EUROC timeshare owners association launched
The European Resort Owners’ Coalition (EUROC), a new organisation representing the interests of timeshare owners in Europe, has been formally established and is actively recruiting members.
EUROC has been registered in the UK as a company limited by guarantee and will be an “owners association run by owners for owners” according to Paul Gardner Bougaard, chief executive of European trade body the Resort Development Organisation (RDO).
At a meeting of timeshare owners’ committees in Birmingham, delegates supported proposals put forward for the budget, funding and structure for the new European owners’ representative body, and gave their unanimous approval for its launch on 1 March 2019.
EUROC’s creation follows the closure of TATOC in 2017, which left owners in the UK and mainland Europe without any form of representation and with little protection against the activities of fraudulent or deceptive operators.
The new body aims to develop relationships with Europe-wide government departments, consumer organisations, enforcement bodies and the media, ensuring that the voice of the timeshare ownership community is heard and owners’ interests are formally represented and acted upon.
EUROC’s day-to-day functions will be administered by RDO, and a management agreement is already in place so that its operations are handled in the most economical way possible.
In addition, the EUROC Board, which is made up of seven owners’ committee representatives and one representative respectively from ARDA-ROC and RDO, is in the process of recruiting a Member Relations Manager who will be responsible for bringing owners’ committees into membership. He or she will be the primary point of contact for owners’ committees, working to ensure their needs are met and that a forum to air, share and resolve issues of concern is created for the membership.
RDO and American Resort Owners’ Coalition ARDA-ROC are funding EUROC over the course of 2019 to help set it up, but for 2020 it is expected to be close to self-funding through its own membership fees.
Enquiries about EUROC membership should be directed to Paul Gardner Bougaard or Sue McNicol until the Member Relations Manager is in place.
