I refer to the letter by David A. Drew (February 18) in connection with timeshare harassment.
The Malta Tourism Authority regrets to note the negative impression which the alleged action of certain timeshare OPCs (outside promotional contacts) left on Mr Drew's recent Malta experience.
Recently-introduced regulations oblige all timeshare marketing companies to license their OPCs while each one of these representatives has to carry a tag which clearly identifies the individual concerned. Apart from a photo and the identity of the marketing company, this tag includes a visible number that can easily be memorised by the tourist.
The MTA consistently monitors the areas most frequented by timeshare sellers and regularly intercepts abusive operations during raids which are sometimes made in conjunction with the police. More than 200 such interventions were carried out last year. Legal action was also taken against a number of unlicensed OPCs.
Despite the above, irregular behaviour by timeshare representatives remains a persistent source of complaints by visitors. In this regard, the MTA will shortly be meeting with this sector's stakeholders in order to rectify this highly unsatisfactory state of affairs.