www.sundaystartimes.co.nz

Time to share in a holiday revival

SUNDAY , 12 JANUARY 2003

By GARRY SHEERAN

Traditional baches they're not, but timeshare resorts are giving thousands of Kiwi holidaymakers a place in the sun. And - if overseas trends are any guide - a much-maligned industry could be in for a revival.
It will take a new generation of buyers who weren't burnt - or who knew someone who was burnt - from the cowboy selling antics in the late '80s to generate a revival but that time may be approaching.
The industry is sprucing itself up with new images and catchwords. Big multinationals, supposedly more reputable in the way they operate, have chased away some of the wide-boys.
The body which represents timeshare resorts and associated marketing and development companies is the New Zealand Holiday Ownership Council. It has a code of ethics and a code of practice, with dire warnings for members who transgress.
Some of the timeshare resorts offer high quality holiday apartments at some of our top spots - Club Paihia, the Bishop Selwyn and Busby Manor in the Bay of Islands, Queenstown Mews, Taupo Ika Nui, the Mission Bay Resort in Auckland and Mt Maunganui's Sun Pacific Villas.
You'll have to pay a one-off charge of up to $20,000 to secure a week's holiday every year at Sun Pacific, the most popular (and most expensive) timeshare in the country, according to council executive member Ken Greenwood.
He's also negotiating the sale of an "interval" - industry jargon for a week in a timeshare - at Paihia which he expects to go for about $16,000.
"The trade-off for people who buy, say, a month at one of these top places over Christmas-New Year is that it's still an awful lot cheaper than spending $500,000 or more on a classy home in these places," said Greenwood. "Looked at that way, timeshares represent good value."
But most of the 30,000 Kiwi families who own a timeshare are in a different league. There are 26 timeshare resorts in New Zealand and the average price for a "floating" week in a two-bedroom resort outside the Christmas-New Year period is about $5000, said Greenwood. A one-bedroom unit costs $2000-$4000, and up to $2000 for a studio or bedsit booked in advance.
A big drawcard is that timeshare owners can trade their Kiwi stay with overseas timeshares, having pre-paid their accommodation in Kiwi dollars, with no added foreign currency costs. Another development is the ability for timeshare owners to swap their stay in a resort for travel-related services such as cruises, campervans and rental cars.
Baby-boomers approaching retirement are a new target for timeshares - it's a way they can finance their travel plans with a one-off payment from redundancy or superannuation payouts.
But, warns Greenwood, people should not regard a timeshare purchase as an investment. "An investment in a system of holidays, in meeting like people, in enjoyment of family time maybe, but not in providing a return in the normal sense."
That was one of the points which got people grumpy during the bad days of hardsell in the late '80s. They did not understand the ongoing costs of a timeshare (an annual maintenance fee of around $500) or that they would probably face a capital loss when they came to sell. It is one "property" purchase almost guaranteed to cost you money when you onsell. Greenwood likens it to the car market. Buy a new car and you pay a premium to cover development costs. Second-hand cars are much cheaper. "Buying timeshare second-hand means you are getting the same resort ownership as the new buyer, but at a price the market is currently sustaining," he said.
And because many people who bought during the rush a decade ago now want out they are about two thirds cheaper.
Greenwood began his timeshare reselling market four years ago when he picked the trend. "Timeshares which sold for $18,000 a decade or more ago are now being picked up for $6000," he said.
Greenwood said many sellers were getting too old to use them, while others came on the market after marital breakups.
The Consumers Institute has advised people to beware of buying new timeshare rights because of the more attractive prices being offered on the secondary market.
The Commerce Commission warns while complaints about the selling antics of timeshare sales people are not so frequent, they have not gone away.
One timeshare company was fined $17,000 last year for misleading telephone calls and the commission is investigating similar allegations against One World Leisure, a timeshare marketing company which is a member of the Holiday Ownership Council.
·  Webguide: NZ Holiday Ownership Council www.nzhoc.org.nz