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For Millennial timeshare owners Meghan and Crosby Brackins, the value of vacation ownership became clearest on a trip they might not have taken otherwise.
“Having the ability to travel halfway across the world with our baby, parents, and sister, to Hawaii was a dream come true,” said Meghan, an owner with Marriott Vacation Club. “Allowing my parents, who are typically homebodies, the chance to travel and make memories with their grandchild was priceless for us. We couldn’t have made that trip happen without vacation ownership.”
That story helps explain why younger travelers are upending one of the longest-running assumptions about vacation ownership. For years, the product was often discussed through the lens of older generations and legacy perceptions attached to the timeshare sales process. But the next generation of owners is telling a different story.
According to ARDA’s latest Owners Report, Millennials and Gen Z now account for 58% of all owners and 76% of recent purchases. Younger owners are also more likely than older generations to view the product as a good value before and after purchasing, report higher satisfaction, recommend ownership to others, and express interest in upgrading.
The result is a shift that may matter beyond a single product category. Younger travelers are not simply inheriting vacation ownership from their parents. They are actively pursuing it, reframing the product around flexibility, predictability, multigenerational travel, and protection from rising travel costs.
The Generation That Grew Up With Vacation Ownership
One reason younger owners may be less skeptical is that many of them already know the product. Their first impression is often not an abstract sales pitch. It is a real stay, in a real resort, with more room than a standard hotel room.
For Jason Gamel, president and CEO of the vacation ownership trade association ARDA, the shift starts with a simple generational difference: younger travelers already see vacations as essential.
“Thirty years ago, you needed to convince people that they wanted to go on vacation,” Gamel said. “The new generations, Millennials and Gen Z, want a vacation. That’s a very important point. Now, it’s just a matter of where and how.”
Instead of selling the idea of getting away, the industry is increasingly selling a way to make travel more consistent, spacious, and repeatable.
“They start understanding the value of having more space, with kitchens, multiple bedrooms and bathrooms, and resort-style amenities,” Gamel said. “By the time they’re making a decision about timeshare, they’re already educated about the product.”
For younger families, that additional space can determine whether a trip is practical at all. The Brackins said vacation ownership helped them move from traveling as a couple to traveling as new parents, with enough room to bring grandparents along for support.
“Marriott Vacation Club has grown with us,” they said. “We’ve gone from optimizing the studio and one-bedroom spaces to the two- and three-bedroom suites so that we can bring grandparents along to help with the baby as we travel and to make memories alongside us.”
For Daysy, a Millennial Hilton Grand Vacations owner, vacation ownership has become more relevant as her children grow up. “Family comes first, and work will always be there,” she said, describing membership as a way to make more room for shared time away.
Why Younger Owners See Value Differently
That emphasis on space and consistency is arriving at a moment when travel affordability is under pressure. Hotel rates have risen, family travel has become more expensive, and younger travelers are looking for ways to protect the trips they still want to prioritize.
The broader industry data suggests demand remains resilient. ARDA’s 2026 State of the Vacation Timeshare Industry report found that the U.S. timeshare industry generated $10.7 billion in sales volume in 2025. Occupancy averaged 79.9%, compared with 62.3% for U.S. hotels, according to CoStar data cited in the report. Rental revenues reached $3.3 billion, up 20% from 2022.
For owners, the value proposition is often personal. It is about knowing where they can go, what kind of unit they will get, and what quality level to expect.
“When we became young owners, we felt the benefit of being able to take our businesses to new regions without the hassle or unpredictable headaches of vacation rentals or standard hotels,” the Brackins said. “We didn’t need to worry about cleanliness, safety, or having enough space.”
Gamel said younger owners are also responding to the economics of the model, especially as lodging costs rise. He described vacation ownership as a potential hedge against inflation for owners who have paid off their purchase and are traveling largely on annual maintenance fees.
From Owners to Advocates
The generational shift is most evident in how willing younger owners are to recommend the product.
ARDA’s Gen Z owner satisfaction data suggests younger owners are not just satisfied, but vocal. Among Gen Z owners, 92% rate their overall ownership experience positively, 91% rate their primary home resort highly, and 93% praise the frontline service levels provided by their vacation club. Nearly all Gen Z owners, 94%, say they would confidently purchase their timeshare product again knowing what they know now.
That satisfaction is translating into recommendations. Four out of five Gen Z owners actively recommend timeshare ownership to friends, relatives, and colleagues, while Millennials report an even higher recommendation rate at 85%.
“If you look at that rate of eight in 10, almost nine in 10 saying they’d recommend it, that’s a pretty strong endorsement of the product,” Gamel said.
The Brackins’ response shows how that advocacy can emerge from practical use. They describe themselves as more impulsive travelers than older generations, comfortable using points strategically and looking for opportunities to turn availability into a trip.
“We love to ‘play the game’ of it all,” they said. “We love seeing how savvy we can be with our points, learning the ins and outs of the websites and booking hacks to optimize our time.”
What It Means for the Future of Vacation Ownership
For the vacation ownership industry, younger travelers represent more than a new buyer base. They point to a version of the product that feels increasingly aligned with modern travel behavior.
They value flexibility. They want more space for friends, family, and children. They are sensitive to rising costs, but still committed to travel. They are also willing to recommend products that deliver consistently.
For Daysy, the biggest surprise was how vacation ownership changed the cadence of travel for her family. Membership, she said, brought “the ease of planning a vacation” and encouraged her family to take at least three trips a year, creating a more consistent rhythm of time away together.
Gamel said the generational fit is partly rooted in the broader sharing economy. Younger travelers are used to shared cars, shared homes, and flexible access models. In that context, owning a portion of vacation time may feel less unfamiliar than it did to previous generations.
“There’s a real acceptance of the sharing economy,” Gamel said. “For younger travelers, the idea of owning a slice of a resort can feel like a natural extension of the shared access models they already use.”
Vacation ownership’s future will depend on how well the industry responds to these younger owners. They are bringing a clearer sense of what they want from travel: more control, more room, more flexibility, and a product that can grow with them over time.
For a category long shaped by older perceptions of timeshare, that creates a different opening. Younger owners are showing that the product can be more than a fixed week in a fixed place. It can be a way to make travel a recurring part of life.
For additional insights into owner attitudes, behaviors, and purchase trends, download ARDA’s 2026 Owners Report.
This sponsored content was created collaboratively by ARDA and Skift Studio.