Beyond cost efficiency and convenience, timeshares offer other benefits that make them a particularly attractive vacation option.

Paying a fixed price upfront and then enjoying years of family vacations at top resorts without having to settle a bill every time are certainly great perks of timeshare ownership.

Over time, the initial cost is more than justified by price inflation that makes vacations more expensive every year and by costs incurred by traditional travelers who rent hotel or resort rooms of comparable quality.

But vacation ownership also has another – less material and more sentimental – appeal that makes it worth considering.

As industry insider Larry Hayden writes on the Timeshare User's Group website, deeded timeshares can be bequeathed to children, grandchildren or other relatives to create a continuity and family tradition of vacationing in certain places.

Gifting a week at a luxurious timeshare resort is also a great way to sponsor a loved one's vacation, he says.

It has also been reported that some business owners use their timeshares to express appreciation for their employees' efforts, a gesture that is sure to bring appreciation and boost loyalty.

This makes timeshare so attractive that hospitality companies have been dynamically expanding into the market in recent years.

In 2009 alone, Disney Vacation Club is opening two new timeshare resorts and has a new project scheduled for completion by 2011.