Why do destination club forums die?

I've sat on the DestinationClubs.net domain for a bit, wondering if I should flesh it out.

Once DestinationClubForums.com was acquired by Ultimate Escapes and shut down, I thought hard about just filling the void and setting up DestinationClubs.net as a new forum. Unfortunately, having well-heeled visitors talking out loud about a volatile travel niche where non-disclosures are common makes a forum a legal liability. In short, I passed on the idea of turning the otherwise dorman domain into a forum.

I didn't need yet another reminder on the frailty of DC-based discussion boards, but got it over the weekend when UltimateMembers.org -- a once popular hub of exile for Ultimate Escape members after the club filed for bankruptcy last year -- went down.

I never knew the owner, but some quick snooping shows that the domain was registered on January 21, 2009. The two year term ran out over the weekend. It appears as if either the original owner forgot to renew the domain and someone snagged it or if the owner renewed the domain but forgot to renew the web-hosting account for the forum.

We'll see, but in reality the forum had pretty much run its course. There were only a couple of posts this month. Ultimate Escape members have come to face the cruel reality that their club is toast, and with it most of their six-figure deposits. The forum was important, at least from a historical perspective. It also would have come in handy as members begin to wonder what tax losses may be possible as a result of the nixed club. Legal options and lessons learned are matters worth exploring and preserving -- for UE members and future clubs that may teeter.

For now, TugBBS.com appears to be the closest to the community forum, though it's just a small group within the larger timeshare-based hub.

Can a destination clubs forum work? The largest club has its own forum for members being the member wall. Now that the remaining clubs are significantly smaller, the audience may not exist for a niche-specific forum. What do you think?