2013 Banner Year for U.S. Vacation Timeshare Industry

The U.S. timeshare industry enjoyed significant growth in 2013, according to the

State of the Vacation Timeshare Industry: United States Study 2014 Editionconducted by Ernst & Young. Compared to 2012, sales volume increased nearly 11 percent, average sales price rose nine percent, and there are 29 percent more resorts planned for the upcoming year.

"With 8.5 million intervals owned and a substantial increase in our key metrics, it's clear

that timeshare growth is back," said Howard Nusbaum, president and CEO of the American Resort Development Association (ARDA). "The results of this study are further proof that the incremental growth that we have been witnessing over the last 18 months is sustainable."

There were 1,540 timeshare resorts in the United States in 2013, representing about

192,420 units for an average resort size of 125 units. The sales volume rose from $6.9 billion in 2012 to $7.6 billion in 2013, an 11 percent increase. The average sales price increased/climbed nine percent to $20,460. Occupancy remained steady at around 76 percent, compared to a 62¹percent hotel occupancy rate.

Other interesting findings from the study include: beach resorts are the most common

type of resort, with urban resorts claiming the highest occupancy. Island resorts have the highest average sales price and Florida has the most resorts (23% of the national total) and highest total sales volume ($2.3 billion). Nevada has the largest average resort size (283 units on average), and Hawaii has the highest average sales price ($27,712) and occupancy rate (85.2%).

The report was conducted by Ernst & Young and commissioned by the American Resort

Development Association (ARDA) International Foundation. For more details, see ARDA's State of the Industry infographic and for a copy of the full State of the Industry Study, visit www.arda.org/foundation.