The lecture covered the concept of hotel management in a comprehensive manner to bring out various perspectives. These include vacation ownership that encompasses the timeshare system. Studies into the history of hotel management have shown that timeshare as a concept preceded Vacation ownership.
Initially, timeshare system was characterized by cases of security breaches and inconsistent sale patterns. However, the entry of major companies into the hotel industry led to the transformation of timeshare system into Vacation ownership. The notion was created by industry players in order to include other changes in the environment.
In timeshare, a client can buy a unit for one week whereby they have a right to declare the same in a will. The property under this arrangement wholly belongs to the unit owners and is managed through contractors. In addition, associations created by the home owners are mandated with the election of the board of directors.
In time sharing, hotel management caters to other details of ownership. For instance, in a timeshare consisting of a 100 units, the 51 weeks per unit is sold to an equal number of owners. Moreover owners can join forces with the aim of owning a particular property.
Timeshares contribute positively to the process of hotel management in various ways. For example, they aid in marketing and sales when combined with other hotel management initiatives as guests that frequent hotels are an easy target. Additionally, they help in minimizing costs and improving profitability through increased sales volumes (Braunlich 4). Further, management plans that take in timeshares are viewed as more reliable.
It is also clear that timeshares do not constitute an investment. This is due to the fact that half of the costs involved in their establishment are considered as part of marketing while a quarter of the cost goes to construction. The timeshare units are also not expected to appreciate in value despite being assets. Thus the timeshare is not liable for sale as an investment.
Units offered under the timeshare system have various advantages over hotel rooms. These include the right to facilities that are limited or unavailable to hotel room users. For instance, the units are more elaborate in areas of space, entertainment, and comfort as well as the fact that the user has a right to wholly own the estate.
However, the timeshare units are limited in terms of facilities such as dining and room service to the customers that are further expected to stay for a week. The units also restrict the owners in that they are forced to include the vacations in their future plans and make use of the facilities yearly. The timeshare unit also maintains a constant value with a restriction on the number of check-ins.
The cost for the units is determined by various factors that include facilities, location and season as well as size. For instance, in times of the year that have a high number of guests, a three bedroom unit may cost $30,000 (Braunlich 12).
The timeshare units are also liable to maintenance costs, taxation and fees for membership exchange. For instance, the amounts remitted in this case are used for sustenance of amenities and facilities in the unit. The timeshare system facilities are therefore targeted to owners and their visitors, buyers and individuals enrolled in reward plans or clubs.
From the lectur, it is clear that vacation ownership springed from the Timeshare system of hotel management. In addition, it is evident that the timeshare technique is beneficial in terms of convinience and capacity to increase sales volumes in the hotel and hospitality industry.
The study also established that the timeshare units have limitations such as space and flexibility when compared to hotel rooms. These have been contrasted to the advantages of the hotel rooms over the timeshare units. It is also clear that the timeshare units are not considered part of investment as they are used as marketing facilities for the industry.