Bank your holidays

      For those who like to plan ahead, vacation ownership deals are now up for grabs in Vietnam, writes Son Tran.
Sea Links Golf & Country Club in Phan Thiet has become one of the country’s first resorts to offer vacation ownership. You can purchase a vacation ownership contract for $12,000-$15,000 for a term of 20 years.
That entitles the owner to one week’s stay every year at the Sea Links Golf Resort in a villa complex, which looks out onto Mui Ne bay and an international-standard 18-hole golf course.
Le Minh Tri, the director of SAPro, an investment consultant company, said unlike a hotel room or rental condominium, which requires a payment for each use and often escalates in cost every year, vacationers can make a one-time purchase to lock in today’s price for the duration of their ownership. Vacation ownership is also much cheaper than buying a holiday home.
In one luxury complex in Danang beach condominiums are priced at $200,000 and villas cost $500,000. According to Tri vacation ownership particularly suits families as it offers flexibility and cost saving. Each owner can bring up to six people to stay for a week in a Sea Links villa, which covers a spacious area of 300 square metres.
The owner can also sell, sub-rent or hand over the ownership to another party, if he or she does not want to use it. Another selling point is that Sea Links is affiliated with RCI, a worldwide leader in vacation exchange with around four million members and more than 4,000 resorts in the world.
The owners of Sea Links vacation ownership will be eligible to stay in any of the RCI’s member vacation resorts for one week a year without paying room charges. “Vacation exchange will allow the Sea Links vacation owners to save time and costs as they do not have to spend time looking for destinations and booking tours.
They will have plentiful options to stay in many countries without any room charges,” said Tri. Vacation ownership is growing trend in the world with many of the world’s famous hotel chains such as Hilton, Ritz-Carlton and Marriott running vacation clubs.