A global leader in vacation exchange and one of the Wyndham Worldwide family of brands, RCI announced that it added 22 new resorts to its vacation exchange network in the second quarter of 2010. This includes resorts added to RCI Weeks, RCI Points and The Registry Collection program, which is one of the world’s largest luxury exchange programs!

The new additions bring the total number of new RCI affiliated resorts for 2010 to 58, further strengthening RCI’s exchange network.  Examples of some of the new resorts added to the portfolio include but not limited to; Branson’s Nantucket Resort, a lakefront property that offers a view of the Table Rock Lake in Missouri, as well as The Village at Machrihanish Dunes located on the stunning southwest coast of the Mull of Kintyre in Scotland.  “These agreements reflect our commitment to offering our members access to the best vacation options around the world, and are a testament to our efforts to provide developers with valuable services to help them increase sales and lower marketing costs”, said Geoff Ballotti, CEO, RCI.   

In addition to adding these new resorts in the second quarter, the company also launched its RCI Points Platinum membership, which offers RCI Points subscribing members opportunities for automatic upgrades, priority exchange privileges and a myriad of exciting new travel and lifestyle benefits. This new membership was rolled out in June, with a similar program for RCI(R) Weeks members planned for the future, once again ensuring RCI offers the most comprehensive and innovative programs in the industry.

RCI’s has recently enhanced the use of technology in order to continuously deliver targeted resort news and information to viewers; RCI TV, an online network of high-definition videos that showcases resorts and gives viewers information and advice on topics ranging from how timeshare works to where to eat at some of the world’s most popular destinations is just an example of how RCI is using technology to enhance member experiences. RCI TV took off quickly, reaching more than 1 million views in less than six months, a significant milestone showing that people are interested in learning more about timeshare.

FYI about RCI

RCI is part of Wyndham Exchange & Rentals, the worldwide leader in vacation exchange and the European leader in vacation rentals, with access for specified periods to more than 80,000 vacation properties in approximately 100 countries.

When most people initially try to sell a timeshare they bought from a developer, they fail to realize that the re-sale value of their timeshare is only a fraction of the price they paid to the developer.  Because there are typically more sellers than buyers, the Re-sale market becomes an effective buyers market offering availability, same packages as buying direct, and discounted prices.  As a rough guide, re-sale prices closely reflect fifty percent of the original buy price; this is a direct correlation to the elaborate marketing programs developers roll-out for new developments and expanded units, thus driving a substantial difference in Developer/Resort Sell Prices verse Re-sale Market Sell Prices.  In some instances prices for units or villas at exceptional resorts have held near there original sell price; these are usually top quality resorts in locations with high demand and limited supply.  In many cases, these resorts also operate re-purchase programs to maintain higher resale values.  Conversely, some timeshare units are essentially worthless.

Generally, individual owners are limited to how they can sell their ownership, and just as the resort/developer deployed mass advertising programs to find you, the buyer, re-sellers must practice the same strategy; and that is to reach as much of the worldwide market as possible, and inform buyers your timeshare is available at a reasonable asking price; in essence, the lower the asking price the quicker the sale!

Through extensive marketing research some re-sale companies have earned a very positive reputation for finding buyers for individual re-sellers.  Their success is driven around extensive advertising campaigns and value-added services.  Other companies may do a portion of advertising, but there are only a select few who have the ability to reach over 250 million people a day, both nationally and internationally.  In addition to worldwide web advertising, effective companies will gain exposure in periodicals targeted to specific markets/resorts.  However, not every potential buyer or renter is searching in periodicals, and the companies that realize this enhance exposure by being on top of all major search engines (Google, Yahoo, etc.).  Being ahead of the competition on the major search engines is costly, but ultimately allowes for a viable timeshare re-sale.  Sellers pay no commissions, closing costs, or hidden fees because their advertising fee has been paid in advance.  eMarketer projects 2010 Internet advertising to be around 35 billion dollars; with 40% of that geared towards search engine optimization and 21% geared towards display advertising.  Let’s face it; we are much more educated as a consumer with 29% of our time spent online.  Buyatimeshare.com and other Re-sale companies are keeping in line with technology and executing sophisticated strategies in place for gaining prominent exposure and searchability under specific resorts, and in essence reaching a huge buyers market with targeted campaigns and SELLING timeshare for-sale-by-owner.