Amela Smailbegovic, the Queen of the Timeshare Industry, Talks about the Benefits of Having a Vacation Ownership

Going on a luxury vacation and spending almost no money on accommodation seems like a dream come true. As Amela Smailbegovic points out, it is a dream that can easily turn into reality through a timeshare real estate.”Timeshare is a commitment to fractional ownership of a property such as vacation resorts, condominiums, apartments, and campgrounds,” she says. “It is the best option for people who love to vacation but like to stick to the same place. This way, instead of paying full price for your vacation each year, you pay a fraction of the cost to use the certain property for a fixed or floating number of weeks each year for a certain number of years.”Still, in the era of the sharing economy where Airbnb and similar companies offer almost the same benefits, it begs one crucial question – are timeshares even relevant?

Smailbegovic, who has been in the timeshare industry for over 15 years now and is one of the industry’s top producers (with over $40 million in annual sales), says that both timeshares and Airbnb (and the likes of it) have their pros and cons and appeal to a different type of people.”With Airbnb, you are just renting the place and have no ownership. On the other hand, with a timeshare, you own the time you are going to spend there – the time that you can resell or pass the ownership on to another person,” says Smailbegovic.It should also be noted that the timeshare industry is currently booming. According to a recent American Resort Development Association (ARDA) State of the Vacation Timeshare Industry: United States Study, the industry sales have been steadily increasing for the past decade – from $8.6 billion in 2015 to $10.5 billion in 2019.The pandemic rocked the boat a little (after all, which industry hasn’t been affected?), but timeshares quickly bounced back with a stunning 67% increase in sales from Q4 2020 to Q4 2021, as per ARDA’s 2021 Fourth Quarter Pulse Report.

As Amela Smailbegovic points out, the best thing about timeshares is that owners don’t have to worry about where they will go on a vacation or how much prices have skyrocketed because they have all of that sorted out beforehand.”Timeshares are for people who prefer quality over quantity, but with more owned timeshares, they can get both,” says Smailbegovic. Usually professionally managed, timeshare properties offer a wide range of resort-style services and conveniences. They typically offer more space and amenities than standard hotel rooms, making for a more pleasant and relaxing vacation without the hassle of venturing into the unknown.”They are for people who want to go on a three-month-long vacation and don’t want to worry about anything,” she adds. “Want to go to Europe on a Viking Cruise? Done! Want to stay at Positano each year for a month? Done and done! You own the time there, and nobody can interrupt your fantasy stay.”

Presented by: Luke Lintz