WASHINGTON, DC, July 30, 2012 – The American Resort Development Association (ARDA) released the findings of research that surveyed international shared vacation ownership developers and operators, as well as owners globally. Commissioned by the ARDA International Foundation (AIF), the World Wide Shared Vacation Ownership Report: 2012 Edition was conducted by Oxford Economics and The Research Intelligence Group. The research provided a detailed understanding of the vacation ownership industry's size, composition, and performance in regions around the world. The study not only found that the industry has a significant footprint, but also that it is diverse in its makeup, resilient, and its owners are optimistic about the industry's future. With 5,300 resorts in 108 countries, global shared vacation ownership supported more than 1.1 million jobs and generated over $45 billion in direct economic output in 2010.

The study also surveyed owners in 24 different countries and found that nearly two percent of households (20 million owner households) own at least one timeshare product, and that 81 percent of owners vacationed in the past year. In the United States, ownership represents seven percent of all households, with 83 percent of owners having vacationed in the last twelve months.

"This study further cements the correlation between ownership and vacationing," said ARDA president and CEO Howard Nusbaum. "Across the globe, owners are nearly twice as likely as non-owners to have vacationed in the past 12 months." This sentiment is also reflected in the global occupancy rate of 76 percent compared with the worldwide hotel industry, which now has occupancy rates substantially lower than shared vacation ownership properties.

North America offers the most properties with 2,500 resorts or 46 percent of the total market, followed by Europe with 25 percent, Central and South America with 10 percent, Asia with 6 percent, the Caribbean with 5 percent, Africa with 4 percent, and Australasia (Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighboring islands in the Pacific Ocean) with 2 percent.

The research also found that 80 percent of the properties outside the U.S. offer traditional interval weeks, 28 percent offer biennial products, 27 percent offer points-based products, 27 percent offer trial memberships, 16 percent offer fractional or Private Residence Club ownership products, and 9 percent offer triennial products.

Other findings include data about new ownership and market growth. Future generations of timeshare owners will likely expand to numerous countries, with particular emphasis on Brazil, Russia, India, and China. While these countries currently have a relatively small incidence of timeshare ownership (1.6, 1.9, 0.3, and 0.3 percent respectively), there are encouraging indicators such as a heavy representation of the global population, a growing middle class, a positive attitude toward timeshare among non-owners, and consideration of future timeshare ownership among non-owners that point toward timeshare growth within these countries.

For further information about the study, visit http://www.arda.org/aif-foundation/research/worldwidestudy.aspx.

ARDA is the trade association for the timeshare industry. ARDA's membership comprises over 500 companies (both privately held firms and publicly traded corporations), which house 5,000-plus individual ARDA members. ARDA's active, engaged members have extensive experience in shared ownership interests in leisure real estate. ARDA's work — including proactive advocacy — touches every role within the timeshare industry. Developers, exchange companies, vacation clubs, timeshare resellers, timeshare owner associations (HOAs), resort management companies, industry vendors, consultants, and legal and regulatory experts are all part of the ARDA network. For more information, visit ARDA.org.

ARDA-ROC is a 501(c)4 non-profit entity funded by over 1.5 million individual timeshare owner's voluntary contributions. ARDA-ROC is dedicated to preserving, protecting, and enhancing vacation ownership through smart policy and sensible regulation. ARDA-ROC advocates for local, state, and federal policies that enable the vacation ownership industry to thrive and provide consumers with an enriched vacation ownership experience. For more information, visit ARDAROC.org.