Leslie McCann is marketing director for Club La Costa World Resorts & Hotels (CLC World), one of Europe’s leading developers. Sharetime magazine asked how Leslie views today's industry and how it will change in the coming years.

"Over its existence, traditional timeshare has delivered terrific lifestyle choices and continues to be loved by huge numbers of families worldwide.

Its value lies in members enjoying great holidays each year and that’s still the case, yet there are clear signs that consumer needs and desires are shifting.

After all, timeshare’s been known in Europe since the 1970s. Like fashions we’ve changed but as an industry we never lose respect for the original model: the fulfilment of holiday dreams and quality resorts.

Shifting consumer demands are reflected in the trend seen among our own members to buy a resort-based holiday home outright.

More than 1,000 have part exchanged their timeshare rights in favour of a potential buy-to-let property – some have even chosen to run both! This confidence in what CLC World delivers and brand loyalty is immensely gratifying, though not everyone is able to purchase a property this way.

Our industry also has to attract a new generation of consumers in order to progress and survive. I’ve just seen the findings of a recent timeshare survey of 30-40 year olds, carried out at Bournemouth University.

These identify short-term products and ‘try-before-you buy’ as more appealing, along with expectations of the latest integrated technology at luxury resorts and live interaction via social media networks.

This is something into which we are making great inroads at CLC World and it’s tremendously exciting for marketers, like me, who are conducting campaigns on-line to an increasingly sophisticated computer-literate customer."

You can read more from Leslie in the full article in the current issue of Sharetime magazine: Sharetime magazine