Press Release
November 9, 2001
ORLANDO, FL -- Future timeshare buyers are younger, well educated and more status conscious than other pleasure
travelers, according to the latest research commissioned by Interval International. The report, Future Timeshare
Buyers: 2001 Market Profile, was released at the Timeshare and Resort Investment Conference held in Orlando, Florida
November 5-7, 2001. The project was developed from data collected in The Yesawich, Pepperdine & Brown/Yankelovich
Partners 2001 National Leisure Travel Monitor, a strategic marketing tool for the travel and leisure industry.
The study was fielded early this year.
"In addition to providing a demographic snapshot of these prospective buyers, the report identifies how this
target market differs from pleasure travelers who are not interested in purchasing timeshare," said Craig
M. Nash, chairman and chief executive officer of Interval International. "The report also reveals the most
relevant trends as reflected in the lifestyles of these prospective buyers."
Presently, 3.2 million United States (US) households own timeshare. A separate survey of Interval International's
US membership base revealed that 90% of current owners are satisfied with their purchase. In fact, this group
owns an average 1.6 weeks and 20% plan to purchase additional weeks.
"While satisfied owners offer new sales potential, the large percentage of consumers who have yet to purchase
timeshare clearly represent a huge opportunity for developers," said Ann McMaster, Interval International
assistant vice president of marketing. "One goal of this research was to identify the characteristics of
these prospective buyers for our resort clients."
According to the data, 14 percent of pleasure travelers are interested in purchasing some form of timesharing in
the next two years. The majority of them are female (59 percent), white (77 percent), married (57 percent), and
have an annual household income in excess of $50,000 (chart 1). Nearly half (chart 2) are Generation Xers and
70 percent have attended a year or more of college, with slightly more than one in five a college graduate.
More than half (51 percent) classify themselves as white-collar workers and over 40 percent are from the South.
African-Americans also display a high degree of interest in owning vacation time and appear to represent a market
with considerable growth potential in the years ahead.
"If young people just starting out are showing a high interest in owning timeshare, the market will expand
as their earning power increases," notes McMaster. "These results show that timeshare appeals to a wide
variety of consumers, reinforcing the long-term potential of our industry."
As a group, prospective timeshare buyers are status-conscious (yet very interested in a deal) and place a high
value on fun, leisure time and seeking new and exciting experiences. Travelers interested in purchasing timeshare
are more likely than their counterparts to associate success with material things such as having a lot of money,
owning a luxury car and living in a large, expensive home.
"An important finding of this research was that even though these individuals would like to own many things,
they prefer spending their money on experiences that will enrich their lives such as travel, vacations, theatre
and good restaurants far more so than adults not interested in purchasing timeshare," said McMaster.
And, perhaps not surprisingly, nearly seven in 10 prospective timeshare owners feel they don't have enough vacation
time. When asked if they would prefer two additional weeks of vacation time or two additional weeks of salary,
the vast majority chose the vacation time. And their intentions are consistent with this sentiment: 71 percent
said they plan to take more pleasure trips in the next 12 months than they did previously (an average of 3.4 overnight
trips of at least 75 miles), compared to only 50 percent of their uninterested counterparts.
"Having more fun and taking a special vacation are among the top things that pleasure travelers interested
in purchasing timeshare expect to do more of in the future," said Nash. "They also are far more likely
to be interested in new vacation experiences and places, suggesting that vacation exchange, historically a key
factor in the timeshare purchase decision, may be even more important to the next generation of owners."
Interval International is celebrating its silver anniversary as the quality vacation exchange company providing
travel and leisure services for more than 1.25 million member families at nearly 1,900 resorts in more than 75
countries. With its international headquarters located in Miami, Florida, Interval serves its developer clients
and consumer members through 29 offices in 20 countries and currently employs more than 1,700 people worldwide.
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CONTACT:
Rhonda V. Sibilia 305-666-1861, ext. 7267 rsibilia@interval-intl.com