Timeshare sector needs better law

BY MARK CUMMINGS Editor-at Large, Western Bureau cummingsm@jamaicaobserver.com

Wednesday, November 02, 2011

ORLANDO, Florida — Jamaica's poor showing in the lucrative timeshare market is being blamed by tourism industry stakeholders on the delay by the country in putting legislation in place to guide property development and to protect the interest of investors and consumers.

"I believe that Jamaica is a destination that can benefit very much from the timeshare industry if proper legislation is passed," said Richard Kahn, a marketing consultant who has worked for several tourism organisations in the US and the Caribbean regions.

"It is really the right time for Jamaica to embrace the timeshare market as an addition to the all inclusive resorts and the traditional hotels so that you have a more diverse sector," he told the Observer last week during the13th annual Shared Investment Conference at the Peabody Resort in Orlando, Florida.

But Tourism Minister Ed Bartlett told the Observer yesterday that the government intends to put the required legislation in place "very soon."

" The legal framework and the policy have been completed and is now awaiting Cabinet approval so it should be in effect very soon....... and this will allow us to tap into that aspect of the hospitality industry," he argued.

Added Bartlett: "This will have a significant impact on the investment option for tourism in Jamaica, and in these very difficult times when investment capital is not easy to come by, fractional ownership is a very active option and is indeed one of the preferred way of enabling expansion in room capacity in the destination."

Kahn argued that "proper legislation" would protect everybody.

"It is very important in the timeshare industry to have the consumer protected, the investor protected and the destination protected from scams and because of a lack of proper legislation, Jamaica — unlike Caribbean territories such as St Maarten, Aruba and St Kitts — is yet to capitalise on the timeshare market.

He added that the government and real estate developers should spend some time and more energy in learning more about the subsector.

Conceptualised in Europe in the 1960's, a timeshare is a property, typically a resort condominium unit, in which multiple parties have rights to use.

St Kitts and Nevis Minister of Tourism and Transport Richard Skerritt agreed that legislation could result in a significant expansion of the timeshare market in the Caribbean, as he urged leaders in the region who have not yet done so, to implement the requisite legislation.

"Because it (timeshare) is such a relatively new sector for so many Caribbean countries, legislative reform is critical because our traditional type condominium legislation does not cover the modern requirements for managing a timeshare industry," said Skerritt.

He said, while some countries are already paying attention to legislative reforms to capitalise on the timeshare industry, others need to move swiftly in that regard.

The islands of St Kitts and Nevis, Skerritt noted, have seen a significant expansion in the timeshare subsector since the drafting of laws to govern the sector.

Key tourism stakeholders believe the Caribbean is poised for further growth and development in the timeshare business, one of the fastest growing sectors in the world hospitality trade.

According to a study commissioned by the Miami-based Interval International, which provides travel and leisure services particularly in the timeshare subsector, almost 50 per cent of the roughly 2,600 US members surveyed, cite the Caribbean as the most preferred international destination to visit over the next two years.

Additionally, Interval's 2011 Membership Profile study showed that nearly one out of every four (23.2 per cent) of the US resident members interested in acquiring additional vacation time cite a preference to make a purchase at a resort located in the Caribbean. The study was conducted between April and May.

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Timeshare sector needs better law