The timeshare industry of South Africa: Analysis and contemporary challenges

Abstract

Notwithstanding a rise in accommodation research in local tourism scholarship little attention has been paid to the timeshare industry. In the international context, timeshare is a relatively recent leisure phenomenon and accommodation segment. Recent international research on destination resorts highlights the validity of “industry analysis/synopsis” and of periodic national industry overviews. Against this backdrop the article uses industry sources and key stakeholder interviews to examine the contemporary structure and challenges confronting South Africa’s timeshare industry. It is revealed since 2002 considerable industry readjustment and adaptation has occurred. Three core sets of challenges which confront the contemporary industry relate to service management and consumer dissatisfaction with the timeshare product; the issue of market retention and extension particularly to the emerging Black middle class; and, a trend towards the growing marginalization of the timeshare industry within the changing South African tourism economy as a whole.

Keywords: Recreational accommodation, Timeshare, South Africa, industry challenges.