A soon to be released study will again list the United States as the top international timeshare market, with Florida and the Carolinas placing at the top of destinations for the world's vacationers.

The study is being prepared by the American Resort Development Association and will be released in early June -- just as the vacation property buying season begins.

The ARDA study will name the top 10 global destinations as:

1. United States
2. Spain
3. Mexico
4. Italy
5. South Africa
6. France
7. Argentina
8. Portugal
9. Canada
10. Japan.

ARDA spokesman Chris Larsen said the market study is one of a series of surveys that will be released in early June showing that more timeshares than ever are being purchased, despite a lingering, somewhat shady reputation that plagues the industry, which Larsen says is undeserved.

"We have a 90 percent approval rating among people who actually own timeshares," Larsen said. He believes much of the bad rap comes from the way the industry promotes itself -- enticing families with such things as free hotel stays and golf outings in exchange for "just 90 minutes of your time."

"The problem is that most people don't wake up one morning and say, I think I'll go buy a timeshare," Larsen said. "As a result, the industry has to reach out to its potential customers, and what better way than invite people down to look at what you're selling?"

Another dig against the timeshare industry is the depreciating nature of the investment.

"People think when they buy a timeshare they are buying real estate, and it should go up," he said. "The investment usually goes down. It's more like buying a sailboat than a house."

The reason for the drop typically is that new construction is more attractive to timeshare buyers than older buildings. In fact, usually only in very exclusive areas -- where additional construction has been capped -- will the value of a timeshare actually increase.

Demographically, most timeshare owners appear to be well enough educated to take care of themselves.

The typical timeshare buyer is married, 49 to 50 years old, with a household income of $71,000 -- twice the national average. About 33 percent have graduated from college and another 31 percent have graduate degrees.

Costs can range anywhere from $5,000 to $50,000, with a national ballpark figure of $10,200 for a two-bedroom condo in the average resort. Some places in Aspen and Vail would be on the upper end, and the Carolinas on the lower side.

As with anything else, Larsen says there are some basic rules of the road to buying vacation properties, first among them being to go look at the property.

"There are some basic questions you need to ask yourself, like whether you want to be able to drive to your timeshare or fly there? How often do you think you'll use it? Is it associated with a good company (RCI Interval Inc. for instance) that have systems for trading weeks in other resorts?"

Larsen said being a one-week owner among 51 other owners typically is better than being the owner of something like a beach house with two or three other couples.

"If you're one of 51, the standards are going to be pretty high. You have a professional management company that is doing the painting and making sure the TV is new and works. That's what you pay the fees for," Larsen said.

"If you own a house, you have to decide with two or three other owners when you're going to paint the house and whether you're going to do it yourself. Is that how you want to spend your vacation?"

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Published: May 21, 1999

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