Correspondence: Monica Lynn Carpenter, Rosen College of Hospitality Management University of Central Florida Orlando FL 32819, USA. Tel: +1 407 903 8178; Fax: +1 407 903 8105; E-mail: mlcarpen@mail.ucf.edu

¹is a doctoral student in the Rosen College of Hospitality Management's Hospitality Education programme. Monica's field of specialisation is in the area of vacation ownership and strategic management of hospitality enterprises.

²previously was the graduate programme director of the Rosen College's Graduate Degree programmes at the University of Central Florida. Dr Upchurch has over 25 years of industry experience in the lodging industry, and his research interests centre on timeshare resort management, organisational culture, ethics and consumer behaviour.

Received 1 February 2008; Revised 1 February 2008; Published online 12 March 2008.

Abstract

This study serves as baseline research for the industry to follow in terms of analysing historical trends so as to expand the knowledge base surrounding the vacation ownership industry through a content analysis of the American Resort Development Association's Developments magazine from the years 2002 to 2006. Further, this study classifies the articles into eight management functions in a proposed model based on the Chon et al.'s study. Further, based on the studies of Sheldon and Jogaratnam et al., the study will determine the intensely contributing authors to Developments magazine. The study also examines the range and scope of management functions based on the proposed model that is focused upon in the articles from Developments magazine during the years 2002–2006 as well as the intended audience of the articles.