Juan Rodrigues (standing), Resort Condominums International (RCI) vice president of business development, addresses hoteliers at the Ministry of Tourism's timeshare symposium held at the Hilton Hotel on Tuesday. Seated are (from left) Edmund Bartlett, Minister of Tourism; Fritz Eisele, RCI vice president of business development for Latin America and the Caribbean; and Carrole Guntley, director general at the Ministry of Tourism. (Photo: Bryan Cummings)

Government is currently working on a Timeshare legislation to re-introduce the concept of vacation ownership to the Jamaican market, which it beleives will be a gateway for the country to penetrate the luxury tourism market.

Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett, made the announcement at a timeshare symposium held at the Hilton Hotel on Tuesday. He noted that Cabinet has already approved and given the green light to proceed with the development of the legislation, which he is anticipating will be passed by the House in 2009. A team has been established consisting of various government departments and agencies to create the legislation.

The minister said that the timeshare concept will be an integral development tool for Jamaica to make inroads in the high-end tourist market, a market in which he said Jamaica is way behind its regional competitors.

"I thought that one of the things that really required a will to do was to bring timeshare legislation to Jamaica," said Bartlett. "We decided to pull things together because this political administration has the will to do it and we know that 'where there is a will, there is a way'.

"We wanted to do this because the Caribbean area is now a very hot spot for development and when you look at what is happening in Turks and Caicos, St Lucia, St Barts and some of the other destinations that are tapping into the top end of the market, the question has to be asked what is happening to Jamaica?" continued the minister.

Conceptualised in Europe in the 1960's, timeshare is a property, typically a resort condominium unit, in which multiple parties have rights to use. The notion essentially provides more options for holidaymakers, and by bringing it to Jamaica, the minister said that it will increase both visitor arrivals and the spend of the tourists.

In terms of driving traffic, Bartlett said that "timeshare is second to none".

When someone comes, for example, to visit their room, you can have an infinite number of visitors just coming to view before they actually sign and make a decision to purchase," noted the minister. "After the purchase, you have the vacation time which they spend and even after that, there is multiple use of that same space by scores and scores of individuals."
Bartlett reasoned that the wider economy will benefit as timeshare users are typically tourists whose preference is not limited to the all-inclusive resort concept.

"We not only want visitors to come, we want them to spend and we want them to spend and spend and spend," noted Bartlett. "We dont have timeshare that lends itself to the all-inclusive concept; the tendency is for condos to operate as each and the more you have is the more expenditures they are using on the ground so the communities around can benefit from the floating effect of the dollar in the economy."

However, the minister stressed that it is imperative that the country has the infrastructure in place to facilitate the benefits that timeshare can bring to the island's tourism product. He specifically highlighted the government's exploration of the idea to build a jet airport in St Thomas, and the multibillion dollar Harmony Cove and Palmyra developments in Trelawny and Montego Bay respectively.

"We want to make a statement to the world that Jamaica is open and ready for business in all areas of the luxury tourism market; we can't make a statement if we are lacking in the infrastructure to support the development," said Bartlett.

Present at the symposium were executives from Resort Condominums International (RCI), the premier company in the timeshare exchange market. Timeshares offer owners the possibility of exchanging their rights to stay at one of the thousands of other resorts worldwide. RCI represents 66 per cent of the over 7300 resorts in the global timeshare market.

Juan Rodrigues, RCI vice president of business development, said that, for timeshare to work in Jamaica, it is both critical that government implements the appropriate framework, as well as for many hotel developers to come on stream to widen the product offering.

"This is a joint effort because we need the government; if this is not in policy, this won't happen," said Rodrigues. "Also, we need the developers; the entrepreneurial minds that every country needs, and groups like us, RCI, that can be percieved as facilators."

Rodrigues emphasised that Jamaica needs to revisit its tourism product to create a niche in the market.
"We need to create, together, the Jamaican story," noted Rodrigues. "It is a very different thing when one talks about 'I am going to Jamaica for holiday' than 'I am going to invest my money in Jamaica for vacation ownership'."
The RCI executive said that it is going to be very hard for Jamaica to penetrate the luxury market if it doesnt start "changing the story". He said that the island should revolutionise its heavily dependent all-inclusive concept.
"Innovation for me in Jamaica would be moving from the concept that you can go there and take the all-inclusives," said Rodrigues. "The perceived value of the all-inclusive is 'I don't want to go out there'.
"People think of the all-inclusive as having a hamburger and a beer by the pool, and from a timeshare perspecive they say they'll rather have a kitchen," continued Rodrigues. "So you have to create a different story and provide different types of experiences...Jamaica has very nice people, great beaches, beautiful spots etc."

However Rodgrigues noted that security measures will be integral to Jamaica being able to indeed shift from the traditional all-inclusive concept.

"People want to be in a safe place; they don't want the hassle. They want to go to the airport and get to a shuttle with no problems," he said.

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