From: KippReport
“Emaar makes play for Dubai’s $1bn timeshare bonanza
Emaar is to enter Dubai’s fledgling timeshare market. Similar offers in the company’s Morocco, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, India, Turkey, Egypt and Indonesia projects to follow.
May 20, 2008
‘Timeshare projects are projected to generate nearly four times returns compared to traditional real estate, buy-to-use-and-let and fractional ownership.’ This is the telling sentence from the explanatory blurb in Emaar’s press release on its plans for timeshare in Dubai. With the Dubai Government developing a legal framework for fractional ownership, the time is right Emaar to front up its plans this lucrative new sector.
It will manage its timeshare division out of its Hospitality Group subsidiary, offering serviced residences and custom-designed resorts in Dubai. There are plans to develop similar schemes on Emaar developments in Morocco, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, India, Turkey, Egypt and Indonesia.
According to estimates from Group RCI, the world’s largest vacation exchange and rental business, the Middle East market for vacation exchange products will reach $1bn annually by 2010. Mohamed Ali Alabbar, chairman, Emaar Properties PJSC, says: “The timeshare market in Dubai is poised for exponential growth with booming inbound tourists driving the demand for spacious accommodation that hotels cannot fully meet.”
A recent survey by NorthCourse Research Firm says Dubai, followed by Sharm El Sheikh and Makkah, is the most preferred timeshare location in the region. Golf, beach and city access are listed as three of the main drivers of timeshare attractiveness - all of which Dubai offers.
“This promising market…also brings in the benefits of guaranteed room revenues and assured occupancy post-opening to resorts that we are planning exclusively for timeshare business,” says Marc Dardenne, CEO of Emaar Hospitality Group. He says Europe had 1.3 million timeshare owners as of 2006.
Group RCI’s managing director for the Middle East, Nick Turner, speaking to Emirates Business recently, estimates timeshare could account for 10-15 per cent of the inbound tourism market. With Dubai looking to attract 15 million visitors by 2015, Emaar’s figures appear to stack up.
Post a Comment