A Profile of Time-Sharing On the Gold Coast of Australia

A survey of time-share interval owners whose units are located on the Gold Coast (n = 514) and in the remainder of Australia (n = 1,457) revealed distinctive characteristics for the former group. Specifically, Gold Coast owners are older and less likely to possess expen sive units but are more likely to own more than one interval, to use their own units rather than participate in an exchange, and to take a longer time-share vacation that includes fewer children. Gold Coast owners also spend considerably more during their time-share vacations and express high levels of satisfaction overall and with local activities. This ex tremely positive profile provides contrary evidence to the contention that mature resort destinations such as the Gold Coast tend to display elevated levels of consumer dissatisfac tion and product deterioration. It may therefore be rational for tourism managers to facili tate time-share as a strategy for avoiding the negative consequences of resort maturity.