Timeshare can add Dh14 bn
Timeshare industry can complement the tourism industry if fair legislations are brought in to protect the stakeholders, consumers and owners. It is a trend which can generate more revenues for the Dubai hospitality sector.
Arabian Falcon Holidays was formed in 1999, with five employees. Almost 18 years today, we have grown to become the region’s biggest and largest independent sales and marketing company that deals with the timeshare industry. My wife and I started this business with two or three other colleagues, who are still with us; today, we have over 100 employees.
The first ever timeshare project based in Dubai was in 2003. At first, we started with marketing projects outside the UAE, mainly Egypt, Tunisia and Lebanon. When the opportunity came to us to have a project here in Dubai, we were the first company to get the license and the approval to sell timeshare properties in the emirate, mainly in The Palm, Palm Jumeirah.
It was the Dubai Economic Development (DED) which handled all the licensing and legal requirements. We were dealing with Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA), DED and other entities until 2008 when the Dubai Land Department took over. We are not a cent per cent real estate company nor are we a cent per cent tour or travel agency.We are a mix of everything — a hotel, a furnished apartment as well as tourism and travel agency.
We should preferably be under the DTCM but because we own the properties here in Dubai, RERA has to be involved in regulating or working out the units of timeshare. Once the project goes into timeshare, the RERA system is blocked so you cannot resell it in a real estate because the rights of views of the particular units are now the rights of the people who own the timeshare.
We have drafted a set of guidelines utilising legal advice from the best lawyers in the world on the subject of timeshare since 2008. The laws are yet to be released. There are many players including leading hotel chains who are eagerly awaiting a fair law for the timeshare industry which will reap a good profit for the economy and protect all stakeholders, the owners, companies, and government, among others.
The core idea of timeshare is “family vacation” and we have our 16,000 members visiting the emirate every year. We are confident that the market will flourish as soon as the timeshare law comes into play, allowing us to release new marketing campaigns across the globe to increase tourism in Dubai. The hospitality segment in Dubai has been quite active with several companies announcing new hotels and com- mencing construction of their projects as Dubai gears up to host Expo 2020 and aims to attract 25 million visitors by then. Although local media reports have suggested that the groundbreaking timeshare law has been in the draft stage for some time now, no concrete news on its release date has been issued so far.
Shared vacation ownership through AFH generates direct turnover of between Dh350 million and Dh500 million, which expands to Dh1 billion when indirect and induced impacts are included.
The timeshare industry is expected to add Dh14 billion to Dubai’s economy by 2020. We believe that the timeshare market will also replicate the growth witnessed in the hospitality sector seeking to increase the inflow of international tourists since timeshare owners are guaranteed vacationers. The upcoming law will unlock the potentials of the industry participants to extend amazing Dubai deals that offer “value-for-money” to timeshare buyers from all across the world.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects Dubai’s economy to record a 3.7 per cent growth in 2016, up from 3.6 per cent in 2015, far above the Gulf Cooperation Council growth forecast of 1.8 percent for the current year. Dubai has made it to the top 25, according to the Travellers’ Choice Destinations 2016 list published by TripAdvisor.The emirate has likewise been named in the 2016’s “Six Hottest Destinations” by Air Canada’s in-flight magazine, terming shopping centres in Dubai as “legendary.”
Timeshare is also fast catching up among the millennials. The concept echoed loudly amongst younger people. In the US, the median age was 39 and half of them have children younger than 18 living at home. We also have seen the Generation X showing more interest in timeshare as their disposable income has increased and as they desire spending holidays in foreign countries.