I guess I will jump in on this one also. I will be disagreeing in some respects with my fishing buddies, Capt Jeff, Chris and Pedro on this topic. It appears to me that my good friends are making a very convincing argument based on their personal preferences when it come to timeshare. I also would put myself in the camp believing it hard to justify purchasing one if one does the math and only views it from that perspective. I have friends that own timeshares and are very happy with them. They are well run by developers that have kept their promises.

I would offer the comparison of me trying to convince my late wife what a good bargain it was that I went hunting and fishing and brought home all of that good food. My attempt at convincing her the money I spent on boats, motors, hunting equipment etc. was a good investment did not fly. I was unable to make that a convincing argument in her mind. Some things are not always done or justified as to the benefits gained solely on doing the math.

I think it is unfair to lump all timeshare buyers in the category of being taken advantage of and not knowing what they were doing. Granted, timeshare sales people can be very aggressive and use hard sell tactics. But I have to believe that the majority of those who buy see the advantages of time share ownership and accept that. There are advantages to some people. The real key to me on this is that time share has gotten a bad reputation because of some unscrupulous people in the business. This has been evident on AC. But, I still have to believe that when the concept is presented honestly and is regulated to prevent the unscrupulous from doing their ill, it can have advantages for some people. Unfortunately for right now, there is no regulation in Belize and the high pressure tactics and attempts to convince tourists to go to the sales presentation is having a negative impact on the island, IMO.

So there. How was that for straddling the fence on the issue? wink