Millennials Vacations & Timeshare

Mom & Dad, late twenties, two kids….so Disney World is a logical vacation destination. Well, it was. The 30 somethings and younger crowd often see a vacation in a completely different light. So pay attention. The interval ownership, timeshare and fractional folks are coming around slowly but they will get there.

Zip lining, hiking, biking or sitting in a coffee shop at the beach with your smart phone can be a complete vacation for these folks. Does not mean timeshare is out. In fact, these guys timeshare everything from cars via Uber, bikes via most urban areas “share a bike program”, sofas via Air BnB to scooters, lawn mowers via renting from Home Depot etc. No, they get it when it comes to sharing stuff. Don’t forget that Gen Xers say that on average they will spend over $4,000 a year on “vacationing”. Now this might be made up of two night day trips to hike a mountain or see a concert or sky dive somewhere but they are spending money.

Also and importantly, they are getting married much later, if at all, having fewer kids and have less structure overall. So buying an old fashioned, brick and mortar condo overlooking a golf course or marina might be a hard sell for these folks. And buying a bunch of points, well that is so 90s ish. And you don’t have an App that shows my unit on live web cam…well that seems weird.

Its not a perfect call and the fractional business seems poised for more great things but those that figure out how to compete for the GEN X crowd will have cool and flexible Club memberships that update Apps daily and will have a constant string of new activities to try and will have 2 night deals at many locations with drive to options outnumbering fly in destinations. The Covid-19 hoax will accelerate this. They will have a lot of technology stuff around the resorts and will have programs for singles. That’s where we are headed. Recent stops in San Diego, Austin, Nashville and Ft. Lauderdale re-affirmed this trend.

There will always be a market for the high end consumer but the mid-market consumer base is growing. Dos Mundos Developments, , with a 25 year history of resort development and management says, “We are seeing resorts with gaming centers, interactive services including ordering show tickets, shuttle services and beach cabana reservations. It is really amazing to watch these young adults move quickly from activity to activity. No more 18 holes of golf or a pro-longed tennis match or a day of boating…rather, they would prefer a quick Pitch N Put on an eclectic, 3 whole course then an auto-scored electronic ping pong match with someone 3000 miles away, a quick hour on a jet ski and then zip lining….all in one day”

Chris Bounds maintains that “while the tail is wagging, the dog is still in charge.” People are going to travel, PERIOD. The ancient Romans had coastal homes in Pompeii. The 18th Century Londoners had Grand Tours and on the US Western Frontier, a day long picnic was a vacation. Things change but people are going to travel…its in their DNA. So the challenge is to keep up with the trends.

For more no-nonsense resort stuff, contact Chris Bounds directly.