The travel industry can take a cue from time share owners who haven't been put off by world events.

People who travel to timeshare properties haven't contributed to the downturn in travel since terrorism has become a household word.

Time shares are considered an important segment of the growing second home market.

According to a recent American Resort Development Association (ARDA) report, 91 percent of time share owners will continue to travel over the coming year in spite of war time circumstances, while only three percent state that they will not travel at all.

A time share, also known as a vacation purchase, is typically a purchase of fully furnished accommodations (perhaps a condo, townhome, villa or other property) -- rather than a realty property purchase -- to be used for a period of time each year. Timeshares are sold for a percentage of the full cost of ownership and are not deeded as property ownerships. Financed by consumer loans of five to ten years, the purchase buys a forever-vacation at the purchase resort or exchange location or a vacation for a predetermined number of years. Owners share both the use and the costs of upkeep of their unit and the common grounds of the resort property.

The ARDA says there are 1,571 timeshare resorts in the U.S., up from 1,204 in 1997. January 1997, when 1,204 were identified. Consumers own more than 130,000 timeshares nationwide with Florida, California and South Carolina the leading states.

Before the recent travel-after-terrorism study, the ARDA said 86.8 percent of time share owners use their timeshare at the home resort or exchange them for travel elsewhere while 6 percent offer them for free to family and friends or for rent and 6.5 percent of timeshare weeks went unused with 0.7 percent unaccounted for.

ARDA's travel-after-terrorism survey also found:

Published: April 2, 2003

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Broderick Perkins parlayed a career in old-school journalism into a contemporary digital news service that really hits home. The award-winning consumer journalist, originally from Wilmington, DE, is founder, publisher and executive editor of the bootstrap DeadlineNews Group, a Silicon Valley-based editorial content and consulting service specializing in residential real estate, consumer news and related editorial consulting services. The DeadlineNews Group includes the website, DeadlineNews.com, offering real estate editorial content and consulting services, and its back shop, the Deadline Newsroom, an open house on news that really hits home. Perkins obtained his formal journalism education from University of Delaware and a journalism boot camp, the Institute of Journalism Education at the University of California-Berkeley. He went on to 20 years of service as a daily newspaper journalist at the Wilmington, DE News Journal and San Jose, CA Mercury News. Perkins covered housing on the San Jose Mercury News reporting team which earned a General News Reporting Pulitzer Prize in 1989 for coverage of the Loma Prieta earthquake. He has also produced real estate, consumer and small business content for the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, RealtyTimes.com, Nolo.com, Better Homes and Gardens, the National Association of Realtors, Homestore/Move and Intuit/Quicken among more than three dozen publications. In addition to managing the DeadlineNews Group, Perkins most recently served as chief editorial consultant for Nolo's Essential Guide To Buying Your First Home, Nolo, and writes real estate television scripts for RealtyTimes.com.