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How are timesharing and the lodging aspect
of the sharing economy alike in your mind?
SAFT:
Timeshare, at its core, is about using only the portion of your
lodging that you need and, therefore, sharing the burden of the
expense with other like-minded individuals. While the concept is
mature in our space, almost four decades later, it is traversing other
verticals through the advent of new technology mediums.
NUSBAUM:
We do share the idea that, why would you have a vaca-
tion home when you can enjoy the economies of scale of sharing it so
that it isn’t cost-prohibitive? And any time the American public is talk-
ing about staying in accommodations that are more than a 250-
square-foot hotel room, that’s
good for timesharing.
BUCHALTER:
I actually see it as
quite different. Let’s take Uber,
which in my mind is a service busi-
ness, whereas vacation ownership
is a lifestyle business. It’s creating
dreams and implications for a
lifestyle.
How else are the
sharing economy
lodging options and
timesharing different?
ALUVILA:
The sharing economy is
more peer-to-peer, more collabo-
rative, where the seller is an indi-
vidual — not a large company —
who wants to rent his accommo-
dations. Timeshare companies are
commercial enterprises, which
include major hospitality brands.
Timeshare resorts offer significantly
more amenities and better service.
MILLER:
Certainly, timesharing offers a full resort experience, whereas,
typically, the lodgings in the sharing economy are not full resorts. So the
service level and the amenities of a full resort or urban experience are
going to be vastly different.
In almost all cases, timeshare resorts are going to be better located.
We spend a lot of money to develop locations near the beach and the
city center and the like, and you’re not always going to be guaranteed
that in the sharing economy.
SAFT:
In the current sharing economy, the product being shared is
usually a very quick transaction or time period. Our product typically
requires a significantly longer “sharing period” of several decades or
even perpetuity. It will be interesting to see if this becomes a major
impediment to further widespread adoption of our product.
NUSBAUM:
We’re designed as a commercial enterprise. We are
highly regulated with tons of consumer protections, whether it’s credit
card security, whether it’s fire safety or health safety, whether it’s the
fact that you know the rooms are professionally cleaned and main-
tained and the quality is at a certain level, or that we pay taxes and
support the local community and tourism infrastructure.
And there is a shared purpose that I would say only timeshare and
the cruise industry have. All of these families are on vacation. You’re
looking for kids’ activities? So are the people next door. If you’re stay-
ing in someone’s random apartment, you don’t have that same
shared purpose.
Is the sharing economy, specifically those
entities that provide lodging, bad for
timesharing? Why? Or why not?
MILLER:
I don’t know yet. It’s
definitely got the potential to be
very disruptive, for both tradi-
tional lodging and the timeshare
business. We have to be diligent
about tracking the evolution of
these companies and technolo-
gies. We’re going to have to stay
on top of their development and,
more importantly, the consumer
trends around their usage. And
make sure that our product and
technological offerings are keep-
ing pace.
BUCHALTER:
I don’t see it as a
threat. I think they’re two com-
pletely different business models.
Somebody who goes for a VRBO
is a completely different client
than somebody who’s going to
come and purchase from us. Do
we lose some rental business
from them? Probably. But a guy
who stays in a home and doesn’t have maid service, and doesn’t
have a pool and restaurants and so forth is a different client than the
one who comes to our resort.
KISTNER:
I agree. We live in a world of competition. I think it’s always
existed. But I think the Internet’s changed the world for us all. Yes, it’s
a tougher application set now because they have access to a larger
audience.
SAFT:
In the long-run, I think it will be excellent for the timeshare
business. I believe this is an important and healthy development for
educating the next generation of timeshare buyers. If they are com-
fortable with sharing their cars, their cab rides, and their apartments,
then surely as their lifestyle and travel demands begin to cross with
our product, they will feel a natural proclivity toward it.
On the flip side, if these industries don’t self-regulate, they will
draw increased scrutiny on all companies that utilize the sharing
model, and we may fall under that category, despite our much more
mature regulatory environment.
“The sharing economy
marketplaces are bringing
hundreds of millions of leisure
shoppers looking for alternative
accommodations. This is a great
opportunity to reach a large
number of prospects.”
— Sunil Aluvila, president and CEO, VacayStay Connect