Fractional Life, a leading luxury fractional ownership brand, recently held a summit focusing on shared ownership which attracted around 75 delegates at the Yas Hotel in Abu Dhabi.

The first Shared Ownership Fractional Summit Middle East discussed the potential of shared ownership products in the Mena region, and encompassed real estate, yachts, timeshare and supercars.

Conference attendees were told by Piers Brown, Fractional Life founder, that the Middle East is an exciting market for shared ownership, and that the success of the event provided a firm foundation for the sector's expansion in the region.

“We are delighted with the reaction to our first event in the Middle East, and the feedback we have had from delegates and sponsors alike confirms our belief that the conference and the shared ownership sector both have a bright future in the Mena region,” said Brown.

The B2B Shared Ownership Fractional Summit conference was devised to attract the brightest and most dynamic minds in the shared and fractional ownership industry to help define the ‘new rules’ and future opportunities within an ever changing market landscape.

Shared Ownership and Fractionals encompasses fractional real estate, co-owned assets such as fractional jets, cars and yachts, co-ownership of hotel rooms, timeshare/vacation ownership, religious timeshare and private residence clubs.

Mike Balfour OBE, a leading UK-based entrepreneur, opened the conference, giving a history of his career founding and building up Fitness First – the world's largest chain of health clubs – before he became an advocate of the fractional ownership concept.

Balfour described fractional ownership as a way for consumers “to get an awful lot more for an awful lot less” and said he had plans to launch further fractional projects as the concept can be successfully applied to “any asset which is not frequently used”.

Delegates were given a comprehensive introduction to the concept of fractional real estate during the Fractional 101 presentation by Philip Bacon of HVS, and Preben Vestdam of Valhalla Associates presented two case studies of projects in the region.

Maurizio Bisicky of Marriott Vacation Club described the Middle East as a resilient region and a wealthy market, adding that Marriott Vacation Club has improved its profits by a bigger margin the Middle East more than in any other region.

He said it is a far less price sensitive market than Europe, and that two of the keys to success are the right quality product and high levels of customer care.

Other conference sessions looked at branding, region-appropriate search engine optimisation and legal structures.

Sheikh Mubarak Al Suwaiket, chairman of the Al Suwaiket Trading and Contracting Company, told delegates of the benefits of fractional yacht ownership and the potential it has for growth in the Mena region.

“There are more than 2,000 berths under construction in the UAE,” he said, “and there are already more than 15 marinas. There are many promising trends which make this the right time to establish yacht ownership.”

Other topics of discussion included timeshare, which already has an established presence in the UAE. Claude Attala of consultants Northcourse Advisory Services revealed some research statistics which show that Dubai, Sharm El Sheikh, Makkah and Cairo are the four most popular destinations for Mena travellers.

The timeshare sector, which was represented by local brands such as Arabian Falcon Holidays and international players such as Marriott Vacation Club and RCI, has endured a tough couple of years, in common with many industries, but is on course for steady future growth, according to panellists.

Al Mohannad Sharafuddin of Arabian Falcon Holidays said that during tough economic times, people would not give up taking holidays even if they had to get rid of other investments such as stocks and shares. – TradeArabia News Service