points through RCI. So, Bluegreen owners tend to own to use.

To me, 30% exchangers seems that a lot of owners exchange when compared to Bluegreen. I guess when you own in a resort group, you have less of a need to use an exchange company.

I imagine Wyndham would be similar to BG....I see it among the Starwood owners who purchased directly from the developer so do their reservations using 'StarOptions' - the mantra is always 'our ownership is too valuable (read EXPENSIVE) to deposit with an exchange company'. Then they buy an inexpensive Starwood resale to use as an II trader.

[bnoble Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close bnoble]

DVC publishes these numbers. It's less than 4%. Less of a "mini-system" than bluegreen or wyndham (most all the units are in Orlando) but similar participation rates.

DVC exchange statistics for 1998 - 2007 info - The DIS Discussion Forums - DISboards.com

[brother coony Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close brother coony]

New York City Timeshare. Hilton New york, and the Manhattan club Range from a high of 8% to 2% any given year, TMC MFs are too high to trade and easy to rent, you can rent it and get enought rental to get two extra vacation from RCI. at top resorts

[falmouth3 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close falmouth3]

I am amazed that the numbers are that low. Most newbies here ask about exchanging. I, for one, have exchanged 100% of my weeks since I won an auction on eBay that I never thought I'd win. Oh, I take that back - I rented my week this year to my admin.

Sue

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

I am amazed that the numbers are that low. Most newbies here ask about exchanging. I, for one, have exchanged 100% of my weeks since I won an auction on eBay that I never thought I'd win. Oh, I take that back - I rented my week this year to my admin.

Sue

I think that the reason the external exchange numbers are so low for resort groups is that they have defined a new value proposition for timesharing that does not rely on exchange companies. They are creating their own internal exchange networks as add ons to their own resorts. They are doing this to keep the control of where the client travels. It gives them more opportunities to sell and create more value in their system relative to resales.

Those who view a multi resort system as just a small exchange company providing limited exchange opportunity have the wrong paradigm for how owners see it. Owners in resort groups see themselves as owners in a resort group where they can travel to any resort within the group almost like they can to their home resort. So, the concept of own to use your own makes them feel like they are a part owner of the entire group instead of just one resort.

[taffy19 Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close taffy19]

We own at five timeshare resorts and we found out from management as well as from the other owners that most of us use our resort every year. Since most of our resorts are fixed weeks and fixed units, we meet the same owners again. With our floating unit in Mexico, we try to reserve the same week too so we also meet again.

[taffy19 Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close taffy19]

I think that the reason the external exchange numbers are so low for resort groups is that they have defined a new value proposition for timesharing that does not rely on exchange companies. They are creating their own internal exchange networks as add ons to their own resorts. They are doing this to keep the control of where the client travels. It gives them more opportunities to sell and create more value in their system relative to resales.

Those who view a multi resort system as just a small exchange company providing limited exchange opportunity have the wrong paradigm for how owners see it. Owners in resort groups see themselves as owners in a resort group where they can travel to any resort within the group almost like they can to their home resort. So, the concept of own to use your own makes them feel like they are a part owner of the entire group instead of just one resort.

Jim, I was under the impression that some locations have much higher exchange power than others. I know that the Marriott works that way. Also, for some group of resorts, you need many more points to make an exhchange to a very highly demanded location. In other words, you have to wait longer or buy or rent more points if your own resort doesn't give you that many points. It's still not that easy to make an exchange.

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

So many people don't do ANYTHING with their week. We've been to several resorts in high season, where we had trouble exchanging in, but there were lots of empty units.

That's especially true in older resorts that have been sold out for years. I think eventually the owners age and just stop doing anything with their weeks--the kids don't want them, and the parents just pay the maintenance fee every year and get on with their lives. Exchanging or renting is too much trouble.

So that 30 percent figure makes sense to me.

[dougp26364 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dougp26364]

From reading this thread one can see that there are many issues at play when it comes to percentage of exchangers depending on the definition of what constitues an exchange.

For a stand alone property, and by that I mean a property not belonging to any group or affilated with any group of resorts, I don't doubt the 30% figure. I would imagine that this figure would vary with the age of the resort and it's sell out date. Initially, I could see a higher percentage of owenrs returning every year to the resort they purchased. However, as time goes by and situations change, I could also see the group of original purchasers wanting/needing to do something different. Kids get older and may Orlando isn't the #1 destination anymore for that family. Jobs change and the original resort is no longer within driving distance. Divorce happens and the new partner doesn't want to go to the same place as the previous partner. After a period of time, I would imagine the number would remain relatively stable but, probably not for the first 5 to 10 years.

Then you have the Systems as Bocca has pointed out. What's consitutes the definition of exchange with a system? We own in DRI and Marriott. Since joining DRI, we haven't "exchange" outside of the DRI system yet, we haven't returned to our "home" resort either. Are we exchanging?

How about or exchanges with Marriott? With Marriott, for the last couple of years we have used the internal Marriott preference to travel to other Marriott resorts. What about exchanging Marriott units for Marriott Rewards points? Are these considered an exchanges?

We also own with HGVC. During our time owning with Hilton, we've used our points twice for short stay exchange outside the HGVC system. We used our HGVC points twice thru Hilton to offset the cost of cruise vacations we've taken. We've used our points to go the the HGVC in Oahu and we've used our points twice for stays are our home resort and one short stay at our home resort. What, out of that group, constitutes and exchange?

Then we come to the complicated matter of lock-off units. Most of our units are lock-off style units. How is it counted when an owner locks-off their unit, uses a portion for personal use and then exchanges the other portion? We've stayed at Ocean Pointe, a resort we own, every year except for one year since purchasing in 2001. However, we've locked-off, used the master suite one year and exchange the studio suite the next to get back into Ocean Pointe. We've used the master suite most years and exchanged the lock-off studio for either other Marriott units or units outside the Marriott system. We've exchanged for points and then exchanged back into Ocean Pointe using another week we owned. How do you determine what is counted a an exchange, what is counted as owner usage and what the "percentage" is for owner usage. I can think of several ways one could look at this without there being one straight forward method to cacluate percentage of exchagne.

So you see, it would be very difficult to determine the percentage of exchange vs owner usage across the board without first considering what parameters a resort or resort system uses to determine what is an exchange and what is owner usage. In the end, it doesn't really matter so long as you get enjoyment out of what you own and are able to make the "exchanges" that make you happy.

[dougp26364 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dougp26364]

So many people don't do ANYTHING with their week. We've been to several resorts in high season, where we had trouble exchanging in, but there were lots of empty units.

That's especially true in older resorts that have been sold out for years. I think eventually the owners age and just stop doing anything with their weeks--the kids don't want them, and the parents just pay the maintenance fee every year and get on with their lives. Exchanging or renting is too much trouble.

So that 30 percent figure makes sense to me.

My son-in-law fits this catagory. He bought a week in Daytona, FL when he was on spring break with a buddy. The buddy talked him into buying the week and they'd go halves on it. Of course, that buddy's nowhere to be seen and hasn't been since the first bill came due. He's never set foot in this timeshare since owning it but, he's continued to pay the MF's.

[Jya-Ning Silver Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close Jya-Ning]

I have impression that Wyndham has about 19% exchange out. But I do know a lot of Wyndham ownr actual exchange back to Wyndham resrts.

Jya-Ning