Timeshare - A Solution Or A Problem

Over the years we have all sat back and read numerous 'letters to the editor' written mainly by visitors from the UK, and who have come to Malta looking for a peaceful holiday but instead have experienced various incidents of harassment, been sworn at, or on occasion, even threatened with physical violence by some timeshare representatives.

The major and professional timeshare resort operators have found a different method of marketing and are selling their product very successfully, instead of the now familiar outside public contacts (OPCs) harassing our guests on every street corner. The timeshare touts, or again as they are better referred to by most visitors, lager louts, have, over the years, done untold damage to the tourism industry and they have got a lot to answer for.

The only people who are still holding back from addressing the problem of OPCs are some of the timeshare resort owners who are hiding behind these marketing firms run mainly by doubtful characters and thereby allowing this arrogance to carry on unabated.

In real life there should be no need for any new laws - does it need an 'act of Parliament' to be courteous to our visitors? If these resort owners/operators use the same standards of service in procuring timeshare sales as they offer in their resort/hotel's facilities, there will be no issue. They are the ones who are accepting double standards and are ultimately benefiting from these sales and it is they who should act more diligently and be held responsible.

The Government has recently proposed a new law under the Malta Travel & Tourism Services Act (Cap. 409) to regulate timeshare promotion, however this is Malta and things are done to appease half a dozen individuals, who have friends in high places.

I read through a draft copy of this bill and regret to note that if and when implemented all it will do is play for time and give more space to the timeshare owners - there is not one clause that will change the poor mentality of the OPCs, and they will carry on chasing visitors on our streets.

The predominant objection has recently appeared to be the MEPA permits for placing some booths in prominent tourism areas. The idea behind these booths is to restrict the OPCs to selling timeshare within a prescribed number of metres, and although this situation is not perfect, it is the lesser evil.

This would have stopped our visitors from being harassed on our streets and will again stop the harassment of those tourists who refuse to agree to play one of their silly scratch card games or whatever other incentive they offer.

This scratch card method, along with free bus time-tables, are used to get our visitors to accompany the representatives to one of the timeshare complexes to receive their "prize" but where, in reality, they are then treated to a few hours of 'hard sell technique' in the hope that they will buy a timeshare slot in their resort.

Again, all these sales techniques are currently carried out under licence by the Malta Tourism Authority. Some of these visitors are stopped by as many as six different sets of OPCs in a half-kilometre stretch, and that is when the clients generally lash out. Even if the OPCs' approach is polite, repeating the same "thank you but no thank you" message six times every few metres, it leaves the clients exasperated and, on many occasions, they understandably lose their temper.

The only solution is for the buck to stop with the resort owners/operators who must stop hiding behind marketing companies and be held responsible for the way in which their particular resort is marketed.

We cannot continue to allow these owners/operators to use the excuse that timeshare produces 10 per cent of the tourism market, as a reason to harass the other 90 per cent of tourists who are not associated or interested in timeshare.

Timeshare may well suit many people and certainly seems to be lucrative for the hotel owners/operators and it does bring many people back to Malta year after year.

So if the product is so good then why do the timeshare sales people not just say "we are selling timeshare in whatever resort, would you be interested in coming to have a look?" Some of the timeshare resort owners have succeeded. What are the remainder waiting for? If one has faith in one's product, then one should have no hesitation in promoting that product truthfully from the start. It would be very interesting to find out from the relevant authorities what tax contribution these OPCs are paying into our tax system.