Abstract
M.A. (Geography)
The timeshare industry is one of the least researched segments of tourism accommodation or lodging. In the international scholarship the existing writings are mostly focussed on marketing, consumer behaviour and management issues. Within existing writings on timeshare most material relates to timeshare developments and the industry in either North America or Western Europe, the two leading regions for timeshare in the world. Outside of these areas only a limited amount of work has been done on timeshare. An important gap relates to the evolution and development of timeshare in particular countries and of the role of timeshare as part of tourism development. This research contributes to the limited body of literature and knowledge concerning the evolution, organisation and challenges of the timeshare industry in South Africa. The study contributes to international scholarship on the timeshare industry as one of the first detailed investigations which has been conducted in an important timeshare destination in the global South. Three core themes run through this study. First, the research analyses the evolution of the timeshare industry in South Africa from its inception in the late 1970s to the present-day (2012) and analyses its critical challenges and issues that have shaped and re-shaped its development. Second, the research maps and interprets the evolving geography of the timeshare industry in South Africa and situates the current position of the timeshare industry within the African and global context. Finally, the research seeks to understand also the changing position and importance of timeshare as part of a changing South African tourism economy.