A recent Reuters news article reports that hotel occupancy in the USA is down in some top holiday spots – not for lack of visitors, but because more people are choosing to invest in permanent holiday accommodation like property and timeshares in their favourite destinations.

According to Peter Yesawich, chief executive of travel advertising agency Yatters, it's easy to see why: 'The pattern goes like this: visit destination, fall in love, buy the real estate.'

The shift is so significant that the big hotel chains are jumping on the timeshare trend, expanding their vacation ownership accommodation to capitalise on the boom. 'These hotel guests are natural timeshare buyers,' commented Scott Berman, head of PriceWaterhouseCoopers' hospitality and leisure consulting practice.

Sales of timeshare property alone rose to $10 billion in 2006, up 16 per cent from 2005, according to ARDA (the timeshare trade group American Resort Developers Association). Today, over 4.4 million people own timeshare in the States.

A similar trend is emerging in Europe. Sales of holiday homes and timeshare approach record levels this year, as timeshare products are gaining popularity on this side of the pond. Value for money, generous accommodation space, self-catering facilities and a host of on-site leisure amenities are among the reasons why more families are opting for timeshare.

As thousands of people return from holiday having found their dream place in the sun, the number of Britons buying second homes and timeshare property abroad is set to soar this autumn, fuelled by an unusually wet British summer this year. New research just out from Moneycorp, the UK's leading foreign exchange specialist, reveals that the number of people buying abroad rises by as much as 26 per cent in the autumn months.

European resort developers Club La Costa Resorts & Hotels recently reported a record summer season for their timeshare division, with occupancy rates at their Spanish resorts outperforming average hotel occupancy on the Costa del Sol. And their new Club La Costa Yacht Club, about to complete its first season in Mallorca, has been an unprecedented success.

Club La Costa Chairman Roy Peires commented, 'The Yacht Club has been exceptionally popular with our members, I'm absolutely delighted. We've just announced our new winter sailing season in the Red Sea and will be back in Palma again next year. With ‘lifestyle' holidays becoming more and more popular, our philosophy remains clear and simple: Club La Costa is dedicated to providing wonderful holiday experiences for our members.'

While Europe's top three timeshare destinations continue to be mainland Spain, the Canary Islands and France, Turkey and Morocco are two new rising stars on the tourist map. Americans on the other hand (when they're not holidaying in Hawaii, Florida or California) love Britain. A quarter of all Americans come to our shores for a change of scenery; those put off by the British weather head for Italy.