Not all timeshare touts live up to the bad reputation they have earned over the years and the situation in Bugibba and Sliema seemed to be civil and controlled yesterday morning.

The Times spent all morning roaming the two promenades in Bugibba and Sliema - hot spots for outside promotional contacts (OPCs) - to determine if they had heeded Tourism Minister Francis Zammit Dimech's warning "to clean up their act or else get off the road".

There were four OPCs plying their wares along The Ferries in Sliema yesterday morning and despite being stopped the tourists were not badgered once they expressed their disinterest in timeshare.

A British couple, Ryan and Jean Rice, had already been stopped twice in the space of an hour but they shrugged off the interruption as part of the game.

"There are some who don't take no for an answer but overall we're used to them and we just walk off. They have to earn a living," they said.

Another couple, who prefer not to be named, said they had been harassed in the past and though the situation had improved somewhat there was still the occasional rude tout who would persist and pester them.

"It's mostly foreign OPCs who are rude and pushy," they said.

OPCs actually agree that the attitude of a few was ruining the reputation of all those in the job and one man, who has been selling timeshare in Malta for the past 19 years, insists that the situation had to be controlled.

"I believe there should be five OPCs selling the same resort, instead of the present eight, to avoid accosting the same tourists in a short span of time," he said.

The man, who would only comment as long as his identity was not revealed, also pointed out that the number of tourists had dwindled so it was more likely that tourists got stopped more often.

When asked why they tended to never take no for an answer, he explained that OPCs were mostly trained to drop it at the second "no".

"It's human instinct to instantly say no instantly when someone stops you in the street, even when they wouldn't have explained their cause - so you could be selling timeshare or collecting money for charity and they automatically say no. We stop at the second no," he said.

He also pointed out that tourists tended to confuse the people promoting boat trips with those selling timeshare, which could be another reason why tourists complained of being constantly stopped.

"Another situation that bothers us is that there are young foreigners who come to Malta to sell timeshare on a three-month stint and are aggressive. They have nothing to lose because they just hop off to another country whenever they want. Some of them are unemployable in the first place.

"The majority of OPCs try not to annoy people. Anyway, when we do, it backfires because tourists complain and we get the flak from the resort or the government. I think it makes sense to have manners," he added.

The issue of foreign OPCs being more aggressive was confirmed by the Malta Tourism Authority's enforcement directorate director Frank Farrugia in an earlier interview.

The number of licensed OPCs, roaming the streets selling timeshare for the 10 to 12 local resorts, stands at 77. Timeshare is not all bad - it guarantees repeat business and the timeshare association estimates that this industry generates 100,000 repeat guests a year. The situation in the main square in Bugibba was also civilised in the early afternoon. There were four OPCs operating in the square and whenever they stopped tourists their liaison never lasted longer than a minute and each party went their separate ways.

Two OPCs got lucky and the tourists who expressed interest in buying timeshare accompanied them to another place.

Sean Jennings, from Northern Ireland, said he had been stopped once yesterday morning but he always pretended not to speak English, which did the trick and he could continue walking in peace.

Carol Fasulo, who is on holiday from the UK, said she had not been bothered by OPCs and overall they were "pretty good and took no for an answer".

Not everybody is so lucky. Last week David and Margaret Speed from Norfolk, UK, wrote a letter to The Times to say that timeshare touts will deter them from visiting Malta again.