RDO goes on TV!
As of January this year, RDO is featured in an advert being carried on Satellite and Cable TV, on travel and holiday programmes featured on such life style channels as the Travel and History Channels, National Geographic, and Sky News. The initial spend by RDO is not huge this year and is being classified as a UK Chapter expense as the majority exposure is in the UK, although a number of the channels are carried in resorts around Europe, particularly Spain and Portugal. Why are we doing this and why is the intention to expand this exposure in the coming...
2010, A Year to Forget?
I was at a meeting recently and we were discussing the year from a business perspective and the other person, talking about the performance of his business said "I am going to forget 2010 as a year, business was so poor". After the meeting I set to considering whether this applied to RDO, as we all know that economically across the Northern Hemisphere we have all been struggling out of the banking crisis, shoring up the euro and preparing ourselves for some years of austerity - no wonder that in Asia where things are considerably better, they refer to it...
The world in turmoil
These last few weeks we have seen floods and fires in Australia, earthquake in New Zealand, the old regimes in Tunisia and Egypt falling to popular uprisings, problems in other North African States, the Gulf States and Saudia Arabia and of course what looks set to be a very nasty Civil War in Libya. On top of this we have just had the news of the severe earthquake and tsunami in Japan. It was pointed out to me recently by Dimitris Manikis of RCI, that European timeshare owners were the fortunate ones, compared to package holiday-makers or second home owners in...
RDO Enforcement in Action
On 5th January 2011, the Advertising Standards Authority in London issued what they call an "Assessment" but which we lawyers would call a" judgment", in that its publication has consequences with which the parties must comply. Let us wind back 7 months...
Arrests of Suspected Fraudsters in Tenerife
On 1st December 1st 2010, the Spanish National Police arrested 25 people who were behind 10 fraudulent timeshare resale companies operating from Tenerife. Most of the arrested people are Germans and their victims, timeshare owners, share the same nationality. It is reported that when contacting timeshare owners, the gang claimed to work in conjunction with notaries and even adopted the names of existing public notaries – but with subtle changes - using this as a hook to persuade their victims to part with money. The Spanish National Police conducted searches at six different locations, finding over 100,000 personal details of European timeshare...
Selling Timeshare Safely
When it comes to selling your timeshare, unless you do your homework properly you can end up losing money to unscrupulous companies, so our advice is well worth following. And in the meantime, don’t be rushed into making any decisions you will later regret – a cold call could leave you significantly out of pocket! Your first step should be to check to see if your resort or developer offers a resale service or uses a recommended resale agent. If it does not, you have a number of options available, including selling your timeshare privately or using a resale company to sell...
How Timeshare Works
Timeshare Resort Developers Timeshare developers have the principal responsibility for shaping the development of the timeshare scheme as they take the decisions which establish the characteristics of their resorts and, in most cases, the way in which they will be run. As well as arranging their own project financing, developers may also typically put in place consumer finance facilities. Once the resort is ready for sale, the developer puts in place a mechanism to protect timeshare owners' rights according to the legal framework of the country where the development is located. In the United Kingdom, for example, there are typically two principal parts...
What is Fractional Ownership
Fractional ownership enables people to own an interest in a luxury property (often in an exclusive holiday resort or glamorous city centre location) that they might otherwise be unable to afford. It is equally attractive to those who can afford to purchase property outright, but do not have the time to use or maintain it all year round. It is commonly sold in anything from quarter to one twelfth shares, with periods of the year being allocated on either a rotational basis or a mixture of fixed and floating periods within a season. As well as having all the benefits of...
RDO to crack down further on illegal operators 2011, following success of last year’s anti-fraud cam
Consumer protection is top priorityIn 2010, 32 bogus companies operating on the fringes of the timeshare industry were forced to close down following the efforts of the Resort Development Organisation's enforcement team - and those efforts look set to continue full steam ahead this year....
Supporting Timeshare Owners – The Timeshare Partnership Trust
A new trust fund has been established by The Resort Development Association (RDO) to help timeshare owners protect their resorts from local or national legislation or disputes that may impact negatively on their resort. The new self-funded trust is called The Timeshare Partnership Trust and will provide grants to resorts to help safeguard the timeshare holiday experience for owners. The Timeshare Partnership Trust is run by a grants committee comprising one representative from the RDO Secretariat, one from TATOC (the Timeshare Association) and an RDO chairman. This committee will review applications from owners associations throughout Europe for grants to resolve issues, such...