Timeshare trade group estimates $5.3B impact on isle economy

Timeshare property sales in Hawaii have exceeded $1 billion annually in recent years, and a new report tries to quantify how much employment and spending is tied to this segment of the tourism industry.

A Washington, D.C.-based trade association and its local affiliate representing the timeshare industry issued the report Wednesday, saying Hawaii timeshare operators last year provided about 10,000 jobs, spent $171 million on their properties, and paid $194 million in state and county taxes.

The report also said Hawaii timeshare visitors last year spent $1.3 billion outside their timeshare resorts while on vacation — mainly on airfare but also on dining, clothing, entertainment, rental cars, gas, groceries and other things.

Among the roughly 10,000 industry jobs, 8,115 were in resort operations, 1,836 were in sales and marketing, and 52 were corporate positions, the report said.

Accounting firm EY produced the report for timeshare trade group ARDA International Foundation and its Hawaii affiliate.

ARDA’s report claims that the total economic impact from Hawaii’s timeshare industry last year was $5.3 billion and 31,727 jobs, but that includes spending and jobs loosely related to spending by timeshare developers and owners. Possible examples of so-called indirect and induced spending and jobs could be fishermen selling fish to a supermarket or a caterer supplying an airline. Not all industry-related spending goes into Hawaii’s economy.

As for direct industry contributions, the report said this amounted to $3.2 billion last year, including $694 million in timeshare maintenance fees, $589 million in timeshare rental revenue, $378 million in consumer spending at timeshare properties and $350 million spent on sales and marketing.

The report also said timeshare operators spent $112 million building new properties and $57 million on renovations last year.

Not all the timeshare owner spending was by tourists. ARDA’s report estimated that 4,124 Hawaii households owned a timeshare in the state.

The report didn’t tally the number of timeshare visitors, but the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism said in its most recent annual visitor research report that about 808,000 visitors to Hawaii in 2015 spent part of their trip at a timeshare. Of that total, about 626,000 stayed exclusively at timeshares.

Mitchell Imanaka, a local attorney and chairman of ARDA-Hawaii, said there are 95 timeshare properties containing about 15,000 units statewide, and that the industry continues to grow.

“The timeshare industry is an important component of Hawaii’s tourism industry,” he said in a statement.

Imanaka noted in an interview that Hilton Hawaiian Village added a new timeshare tower called the Grand Islander to its Waikiki resort earlier this year, and he expects continued new timeshare development projects, including conversions of traditional hotel rooms.

Local hotel industry consultant Keith Vieira of KV & Associates Hospitality Consulting said developers like timeshares because they offer a quicker return on their investment compared with new hotels by selling what are typically one-week periods of annual use. Additionally, timeshare operators can rent out unoccupied units like a hotel room to increase income while timeshare unit owners pay for maintenance and property upgrades.

Vieira also said timeshare visitors often spend more while on vacation because they don’t have a hotel bill. ARDA’s report said the average timeshare visitor in Hawaii last year spent $1,197 during their stay.

According to prior ARDA reports, timeshare properties represented 8 percent of Hawaii visitor accommodations in 2003 and grew to 10 percent in 2008. Imanaka said the share last year was 13 percent.

In 2015, DBEDT said there were 10,680 timeshares representing 13.8 percent of Hawaii lodging units.

DBEDT’s report said most visitors flying to Hawaii in 2015 stayed in hotels (62 percent), followed by condominiums (18 percent). Timeshares were the place to stay for 9 percent of visitors, which was about the same as homes of friends or relatives.