The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

MIAMI, FL - TIMESHARE sales in Freeport have been very “robust”, with several properties generating “meaningful” annual sales, a top industry executive said yesterday.

Neil Kolton, Interval International’s director of Caribbean and Florida resort sales and service, said during a roundtable at the Shared Investment Conference that the timeshare industry had been “vital” to the island’s economy.

“Freeport seems to be, in terms of new active sales, the part of the Bahamas with the most robust sales going on right now,” Mr Kolton said.

“With Freeport, obviously the timeshare industry there has been vital for that local economy. We have several clients in Freeport. The timeshare segment has helped to provide some stability to Freeport.

“If you look at the timeshare resorts there, there are several still in active sales, generating a pretty meaningful volume of annual sales. Islands Seas resort, as an example, is one of our long-term clients and continues to have an active sales programme and run very high annual occupancies.”

Mr Kolton said the cost of airlift into the Bahamas was a significant concern. “I have been concerned by the cost of airlift into the market,” he added.

“It seems like it’s definitely climbing. That’s concerning in a market like that, which caters to a more value-oriented consumer. Those timeshare owners fortunately do own that product on a pre-paid basis, and you find that even as the cost of airlift has escalated they’re still going to come back and use it. It’s going to get utilised,”

Mr Kolton added that there was not a lot of new development in Family Island timeshares, although Interval was in constant discussions with developers.

Interval International is an operating business of Interval Leisure Group, and according to its 2013 US membership profile, the Caribbean, the Bahamas, Bermuda, Europe and Mexico were cited as the most popular international vacation destinations, with approximately 39 per cent, 36.5 per cent, 36.5 per cent and 25 per cent, respectively, of a US members planning to vacation in these regions during the next two years.

“The Caribbean continues to be an extremely important market for Interval and our industry,” Mr Kolton said.

“The Caribbean continues to be the number one most desired international travel destination of choice for our resident members, which is about 1.3 million or so out of 2 million global members. It’s a market we have allocated a lot of resources to over the years.

“We’ve grown into a network that has nearly 150 affiliated resorts throughout the Caribbean region, but what you do find is that as many resorts as you have, and as much inventory as we have, the amount of inventory that we do get really does not meet the demand that we have. The supply of inventory definitely does not meet the level of demand that we have internally in our network.”

Mr Kolton said anywhere from 50-70 per cent of consumers that buy timeshare in the Caribbean finance that purchase via an average interest rate that could range from 12-15 per cent.

“If a developer or hotelier is able to carry that paper, that’s a significant profit centre and revenue opportunity for a timeshare developer. The product is typically served on a ‘right to use’ basis,” Mr Kolton explained.

“In the Caribbean, because the demand is so high, to help meet the demand and get our members there we will go outside of our network and work with hotels and resorts throughout the region to try and negotiate a preferential rate that would be exclusive for our members.

“It’s a great way for hoteliers to access $3 million affluent leisure travellers that are booking full week vacation stays. We don’t sell anything less than a full week. It gives hoteliers a way to drive incremental revenue on rooms that might sit empty otherwise without negatively impacting the rate integrity in the marketplace.”