Washington (PRWEB) August 26, 2013 -- The American Resort Development Association (ARDA) today announces the “Timeshare Effect” initiative—a look at how timeshare vacations have a positive effect on lifestyle, family memories, and finances. Inspired by the “Travel Effect,” a campaign by the U.S. Travel Association, the Timeshare Effect was developed to highlight the link between timeshare vacations and their effect on owners.
“We hear from our owners every day about how their lives have changed because of their timeshare ownership,” said Howard Nusbaum, president and CEO of ARDA. “We wanted to capture this anecdotal sentiment with hard facts for other would-be timeshare owners.”
The Timeshare Effect covers three areas: finances, lifestyle, and family. On the financial side, it’s clear that owning a timeshare enables families to take annual vacations for much less than what they would pay for a traditional hotel. For example, a traditional hotel stay for a family of four for one week with roughly three meals out each day will cost an average of $3,000. After 20 years of annual vacation, that adds up to $60,000. But if that same family had purchased a timeshare for an average of $20,000, included their average annual maintenance fees (on average $700/year x 20 years = $14,000), the total is $34,000. This represents over $25,000 in savings over just 20 years of vacationing.
In addition to the financial savings, owning a timeshare has significant effects on lifestyle. Since timeshare owners have essentially pre-paid for their annual vacation, they are much more likely to take that vacation, which leads to many health and wellness benefits. Owners enjoy beautiful resorts in great locations that offer flexibility and space for everyone.
And there is nothing better than a regular vacation to create lifelong family memories. Three out of four adults over 55 say they still have vivid memories of their childhood vacations, and 55 percent of adults want to create similar memories for their kids. A whopping 93 percent of kids say that vacations mean a chance to spend quality time with their parents.
See the Timeshare Effect infographic for more, and for information on why timeshare may be a better vacation for you, visit http://www.VacationBetter.org .
*All statistics from U.S. Travel’s Travel Effect
The American Resort Development Association (ARDA) is the Washington, D.C.-based professional association representing the vacation ownership and resort development industries. Established in 1969, ARDA today has almost 1,000 members ranging from privately held firms to publicly traded companies and international corporations with expertise in shared ownership interests in leisure real estate. The membership also includes timeshare owner associations (HOAs), resort management companies, and owners through the ARDA Resort Owners Coalition (ARDA-ROC). For more information, visit http://www.arda.org or ARDA’s consumer website at http://www.VacationBetter.org.
Alexa Antonuk, ARDA, 202-207-1141, [email protected]
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