July 31, 2010: DEAD SKUNK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD AWARD: Convicted timeshare fraudster Gary Leigh was killed around 9:00am July 24 when he was hit by a car in Marbella, Spain. Leigh, who conned thousands of people out of their fortunes, died on the spot of severe cardiac arrest while cycling on the A-7 in Marbella. In an ironic twist, Leigh managed to involuntarily create one last mess for vacationers: The accident caused a massive traffic jam with many day-trippers stuck in traffic until late in the afternoon when the highway was finally cleared. Read More…

PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY: July 30, 2010 — Time has a unique way of slipping by. Barely 60 years ago travelers were hearing about a new form of commercial transportation that was being introduced and in the blink of the eye the ‘Jet’ age was upon us all.

Today, there are more than a billion passenger trips made each year and it has been reported by several of the major airline manufacturers that not only is this trend likely to continue, it could triple over the next 15-20 years. [Read More...]

PUBLISHED EVERY MONDAY, just for the fun of it, with a random picture every week. The first contribution for our new “Off Topic” category is for those of us mature enough to relate to it…
1978: Long hair
2010: Longing for hair
1978: KEG
2010: EKG
1978: Acid rock
2010: Acid reflux
1978: Moving [...]

July 24, 2010: DEAD SKUNK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD AWARD: Timeshare resale fraud. Does it never end? Apparently not, if recent headlines from all over the country are any indication. This has been a problem for years, but with the current economic conditions impelling a swelling (nice alliteration, yeah?) of the ranks of timeshare owners who want/need to sell, the skunks have come out in full force to stink the place up. Read More…

©2010 an ‘Inside The Gate’ Exclusive
July 23, 2010 — As the once thriving global timeshare industry continues to recover from the devastation and near ruin caused, in part, by the worst financial calamity to sweep across the United States (and the world) since the ‘Great Depression’, it may be a good time to take a look back. There is much more to this industry’s history than meets the eye or is widely acknowledged.

From extremely humble beginnings in the late 1960’s, a small number of real estate developers, who were having difficulties selling their full ownership…

July 17, 2010: CHEEZ IT! IT’S THE COPS! Florida’s timeshare fuzz (aka investigators with the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services) made a surprise raid on an Ormond Beach timeshare resale call center on July 14, carrying off boxes of records and computers. The raid at Buy Owner Resort Marketing was apparently spurred by complaints filed with the State Attorney General’s Office from all over the country… Read More…

-by Scoop
July 16, 2010 — If there is, then can you tell us if a person or business can lawfully make, in writing, the following statement while inferring that the U.S. Federal Government is either directly and/or indirectly involved with, supports or endorses that announcement and ‘their’ private enterprise?
“Let us be crystal clear… Breaktimesharecontract.com [...]

July 10, 2010: WHAT’S ON THE MENU THIS WEEK? CONSOLIDATED RESORTS BANKRUPTCY UPDATE: Making this short and sweet, the Consolidated Resorts bankruptcy is winding down and Artie Spector’s ASNY Company has been confirmed as the stalking horse bidder for the assets. Officially: “The Trustee and The ASNY Company, LLC (read Arthur Spector), a Delaware limited liability company have entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement… Read More…

PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY: July 9, 2010 — There was a catch phrase that gained overnight popularity in the 1960’s when a speaking ‘futuristic’ android was the sidekick to the stranded Robinson family of astronauts on a planet far away in producer Irwin Allen’s hit TV science fiction series “Lost In Space”. [Read More...]

-by Bharat Book Bureau
In 2008, UK outbound tourism expenditure (excluding expenditure on travel fares to and from the UK) totalled £36.52bn, a 4.3% increase compared with 2007. Expenditure on domestic tourism (excluding day trips) stood at £21.11bn, which represented a 0.6% reduction on 2007. Combined, the total UK resident tourism market rose by 2.5% [...]