Resort Development / Vacation Ownership is used to describe any form of shared ownership structure in a vacation destination situated resort, condominium, hotel or villa. The vacation ownership concept is said to have originated in the Alps when an entrepreneurial ski resort developer began selling week-long interests in his resort hotel. In the following 50 years, vacation ownership has grown into a global industry with over 5,500 resorts worldwide. In the US alone, over 4.4 million households own and use one or more vacation ownership product.

The premier developers in the hospitality industry have recognized the advantages of selling vacation real estate products contoured to consumers’ use patterns. Consumers buy just what they want, intend to use, and can afford, in exquisite parts of the world that might otherwise be prohibitively costly to own property in. Vacation ownership affords families an opportunity to return year after year to their favorite destinations.

Vacation ownership products are highly regulated. Most states (particularly those with popular resort destinations) have enacted well-articulated timeshare laws that set forth developers’ registration and disclosure requirements, truth in advertising, and purchasers’ rights of rescission, among other things.  Timeshare statutes apply whether the vacation product is called a timeshare, fractional, private residence club, vacation club or points product. (Courtesy of the American Resort Development Association.)