"There is something in the works but I would rather not talk about that now," Bryan Lewis, Blue Tree's loan services manager, tells GlobeSt.com in a telephone interview. "Keep your eyes open, though."

Lewis says that despite industry speculation, Blue Tree continues to market its timeshare units and has no immediate plans to stop. "It's been slow, just as everybody else in this industry has been experienced since Sept. 11," Lewis says. "But we're still in business."

If the 16-acre Blue Tree Resort is sold, it would mark the first fallout of a high-profile resort to change hands in Orlando since the 9-11 tragedy. Two national brand hotels are also considering filing for bankruptcy protection in Orlando but GlobeSt.com couldn't confirm those plans.

Most of Aoki's none-core businesses, such as timeshare companies, will be liquidated, according to published reports by New York-based Bloomberg News and the Timeshare Beat, a weekly industry newsletter.

The Asahi Bank Ltd., headed by Tatsuro Itoh, is Aoki's largest creditor. Aoki's assets, liabilities and number of secured and non-secured creditors were not listed in the Bloomberg report. Aoki should be able to complete its restructuring and liquidation of non-core businesses in the first two quarters of 2002, according to Asahi Bank officials quoted in the Bloomberg report.

Aoki was among 17,936 Japanese companies filing for bankruptcy through November, 2.4% higher than in the same period last year, according to Teikoku Data Bank Ltd., a Tokyo credit research firm.