The Resort Development Organisation (RDO) is a once-powerful timeshare lobby group that says it is “committed to high standards and integrity”. A closer look suggests a controversial track record and uncomfortable associations.
Who are the RDO?
The Resort Development Organisation (RDO) operates as a lobby and protection group for European timeshare-related businesses, with members contributing funds to promote shared interests. On its website, the RDO describes itself as follows: ‘RDO members represent the best in European vacation ownership and are committed to high service standards and integrity. They are bound by a code of conduct and an independent arbitration scheme, providing levels of protection beyond those required by law.’
However, the team at European Consumer Claims (ECC), alongside various consumer organisations we speak with, say they have struggled to find a clear example of the RDO speaking up for a timeshare owner who has been mis-sold, given an illegal contract, or needs help exiting an unfair agreement.
The “arbitration” the RDO references also appears, in practice, to operate largely in defence of well-funded timeshare operators, with comparatively little visible support for consumers.
Rogues gallery of members
The claims of being ‘committed to high service standards and integrity’ and ‘bound by a code of conduct’ — as well as the assertion of ‘providing levels of protection beyond those required by law’ — are central to the RDO’s public positioning.
Yet the Resort Development Organisation’s membership directory, past and present, includes companies widely criticised in timeshare consumer-breach reporting.
Club la Costa World has been accused of ignoring consumer law and issuing illegal contracts for decades, and is reported to owe hundreds of millions of pounds in damages to claimants. CLC World, under Roy Peires, is also described as resisting payment of court-ordered compensation through complex legal manoeuvres, corporate structures and extended court delays.
Other major timeshare businesses cited as RDO members that have faced allegations of some or all of these behaviours include Anfi, MVCI Europe, Hilton and Diamond. MVCI also stated that its contracts ‘did not meet requirements prescribed by Spanish timeshare laws enacted in 1998’ in its 2022 annual report.
Silverpoint in Tenerife, another long-standing RDO member resort, has been reported in the media worldwide in connection with large-scale, systematic consumer fraud allegations.
Seasons Holidays also receives a (dis)honourable mention for multiple alleged abuses of customers. Its history is currently being reported by us, Which? Magazine, KwikChex and the Timeshare Consumer Association.
Tainted leadership
The RDO has had senior figures with controversial backgrounds.
Mark Cushway, CEO of the now-disgraced Silverpoint operation referenced above, served for years as an RDO board member. Media reports allege Silverpoint committed hundreds of millions of pounds worth of fraud during his ownership. Mr Cushway is described as being outside the reach of European justice, with rumours placing him in locations including Dubai, the Caribbean or Thailand.
Another board member, Calvin Lucock, was head of sales, project director and later chairman at Anfi Del Mar in Gran Canaria. Under Lucock’s leadership, Anfi is alleged to have operated illegally for decades, ignoring consumer law and taking an estimated over one billion pounds from prospects either approached on the streets of nearby resort towns or via an illicit arrangement with Thomas Cook, in which guests were recommended to attend Anfi sales presentations in return for a kickback.
Eugene Miskelly is currently listed as the RDO’s ‘Legislative Council Chairman’, responsible for providing ‘guidance to members on new laws and outlining compliance requirements.’ Yet Miskelly was also employed as ‘General Counsel’ by CLC World, widely described as the centre of one of the biggest legal scandals in European timeshare. It is arguable that holding these roles concurrently makes it difficult to view him as an impartial voice on consumer protection.
Other board members include Lee Dowling, managing director of Marriott Asia Pacific, Europe & Middle East. MVCI in Europe has also been involved in court actions over allegedly illegal contracts.
In short, the RDO board appears to be made up exclusively of men who have generated substantial profits from selling timeshare memberships in alleged contravention of consumer law for around 25 years.
Failure to acknowledge 25 years of criminality
The RDO states it is ‘important to consumers’ because (quoted from the RDO website):
- Our members are committed to high service standards and sign up to a code of conduct
- We investigate fraudulent activity and work with the authorities to have companies closed down
- We offer a free complaint handling service to customers of our members
- We work with governments to bring in legislation that’s fair to both the industry and consumers
And yet, for the past 25 years, every timeshare sales operation that is an RDO member has been reported as writing illegal contracts. This is said to have happened with the full knowledge of the RDO, whose board members are largely drawn from major European timeshare businesses. How does that align with the stated ‘commitment to high service standards’ and ‘code of conduct’?
The referenced ‘free complaint service’ appears to be an online form which, according to ECC, rarely receives a response (and readers are invited to test this for themselves).
There also seems to be little evidence of meaningful “investigation” into fraudulent timeshare firms, or of active work with authorities to close down bad actors. In particular, there appears to be no RDO coverage of the industrial-scale illegal behaviour alleged across the European timeshare sector.
Instead, the RDO’s efforts appear focused on defending resorts accused of taking hundreds of millions of pounds illegally from consumers. Rather than helping bring those actors to justice, the RDO’s stated “investigations” are portrayed by critics as being aimed at undermining the reputation of organisations and firms pursuing redress for timeshare victims.
Membership plummeting
A couple of years ago, the Resort Development Organisation reportedly claimed 47 members. The RDO membership directory has since fallen to 30 members, with claims that more departures may follow. At present, only 12 members are listed as resorts/developers.
Following a wave of court judgments against major timeshare companies across Europe, timeshare sales in Spain have slowed to a near standstill.
A well-placed source told ECC that, at the time of writing, only three full-time staff at the RDO were handling day-to-day operations, and that remaining staff were working reduced hours.
Another sign of reduced finances is the RDO’s reported end of its relationship with consumer organisation KwikChex and the websites it managed.
KwikChex, whose work was recognised with a Trading Standards Hero award, previously operated two websites funded by the RDO and presented as resources for fairness in timeshare-related markets.
Those websites have since been suspended. Public statements attributed to KwikChex-related sources refer to a lack of funding from the RDO and, notably, to ‘notable disagreements between the RDO and KwikChex over owner safeguarding’.
Expert's warning
Greg Wilson, CEO of ECC, argues that the RDO is now largely ineffective. “The RDO’s raison d’être is to lobby for timeshare companies’ interests. Those companies’ revenue has died down to practically zero, so there will be very little budget to spare for an entity like the RDO.
“The organisation has been, in our opinion, morally bankrupt for years.
“Now that the timeshare companies are no longer making significant money there will be less funds available for the RDO. They may well be on the way to being financially bankrupt also.”
Wilson predicts increasingly aggressive tactics as the RDO attempts to prove its value to an industry under growing pressure.
“The RDO has no place in the modern, post-timeshare landscape,” says Wilson. “Like a wounded or dying animal, we expect them to lash out in desperation. If they stay true to form it will probably be against the consumer organisations who assist timeshare victims, or claims firms pursuing those same victims’ cases through the courts.
“It’s classic, narcissistic deflection, but by proxy. If the RDO can persuade their timeshare paymasters they can still defend them, they (the RDO) might be funded for a bit longer. Unfortunately, there is very little timeshare left to defend — and no credible moral high ground from which to do it.
“It’s self-evident that wealthy timeshare bosses and their lobbyists have never been the good guys here, and that organisations fighting for victims’ rights are not the villains. Too many people have their own timeshare horror stories — or know someone who does — to accept this RDO narrative.”
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