Timeshare sellers warned to clean up their act

Timeshare sellers are being warned by the Malta Tourism Authority's enforcement directorate to clean up their act or face action.

The directorate is threatening to restrict the number of sellers, formally known as outside promotional contacts (OPCs), unless their conduct improves.

The number of licensed OPCs roaming the streets selling timeshare for the 10-12 local resorts stands at 77 and the competition has become so aggressive that tourists have reported being harassed.

Directorate director Frank Farrugia described the situation in Bugibba and along the Sliema promenade as the "killing fields", saying the situation had to be brought under control before summer.

"I have to make one thing clear. Timeshare is not a negative situation and I feel it is one of the best things that happened to Malta because it guarantees repeat business. The timeshare association estimates that this industry generates 100,000 repeat guests a year," he said.

"However, it is plagued with difficulties and our enforcement officers have witnessed situations where the same couple are stopped six to seven times by different OPCs in a span of just 15 minutes," Mr Farrugia said.

Since the summer months the directorate has had to intervene 268 times and last year alone it received 50 complaints from foreigners about the timeshare sellers.

Mr Farrugia said that while many may think that 50 complaints in a year was not that bad it was "just the tip of an enormous iceberg".

"There are many people who get stopped and harassed over and over again who never come forward to complain. Instead they go back to their country and foul-mouth Malta," he said.

Mr Farrugia said the situation had got out of hand in the past year especially with the influx of foreign OPCs who were far more aggressive and had no respect for the island's national image.

"The tourists are full of praise for the Maltese OPCs because they can take 'no' for an answer but they describe the foreign ones as aggressive pests. The majority of OPCs are foreigners," he pointed out.

The directorate is appealing for more help from the Employment and Training Corporation because it suspects that some foreign OPCs are bypassing the employment system.

"In the first three months of this year we have already received 25 complaints - 50 per cent of the number we had last year. This is a good indicator of what we can expect this summer."

The directorate recently met the 10 marketing companies employing these OPCs to discuss the problem, seen as tarnishing Malta's image as a safe haven.

"We want the companies to self-regulate because they are shooting themselves in the foot with the sheer number of OPCs out there. They have promised to come up with a proposal on self-regulation," he said.

"However, if nothing is presented and they don't get in line, then we would have to resort to enacting a law to cut the number of OPCs on the streets," he added.

Mr Farrugia believes there are two solutions to the problem. The first is self-regulation and minimising the number of OPCs on the street, coupled with a code of ethics.

"The second draconian solution is to completely eliminate any promotion on the streets and only allow OPCs to operate from a desk within the resort. However, the chance of achieving this is very low so we intend focusing on the first option," he said.

Mr Farrugia's final word of advice to tourists was that if they wished to buy timeshare it was a good idea but "beware of scratch card sellers".

These were hounding tourists by luring them into believing they had won a prize, which had to be collected from a particular resort. Once they got there they would have to endure a whole lecture on timeshare.

"We are looking into the matter together with the gaming authority, which plans to investigate the legality of this scheme," he said.

"We are working hard to resolve the situation and at the moment we are harassing the harassers. But this is not the way to do it and we hope we can reach an agreeable solution in the very near future."