Timeshare owners and industry working group reports on progress

April 7, 2011 - PRLog -- Following the third meeting of the Industry Working Group at the TATOC Conference, held in Warrington on 11th to 13th March, under the Chairmanship of Harry Taylor CEO TATOC, the Group agreed that it had achieved its initial target of agreeing a marketing and brand awareness strategy, which had started in 2011 and would be escalated in 2012. This strategy also involved the setting up of a timeshare owners' testimonial site hosted by TATOC and this is now up and running successfully.

The Group recognised that the key area where it needed to start to make progress this year was in the development of exit strategies for timeshare owners who, for various reasons can no longer use their entitlement, where such options do not currently exist.

Accordingly, the Group agreed to set up a panel of experts from across the industry to look at this issue, take evidence from interested parties and come up with recommendations. It was envisaged that research into the problems thrown up by this issue would be an important element in providing recommendations and a lead-time of some 18 months for the panel to report was not unreasonable.

Commenting on the decision, Mr. Taylor said “I am pleased with the progress the Group has made these last 12 months and the decision to focus more attention on exit strategies. In the meantime, TATOC will continue to work with individual developers on this issue and developments will be fed into the work of the panel. This is a great opportunity to make progress on a difficult issue and one that will not be wasted.”

Note: The Industry Working Group currently consists of timeshare owners as represented by TATOC, who initiated the setting up of the Group, major developers, the exchange and re-sale companies plus representatives from the industry's trade body, RDO.

The Timeshare Association (Timeshare Owners and Committees), known as TATOC, was formed in 1989 and is the only elected consumer association representing the interests of timeshare owners in Europe.  Member resorts are located across Europe giving TATOC access to over 275,000 timeshare-owning families.

The mission of TATOC is to safeguard and enhance the timeshare holiday experience for existing and prospective users and to be the voice of owners. In 2010, TATOC focused not only on increasing the membership base but also raising the profile of the Association, establishing TATOC as the recognized voice of the timeshare consumer and an informed point of contact. The Association is now a regular contributor to the consumer press and works closely with the UK’s Trading Standards offices, the police and Which?, the consumer association.

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TATOC, the Timeshare Association, is a non-profit limited company which exists to safeguard and enhance the timeshare holiday experience for existing and prospective users and to be the acknowledged voice of owners.