A model which promises well for the immediate future
of multiproprieties "Made in Italy"
Even if time-shares have been proven over
time and as a result show no limits in their expansion,
in Italy, this sector has been slowed down from
the start. In part, this has been caused by the
improvisations of the sector's operators, with
frequent episodes of bad management and bankrupt
companies that have reached the newspaper headlines
over the last decade.
A phenomenon which has nothing to do with the
right of "a vacation for life" that
one imagines to obtain buying a timeshare property.
In the middle of this panorama, all but rosy in
colour, and that without doubt is an obstacle
to the taking off of the "timeshare - made
in Italy", it should be remembered that even
in other countries the timeshare phenomenon has
achieved success and satisfaction for the operators
and for consumers alike. There however exist also
examples that justify a certain optimism for the
growth, also in Italy, of this specific form of
use of a property, and of which the advantages
for the consumer can not be considered of little
importance.
The story of this sunny Sappada residence,
Borgo al Sole, in this case, has had its
start following an ugly ending, that of the company
Olivieri S.p.A. (a leading company in the timeshare
sector), that had in its holding among others
the tourist complex "Calarossa" in Sardinia
and the "Residenza Olivieri" in Madonna
di Campiglio, with which its bankruptcy, declared
on the 2nd of October, 1997, found unprepared
the 8,000 buyers of the shares of the timeshares
located throughout the Peninsula. The presence
of competing privileged creditors created an improbable
situation of recovering the monies paid: a situation
sadly noted in the real estate sector.
For Borgo al Sole however
the situation went another direction due to the
work, seriousness and courage of a nucleus of
original property owners. This had permitted that
on 24 May, 1999, after a very trying period,
Borgo al Sole became reacquired by its
original and legitimate owners, and wrenched away
from speculation and the inevitable decline.
The interest in re-obtaining
the ownership of the property, which had finished
in the hands of the Civil Tribunal of Genoa, had
already been secured through a letter sent to
all of the 1,860 buyers of Borgo al Sole,
and was concretely realised in June, 1998, with
the constitution of a new company Borgo al
Sole S.p.A.; a company created to be able
to dialogue in an official manner with the bankruptcy
procedure's curators and with the creditors, and
having as its statutory objective being the re-acquisition
of the real estate complex.
A bet that lasted two years
and filled with moments and situations that did
not always have easy solutions. A story like that
of Borgo al Sole anything but ordinary, but in
its extraordinary nature demonstrates the serious
intent and the imprenditorial capacity which have
been and remain fundamental elements today.
Borgo al Sole reopens its
doors on the next 20th of December [2000] to the
over 1,000 timeshare holders that have participated
in the operation of re-acquisition, well wishing
its new management at the same time as the festivities
of the Millennium's end; this time however the wishes
for the future are for an "Italian" timeshare
that's in-line with the rest of Europe and the World.
