Page 7 - MEDIA MONITORING JULY 16, 2018

40th anniversary of the Timeshare Industry in Aruba
ORANJESTAD — In honor of celebrating the 40th an- niversary of the Timeshare Industry in Aruba, a report was commissioned by the Aruba Timeshare Associa- tion, ATSA, to provide an overview of the island’s timeshare landscape from data collected in 2017. The report was commissioned in collaboration with Aruba Tourism Authority, ATA, and prepared by the University of Aruba, UA. The following is the fifth article in a series of six, summarizing the re- port.
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
The results of the study con- ducted in order to compile the report show that the timeshare visitor to Aruba is overall very satisfied with the product of the time- share and with Aruba as a destination. In general, the respondents were older Americans that were split between male and fe- male. The large majority of respondents were consid- ered Baby Boomers (more than 90%), and approxi- mately 70% of them earn more than $90,000.
The majority of timeshare respondents owned their timeshare (77.8%) and the majority of people pur- chased their timeshare be- fore 2003 (46.1%) and had visited the island of Aruba more than 10 times (68.1%). These respondents typically had one week of timeshare (46.5%), and the major- ity paid less than $15,000 for that week. The mainte- nance fees for one week of timeshare ownership av- eraged $1,000 and there were additional fees for the majority of timeshare re- spondents that averaged $753 over two years.
Most people did not trade or exchange their time- share from Aruba and the primary reasons that they bought in Aruba were that they believed Aruba was a quality destination, the overall resort experience
was outstanding, and the resort environment and atmosphere were great. The commitment that the respondents had for their timeshare resort was very notable. The large ma- jority of the timeshare re- spondents were extremely (56.2%) and very satisfied (33.4%) with their most re- cent timeshare purchase. An interesting finding was that in terms of the impor- tance of sales and market- ing factors in the final deci- sion to purchase timeshare in Aruba, the highest rated items were previous hotel visits on Aruba and direct contact with the resort rep- resentatives, but the low- est rated items were travel agents, television ads, and previous cruise visits to Aru- ba. One suggestion could be to target cruise pas- sengers with a tour/activity package when they leave the cruise ship to show them the value of the time- share resort on the beauti- ful island of Aruba. Since cruise passengers get such little time in Aruba, creat- ing a unique adventure for them could encourage them to purchase or trade to Aruba.
With regard to satisfaction with their most recent pur- chase of timeshare, more than 75% of respondents are extremely or very sat- isfied. Less than 1% of the respondents were very or extremely dissatisfied with their timeshare purchase. Spending and economic impact are two positive factors related to the time- share industry as revealed in the current study. The overall timeshare group spending (average of 3.25 people) for the entire trip on average was $3,723.56 without any maintenance or other timeshare fees in- cluded, it is $4,723.56 per group with maintenance fees in the total spend. The largest areas of spend from the respondents was
in food and beverage, as the combined food and beverage expenses (in- side and outside the resort) was $399.46 per person or
the current study was more than $1,422 each. In com- paring 2008 to 2017, there was approximately $4,419 spent per group per vaca-
very good. The gross eco- nomic value of the Aruban timeshare industry in 2017 is conservatively projected at an estimated US$ 530
$1,298.25 per group, per trip to Aruba. The amount spent on gambling was $217.26 per person, and shopping was $124.13 per person per trip. Overall, the spend by the aver- age individual staying in a timeshare on Aruba from
tion in 2008, and $4,724 in 2017. (Not included in the study - lodging, Aruban goods and products, jew- elry and high brand name products)
The economic impact from the timeshare owners to the island of Aruba was
million. This is equivalent to an estimated one-third of gross tourism earnings, and almost 20 percent of nomi- nal GDP projected for 2017; the equivalent of one-fifth of the Aruban gross domes-
tic production.
Continued on Page 14
A13
Monday 16 July 2018