Word: membership
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...Turkey, meanwhile, a different kind of skepticism is taking root. When Turkey began membership talks, 64% of Turks in one poll said they were in favor of joining the E.U. By this month that number had dropped to 32%. Nationalist parties critical of the government's pro-E.U. policies are gaining strength. Support for the country's two right-wing Euro-skeptic opposition parties has grown to 26% from about 17% four years ago. If they capture that much of the vote in next year's election, they could force a coalition with Erdogan's AK Party...
...going to be easy to sort this out. Erdogan's government has pushed through reforms to improve the rights of the Kurdish minority and strengthen civilian control of the military - measures that helped convince the E.U. to open membership talks in the first place. But he seems unwilling to back down on Cyprus. Erdogan has agreed to lift Turkey's restrictions on Greek Cypriot ships and planes only if the E.U. follows through on its promises to ease trade restrictions on the Turkish Cypriot?controlled part of the island...
There are some 20 destination clubs, with a total of 4,000 members--a number that is expected to grow tenfold in the next few years. Membership fees commonly run $150,000 to $500,000, with annual dues of $10,000 to $30,000 for 30 to 40 nights per year. Those are big numbers. But the clubs may still make sense for affluent empty nesters with the time and means to get away, especially as an alternative to buying a second home. Even with today's stiffer fees and dues, the cost of a club runs about...
Exclusive Resorts, by far the biggest club with 300 homes in 35 destinations, raised prices 10% this summer. A mid-level membership is now $325,000, with annual dues of $19,500. Ultimate Resort and Quintess have also hiked prices. Crescendo is not only raising prices but also cutting the number of nights you may stay at its properties...
...from $85,000 (in the early days) to $1.3 million (in more recent years) to join, could lose most of their deposit. The firm owned only 67 of the 200 properties it managed (the rest were leased) and did not have sufficient assets to cover the expense of refunding membership fees...