A great reminder on why we all need a firm commitment to spend at lease one week a year of quality time with those we cherish most.

1. BY GERI BAIN
ON MY
“THE PRICE OF UNUSED
VACATION TIME: $224 BILLION”
—WALL STREET JOURNAL BLOG
“LIFE IN A
NO-VACATION NATION”
—BBC.COM,
NOV. 7, 2014
“AMERICANS TAKING
FEWEST VACATION DAYS
IN FOUR DECADES”
—CNN, OCT. 23, 2014
36 — Developments arda.org

2. Y MIND
“W
ho Killed Summer
Vacation?” asks Time
magazine in its June 1,
2015, cover story.
“he U.S. is the only advanced economy
that does not require employers to ofer paid
holidays or time of,” says the article’s author
Jack Dickey, noting that the average U.S.
worker takes almost a week less vacation
per year today than they did between 1976
to 2000—16 days versus 20.3. But worse, he
says, “most workers don’t even take of the
time they are entitled to.”
An astounding 429 million vacation days
went unused in the United States in 2013—
roughly 3.2 days per worker—according to
an Oxford Economics study commissioned
by the U.S. Travel Association’s Project: Time
Of (P:TO). hat, despite a growing body of
research putting credible igures behind the
intuitive thinking that vacations can play
a role in improving everything from our
health to our sex lives and productivity at
work. P:TO (which has invested $4.5 million
in research over the past three years),
TakeBackYourTime.org (an advocacy group)
and hospitality leaders like Diamond Resorts
International are among those working
to shit the mindset. ARDA has a key seat
at the table as well, as President & CEO
Howard Nusbaum serves on U.S. Travel’s
Board of Directors & Executive Committee,
as well as the P:TO Advisory Group (among
other roles). P:TO is a hard-hitting initiative,
bringing together a collection of voices to
move the needle and truly efect change.
“If there isn’t a culture of support and
encouragement, fear will keep folks from
taking time away from the oice,” says
John de Graaf, founder and president of
Take Back Your Time. “We’ve become a
society that admires the hardest working,
who also are sleep-deprived, unhealthy,
and unhappy.”
However, there’s hope on the horizon.
America’s nose-to-the-grindstone culture
actually appears to be counter-productive.
Interestingly, three nations who have the
most mandated PTO—Luxembourg (35
paid days of a year), Norway (29), and
Switzerland (28)—all inished ahead of the
United States in GDP per capita in 2013,
Dickey’s article points out.
QUANTIFYING THE BENEFITS OF VACATIONS
Health.
he most quantitative evidence that
vacations are good for our health derives
from the 2010 Framingham Heart Study, in
which scientists followed more than 12,000
men and women for nine years.
“AMERICA'S
DISAPPEARING
VACATION DAYS”
—FORBES,
OCT. 22, 2014
“WHO KILLED
SUMMER VACATION?”
—TIME MAGAZINE COVER
STORY, JUNE 1, 2015
Is Timeshare
an Antidote
to America’s
Deprivation
Problem?
August 2015 Developments — 37

3. Diamond Resorts also sponsored a Nielson
study that compared those who vacation at
least once a year to those who said they never
vacation. At least 76% of vacationers are
“satisied and happy with their lives overall”
(vs. 43% of non-vacationers); 72% say they
are “energized and full of life all the time,”
compared to 34% of non-vacationers.
Personal relationships.
According to an Edge Research study,
couples who travel together enjoy happier
relationships, a better sex life, and lower
divorce rates. Family travel brings similar
bonding beneits. hree in every four (76%)
parents believe that family vacations are
worth the time and money because they
“give my child experiences that they will
remember years down the road.”
Productivity.
Vacations are good for employers too,
according to a study done by the Society
for Human Resource Management for
P:TO. Human resources professionals
surveyed agree that employees who take
most or all of their vacation are more
likely to experience higher levels of job
satisfaction (78%), be more productive
(77%), and take fewer sick days (58%).
hese employees are also considered better
team players (43%).
Senior business leaders recognize this.
Fully 90% say that employees return
from vacation time with improved focus
and creativity and a sense of well-being,
cutting down on turnover and sick days,
according to Overwhelmed America, a
2014 study by GfK for Project: Time Of.
Plus, 81% say that encouraging employees
to use their time of makes them more
willing to put in long hours when needed.
Senior business leaders (82%) and
employees (68%) alike also ind beneit
in the cross-training that occurs when
workers are encouraged to coordinate with
colleagues to cover their responsibilities.
Economic growth.
he potential beneits to the U.S. economy
of workers using their time of are equally
impressive—something lawmakers may
eventually embrace. he U.S. private
sector has $224 billion in unused (non-
forfeitable) vacation liability on its books.
On the other hand, if each worker used
just one more vacation day, the impact on
the economy is estimated at an additional
$73 billion per year.
“Vacation time isn’t only used for travel,”
noted Gary Oster, executive vice president
of member services and managing director,
P:TO. “Home improvement projects,
meeting friends over lunch, going ishing
for a day, volunteering, or going to a
sporting event…an additional day of
would be like getting an extra Saturday for
retailers, and we’re working to get these
sectors involved in the movement as well.”
CHANGING THE CONVERSATION
So, why is there still a reluctance among
Americans to embrace vacations?
According to P:TO’s “Overwhelmed
America” study, the top issues are
“mountain of work” (40%), nobody else can
do the work (35%), can’t aford it (33%), and
taking time gets harder the higher up you
go (33%). In addition, 28% say they want to
show dedication to their company and job,
and 22% don’t want others to view them as
replaceable. In fact, 16% would be afraid of
losing their jobs. And for 20%, having to
respond to emails and work matters makes
taking time of a challenge.
“Our goal is to reverse the trend of the
last 15 years and change the badge of
honor for not using time of into a ‘that’s
the stupidest thing I ever heard’ button,”
says Oster. “We are deploying our limited
budget on research and using that to
inspire companies to initiate campaigns.
MasterCard, Expedia, and Princess Cruises
are among those whose messaging strongly
promotes the value of vacations. Now
imagine hundreds of organizations from
retail to restaurants to home improvement
and sporting also reinforcing that message.”
For example, to help inspire a movement to
get Americans to take their well-earned time-
of, last year MasterCard launched “One More
Day”—an engaging, oten humorous travel-
focused campaign that invites consumers to
make a social pledge to take #OneMoreDay of
vacation to travel, to spend time with family
and friends, and to experience new things. As
part of the campaign, MasterCard rolled out a
series of television, print, and digital ads that
also highlight cardholder travel beneits and
services. he campaign has generated over
Psychology Today reviewed some of the
most compelling facts from this heart
study, as referenced by Leigh Vinocur, MD:
“Without vacations, men have 30% higher
chance of having a heart attack and women
have 50% higher chance of having a heart
attack” (May 20, 2013, Psychology Today).
Dr. Vinocur has been tapped by Diamond
Resorts to help raise awareness of the
beneits of vacations and urge Americans to
“Stay Vacationed,” Diamond Resort’s tagline.
“he excitement we feel during the
planning stages of a vacation and the
anticipation…can be just as important
mentally and physically as the actual
vacation,” says Dr. Vinocur. “he
enjoyment of sharing photos, stories, and
experiences…the memories…all are part of
the cycle.”
38 — Developments arda.org

4. 100 million clicks, mentions, shares, likes, and
video completions.
Aiming to amp up the discussion,
Diamond Resorts recently partnered with
Take Back Your Time to sponsor a National
Vacation Commitment Summit in New
York City on June 15, bringing together
targeted thought-leaders. he company
also commissioned a Nielsen study which
found, among other things, that more than
75% of respondents who vacation regularly
reported feeling happier; 71% reported
more satisfaction at work and 80% reported
increased romance in their relationship,
which translates into better sex. he
company is also “walking the talk” internally.
“We want to ensure our team members
and shareholders reap the beneits as well,”
says Nizar Jabara, Diamond Resorts’ senior
vice president, global human resources.
“Recognizing that our team members
don’t always use their PTO, the company is
working to overcome the stumbling blocks.
It’s a cultural change that requires practical
instances that show that ‘yes, you can take
vacations, and no, you won’t be penalized
for it.’”
Patrick Dufy, appointed to a newly-
created post, Global Director of Vacations,
is charged with promoting the beneits of
being “vacationed” to Diamond Resorts
team members. Dufy says that part of his
job is addressing the negatives.
“People who can’t aford to travel can
apply to our Stay VacationedTM
Getaway
program. For those afraid of work piling up,
we look at ways to educate around planning
ahead and delegating more. he answers
are not always easy and there may be costs
associated with some of the solutions, but we
shouldn’t let our society not take vacations
and lose the positives that vacations bring.”
THE TIMESHARE EFFECT
Timeshare owners tend to buck the
vacation deprivation trend. According to
a recent ARDA International Foundation
(AIF) study conducted by HSR Associates,
in North America, 83% of owners
vacationed in the past year (compared to
only 50% of non-owners).
A separate omnibus study conducted by
Leger the Research Intelligence Group for
the AIF, revealed that one in three timeshare
owners took four or more vacations in the
last three years (compared to only 18% of
non-owners). Plus, timeshare owners and
those likely to consider a timeshare express
more happiness across all phases of the
vacation lifecycle than those who don’t or
wouldn’t consider owning one. he Leger
study also examined the romantic aspects of
Stat Sites
• www.projecttimeoff.com • www.vacationbetter.org • www.arda.org
Inspirational Commercials
• MasterCard One More Day campaign: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yB_6BHSjNVk
• Princess Cruises—Making Memories: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1jUaW_0LPU
• Expedia—Find Your Perspective: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFgh69uujkk
• Idaho—18 Summers: http://18summers.us/
• Home Away—A Whole Vacation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7gDxQEmM9A
vacations. While only 31% of non-owners
reported having more sex with their
partners while on vacation—primarily due
to lack of privacy (60%)—more than 70% of
timeshare owners did.
“When people vacation as family, they
oten stay together in one hotel room, and
that makes it pretty diicult to celebrate the
intimate, romantic part of a relationship,”
notes ARDA’s Nusbaum. “Our owners don’t
face this challenge, as one of the beneits
of timeshare is the space it ofers, with
separate bedrooms and plenty of private
areas. Timeshare owners also love that they
can create memories with their families/
children—the best of both worlds!
“I’m not sure ‘Who Killed the Summer
Vacation,’ but I’m pretty sure I know who
didn’t: timeshare owners. Here’s why: a
timeshare owner’s vacation is pre-paid.
hey then make this a high priority, which,
in turn, is a great prescription for mental
health, productivity, and overall happiness.”
Imagine the efect on vacation
ownership and other leisure-impacted
industries if all Americans caught up to
their timeshare-owning and overseas peers
vis-à-vis vacations.
“Remember how red wine sales soared
ater studies showed it was good for our
health?” asks Randy A. Garield, co-chair
of Project: Time Of Advisory Group
and retired executive at he Walt Disney
Company. “I think vacations could be
something similar. Maybe someday, doctors
will prescribe vacations and insurance
companies will provide incentives, just
like for not smoking or maintaining good
itness. If we can accomplish this (change
in how we view vacations), we will create a
legacy that will beneit individuals, industry,
families, and the American economy.”
Geri Bain is a freelance writer who has worked
for many years with the timeshare industry
and is a frequent contributor to Developments
magazine. Her e-mail is geribain@aol.com.
August 2015 Developments — 39