The timeshare industry is known for its marketing savvy, so it makes sense that this segment hit the ground running when it came to adopting social media strategies. And while timeshare brands and associations have different approaches for their varying customers (current owners, potential owners, even property developers), most are using social media outlets to strengthen the bond with their most critical mass—current timeshare owners.



If that goal seems like a contradiction—after all, isn’t the ultimate strategy of any timeshare company to sell more timeshare?—it shouldn’t be, said executives at some of the leading timeshare brands and associations.



“We’re trying to educate our members that viral and word-of-mouth marketing now has a huge megaphone,” said Howard Nusbaum, president and CEO of the American Resort Development Association (On Twitter: @ARDAorg; on Facebook: American Resort Development Association). “This is an opportunity every day to ensure you’re igniting your fans and answering your detractors. It’s almost as if comment cards are now in the public domain.”



That concept of “igniting fans” has plenty of marketing clout, according to Ed Kinney, VP of corporate affairs and brand awareness for Marriott Vacation Club.



“We found that [social media] really isn’t a transactional marketing channel,” he said. “So we should back off from that and use it for other means, like service and awareness.”



Kinney said the Marriott team was keen to not turn people off with its social media strategies, which include Twitter and Facebook primarily (On Twitter: @MarriottVacClub; on Facebook: Marriott Vacation Club International).



“If we could focus on getting people excited about going to an area, then there’s less of a need to focus on the pure property/product message, because that turns people off,” he said. “This is where people can get information in a very candid forum. If you start to pepper it with self-serving marketing messages, you can turn people away.”



Defining the social media space also is different for different companies. Some use established channels like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to monitor how owners perceive their properties and spread the word that way. Others, like Interval International, have created proprietary members-only sites to corral all forms of shareable online media.



Interval launched Interval Community in May, with the goal of “going sideways,” said Interval’s SVP of consumer marketing, Sharon Freed.



“We did explore Twitter and all of that, but they’re relatively one-sided, with us communicating out,” she said. “We wanted communication to go out, go in and go sideways.”



The password-protected site is based on Interval’s main website and is limited to timeshare owners who already are members of Interval International. Freed bills it as a “one-stop shop,” where members can access discussion forums on various topics, access reference documents, FAQs and eventually share photo albums, videos, blogs and more.



Sharing is key, Freed said, and it’s a built-in benefit of social media platforms.



“We’ve always talked to our members to let them know the products and services and how we can support them. And they always have talked to us, with questions, customer service needs, etc. What we haven’t done before now is find an opportunity for them to talk to each other,” she said.



Two months in, Freed said the site has been successful in creating a space where the true subject experts, the members, can share information.



“These people know what they’re talking about,” she said. “They’re asking for information from each other; they’re not asking for it from Interval.”



But Freed said the company will step in where it makes sense, but definitely not in selling mode.



“What I want to avoid is for our community to be an ‘Ask Interval’ section,” she said. “It’s not for me to sell my products. People trust other people and their responses.”



And that builds membership affinity, Freed said. “The more you can connect to the customer and allow the customer to see value in what you’ve provided, it strengthens the relationship all around.”



Freed, Kinney and Nusbaum all stressed that the success of these platforms lies in members sharing with members in an environment that is friendly to all types of user feedback, good and bad.



“Think of yourself as a gardener,” Nusbaum said. “You want things to be organic. You have to water [the garden], make sure you have the right tools, the space in the garden.”



“If we can adapt as quickly as the consumer are adapting, it makes the relationship that much better,” Kinney said. “They’ll continue to rely on us.”

Bob Cotton OBE, who was Chief Executive of the British Hospitality Association until July this year, has been confirmed as guest speaker at the Resort Development Organisation’s RDO1 conference, this year´s main industry event taking place at the Don Carlos Resort & Spa in Marbella (Spain) on 4-6 October.

“Bob Cotton has been active for nearly 40 years in the hospitality sector, and an outstanding ambassador for the UK hospitality profession. His work at the British Hospitality Association has shown his commitment to giving the industry a voice, and we are honoured and delighted that Bob has agreed to speak at RDO1,” said Robin Mills, Chairman of the Conference Working Group and Communications Council at RDO.

The British Hospitality Association is the national trade association of the hospitality and catering and leisure industry, with over 40,000 member establishments. Bob Cotton was its Chief Executive since January 2000.

In addition to new guest speakers, more business sessions have been confirmed with topics including how to ensure success and money well spent on technology and avoid common pitfalls in the evaluation process, how to leave your ‘corporate’ attitude at the door and how to make the most of the social media world.

Robin Mills added: “With a new format, engaging business sessions and great value delegate rates, RDO1 is set to be a must attend event and, with just under two more months to go, we have encouraging delegate registrations representing a wide section of companies from the shared leisure and fractional industries.”

Spanish police have shut down another dodgy ­timeshare resale company.

Many timeshare weeks are now worthless, thanks to rising maintenance charges, but there's no shortage of brokers who claim they can sell them - for a fee.

Inmobiliaria El Solucion, operating on Spain's Costa del Sol, was raided last month and 21-year-old Briton Jade Brooks was arrested.

The police also want to speak to a Malcolm Kennedy, 36, about his role. He was arrested four years ago by detectives ­investigating a multi-million pound timeshare fraud.