Of all the Scandinavian countries, the most active buyers of timeshares are the Finns.

Finland is indeed a unique country when it comes to timeshares.

The timeshare boom in Finland coincided with the economic boom of Finland as a whole and was not related to foreign visitors, as was the case in other countries.

Finnish resort developers, having studied the concept of club vacations, promoted it as domestic tourism and property ownership.

Finnish legislation is unlike any other: Each cottage at the resort is registered as a separate company, which is part of a consortium of companies (club). When you buy a timeshare, you acquire shares and become a shareholder of a separate company, and your rights are securely protected, just like the rights of a shareholder. Your membership fee is a contribution from shareholders to cover the company's expenses. Dividends are received in the form of a week's stay in apartments.

The resort group Holiday Club Finland Oy is the industry leader in timeshares, with high quality standards, covering all the most attractive regions of Finland, Sweden, and Norway, and even expanding to Spain and the Canaries. The company is very prominent. It successfully promoted corporate business at one time. This is when large organizations acquire several weeks of ownership to provide vacations for their employees.

Finnish timeshare business is characterized by such clarity and transparency that in 2010, the Finnish government bought the company Holiday Club Finland Oy as a highly profitable enterprise.

What could give an even higher rating of reliability and quality to the timeshare market than the participation of the state itself as an investor?

However, this event radically changed the strategy of Holiday Club Finland Oy. The project in St. Petersburg and several other countries was shut down because the Finnish government logically decided that it was better to attract neighbors to purchase property in Finland, thereby developing its regions, ensuring the influx of foreign funds, and enjoying taxes in its treasury, rather than boosting the economy of other states.

Thus, the Saimaa project near the Russian border developed, where one of the main developers became Holiday Club Finland Oy.

What about the resale market?

It is very weak and very Finnish. Finns primarily buy timeshares in Finland and also in the Canary Islands, at resorts traditionally cooperating with the Scandinavian market.

Residents of Scandinavia have a special taste. They prefer modern eclecticism. Resorts satisfying the tastes of the British, Spaniards, and Eastern Europeans are rarely to their liking.

Holiday Club Finland Oy and several Finnish resorts resell their timeshares through their own sales structures. However, it is possible to sell at a price of only 60% of the resort's rates. Your week will be added to the list of offers seen by all consultants, and if it is in demand, it will be sold fairly quickly. There is also an additional price list of the resort used for the exchange of others' timeshares. To get your offer on this list, you must be willing to give up your timeshare for only 40%.

Not much? We agree with you. But it is reliable and hassle-free and does not require advance payment of fees or advertising costs.

This is very beneficial for the resort, which keeps prices high.

Another way to resell a Finnish timeshare is to contact a real estate agency. It should be noted that in Finland, mostly small local agencies operate, offering real estate and, accordingly, timeshares "in the area." There are several such agencies in every small town, and you need to sign an exclusive contract with them.

In general, the chance that your potential buyer will visit this particular agency is more elusive than real. The exception is the sale of a timeshare at the Holiday Club Katinkulta, where in the town of Vuokatti you will have a chance to sell the timeshare of this club through a real estate agency due to the extreme popularity of the club and this tourist region.

What about those whose timeshares are not in Finland?

They turn to international agencies such as Travel & Leisure Group Ltd. (https://www.travelandleisuregroup.co.uk ) and Timeshare Online (https://www.timeshareonline.eu/index.php ), Confused About Timeshare Ltd., World Wide Timeshare Hypermarket, and others with a unified database across Europe and a multilingual call center or network of national branches, and most importantly, with a bright, attractive, and information-filled website.

Those who are dissatisfied with the low prices described above also turn there.

Travel & Leisure Group Ltd. has had a Scandinavian department since 2001, which at some point accounted for as much as 50% of all sales. Even though most Finns and Swedes are fluent in English, communicating in their native language is always easier.

In summary: The Finnish market is very narrow even for those with Finnish timeshares, and its prices are beneficial for buyers rather than sellers. If Finns themselves turn to English resale agencies, there is no need to create difficulties for yourself out of nowhere. Then you would have to translate the contract from Finnish to Russian in such a delicate situation. Well, you wouldn't sign a contract when not everything is necessarily in your favor.

For a long time, it didn't occur to marketing companies that Spanish timeshares might interest Spaniards. They sought buyers for Spanish resorts in England, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, and even Italy. Unexpectedly, 15-17 years ago, Spaniards became active timeshare buyers. They were invited to presentations, and Spanish sellers representing resorts emerged.

As a result, all resale companies opened offices on the Costa del Sol coast. But hopes for Spanish buyers in the resale market didn't materialize. Spaniards continued buying timeshares only at presentations.

On one hand, Spanish offices had many clients who visited rather than called. This was crucial because face-to-face conversations took twice or even three times longer than phone calls. Most were families who had just signed timeshare contracts at presentations and deposited money. They came to clarify and check if their purchase was too expensive. Even when offered better buying conditions significantly cheaper than at presentations, they needed to return to the club where they bought at presentations to cancel the contract and get their money back. There, they were convinced that buying from the resale market wouldn't give them additional benefits like contractually promised free weeks, flight vouchers, free 3-year RCI membership cards, plus the reassignment took a lot of time. Plus, all the extra worries and hassle, etc.

At some point, resorts learned to assert their rights to deal with customers in 80%-90% of cases. Many resale agencies closed within a year or two of struggling. Some large companies like Travel & Leisure Group Ltd. and World Wide Timeshare Hypermarket Ltd. continue to support these low-profit, less effective resale departments in Spain.

At the same time, in recent years, this niche in Spain has been filled by suspicious or blatantly fraudulent companies offering different resale conditions supposedly from Spanish companies on Spanish territory. Every year, a significant number of these companies are caught by Spanish law enforcement agencies, but after a while, new ones appear with slightly modified conditions for customers and a mandatory guarantee of quick and effective resale. The peak of attacks on Russian timeshare owners by Spanish fraudulent companies was from 2008 to 2016 when several major resorts couldn't protect access to their customer databases. As a result, club members, even those who had never been interested in selling, received letters and calls from Spain with very "chocolate" conditions. If you have been a victim of such scammers in the past, they may already be under investigation today. Please contact law enforcement for information or seek assistance from specialists (that's us).

Spaniards today mostly choose large international agencies such as Travel & Leisure Group Ltd. (https://www.travelandleisuregroup.co.uk ) and Timeshare Online (https://www.timeshareonline.eu/index.php ), Confused About Timeshare Ltd., World Wide Timeshare Hypermarket, etc., with a unified database across Europe and a language call center or network of national branches, and above all with a bright attractive and information-rich website.

In conclusion: We do not recommend wasting time contacting Spanish agencies because at best, you will end up as a customer of a regional branch of a large international company, complicating your relationship with the agency with the Spanish language. At worst, you may fall victim to scammers or one-day companies.

In the previous article about resale markets in different countries, we provided detailed insights into the market. As of today, according to specialists, British agencies are considered the most reliable and effective for selling European timeshares. Let's discuss why.

Let's start with historical background. The UK is the birthplace of timeshare in Europe. After its successful launch in America, timeshare sellers became interested in the old continent, particularly in the UK, which shares much with the US besides language. The first British resorts emerged one after another based on historic estates, aiming to attract both patriotic Britons and Americans fond of antiquity.

The concept of holiday property ownership required swift development of legislation regulating relationships between buyers and sellers, as well as between club members and resort founders and management companies.

While the emergence of timeshare resorts and the primary timeshare market progressed rapidly, the secondary timeshare market developed gradually, experiencing trial and error in various forms (from presentations to home visits by agents). Over the years, common rules of the secondary market have remained largely unchanged, as the most effective advertising and sales methods were established.

The activity of timeshare resale agencies in England is governed by the strictest timeshare legislation in Europe. Despite the controversial reputation of timeshare in the UK, with criticism of sales pressure and aggressive techniques during presentations, as well as historical bankruptcies and fraud before legislation was introduced, Britons continue to be the most active timeshare buyers.

This is partly due to the UK's financial policy supporting pensioners in buying second homes (including fractional ownership, a type of timeshare), and the climate encouraging Britons to holiday in Spain, Portugal, Malta, Cyprus, Morocco, etc., with budget airlines making these trips accessible. Additionally, beyond media horror stories, every Briton knows several families who own and enjoy timeshares, contributing to its normalization.

But most importantly, the UK boasts the most effective and stringent timeshare legislation today, protecting buyers' and club owners' interests and regulating companies' behavior in the market. Thus, acquiring a timeshare in the UK is the most reliable and secure option.

Experience and knowledge have accumulated in the country. Besides small companies that appear and are absorbed periodically, three major players operate in the market:

The most notable figure in the resale market is Travel & Leisure Group Ltd (https://www.travelandleisuregroup.co.uk), known to us due to our partnership since 1997. Travel & Leisure Group Ltd or Travel & Leisure Advisory Services (TALAS). Once upon a time, RCI and II allowed advertisements in their magazines, and Travel & Leisure Group Ltd featured in every issue. Therefore, older sellers and buyers tend to choose them. Travel & Leisure Group Ltd's methods may seem traditional, but they yield results. To this day, Travel & Leisure Group Ltd advertises in newspapers, both international and local editions. They also advertise extensively in the in-flight magazines of airlines like Ryanair and EasyJet, targeting individual tourists, often families, who search the internet for the best deals. Another interesting strategy is their stand at the largest London exhibition center with high traffic, offering attractive deals not only for purchasing but also renting apartment weeks. Travel & Leisure Group Ltd is also the official partner of prestigious European groups like Club La Costa, Marriott Vacation Club, Diamond Resort, etc. This endorsement by the clubs directs clients, not only sellers but also buyers interested in buying weeks in their own club, towards Travel & Leisure Group Ltd.

The second interesting participant in the secondary market is World Wide Timeshare Hypermarket Travel & Leisure Group Ltd. At one point, Hypermarket even rivaled Travel & Leisure, for example, sponsoring shows about timeshare on a tourist satellite channel. However, Hypermarket eventually lost its priority position and now ranks third among agencies. In reality, it has ceded its ground to young, enterprising competitors like Confused About Timeshare Ltd. It may be conditionally called young; the agency has been in business for over 15 years, and its founder has worked in timeshare for over 25 years. However, this agency pursues an ultra-modern advertising policy, utilizing all online advertising and social media opportunities. Consequently, their audience is significantly younger than Travel & Leisure's. These are families and travelers who independently book their vacations online and use search engines for any purpose.

In conclusion, if you want to reach the widest audience of buyers, in our opinion, the most advantageous approach would be to choose Travel & Leisure Group Ltd (https://www.travelandleisuregroup.co.uk ) and Timeshare Online (https://www.timeshareonline.eu/index.php ). These are the agencies we would like to draw your attention to because, based on our experience, other players in this market significantly lag behind in efficiency or prevalence.