We still have a lot of work to do folks! 

The article (below) by Lisa Fickenscher that recently ran in Crain’s New York Business on Hyatt’s expansion plans in New York innocently refers to fractional ownership as being synonymous with timeshare by saying “If the fractional units (known as time share) in the Midtown property…”. 

While many of us understand the vast differences between the two industries, the overwhelming majority of the article-writing world is in the dark.  We can assume that Journalists (usually) do research on what they write about which means they (usually) will have a more advanced level of understanding of the topics they write about as compared to John Q Reader.  So if Journalists are still in the dark about the fractional ownership and Private Residence Club industries then John Q. Reader can’t possibly be up to speed on them - especially their differences from timeshare.

No, this is not a bad thing.  It’s actually somewhat exciting.  The article reinforces the notion that our smart little industry is still literally in its infancy in the grand scheme of things.  Sure we’ve seen strong growth and more and more people are talking about it and why it’s a more practical form of second home ownership.  But when you compare the two industries on simple overall public awareness, fractional is to timeshare as the Boise Hawks are to the New York Yankees.  I would guess that maybe 1% of the U.S population is familiar with the Boise Hawks but they are a good product and priced right for the current economic situation - yes, I’m stretching but you get the idea.

To make a long story short, we are poised for strong growth but awareness is still quite low.   Everyone in this industry needs to continue to work hard at explaining the differences to those who are still in the dark. 

I have offered any assistance needed to Ms. Fickenscher if she would like to clarify to her readers the real differences between timeshare and fractional ownership.

Read the article here:  http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20090417/FREE/904179977

Eric Pierce