ORLANDO Nearly seven in 10 leisure travelers who are familiar with the concept of shared ownership plan to stay at a condominium-style resort during the next two years, while 38% have stayed in alternative vacation lodging during the past two years.
The findings from a report by Ypartnership suggest “a significant level of pent-up demand for these types of resort offerings,” according to vacation exchange company Interval International. Interval commissioned the study and released its results during this week’s 12th annual Vacation Ownership Investment Conference in Orlando.
“The desire to own vacation real estate illustrates how shared ownership resort products, such as timeshare or vacation ownership, fractional interests, and private residence clubs, are well positioned to serve the needs and expectations of the new consumer,” says Peter C. Yesawich, chairman and CEO of Ypartnership.
Leisure travelers familiar with the concept of shared ownership are an average age of 47, and about 75% of them are married, according to the study. Approximately half report having children in the household. They have taken an average of 4.2 leisure trips during the past 12 months, averaging 2.7 weekend trips and 2.2 trips consisting of five or more consecutive nights during this period.
Leisure travelers who are familiar with the concept of shared ownership report spending an average of US$5,649 on leisure travel services during the past year, of which an estimated 61% was booked online.
The data for this study were collected during June and July using a nationally representative sample of U.S. consumers who were prequalified and screened for specific demographic and behavioral characteristics. Respondents were adults who took at least one trip for leisure purposes of at least 75 miles away from home that required overnight accommodations during the previous year, were between 25 and 64 years of age and reported a minimum annual household income of US$50,000. The results of this analysis are representative of the population of all leisure travelers in the United States.