ADDRESS BY THE MINISTER FOR TOURISM

ADDRESS BY THE MINISTER FOR TOURISM THE HON. DR. MICHAEL REFALO AT THE FIFTH RCI TIMESHARE CONFERENCE HOTEL SAS RADISSON. TUESDAY 28^th MARCH 2000

 This March gathering of timeshare operators and experts, enhanced by the welcome presence of international representatives, major players and commentators, has become an established focal point in tourism's annual calendar of events.

It is an occasion when one takes stock of past performance. For the sector to update itself on new developments and information. An occasion to plan ahead, to co-ordinate strategies, to launch new products and initiatives.

It is also an opportunity for me to address you, not simply through the on-going dialogue which my Ministry holds with your representatives, but individually and collectively. An occasion to meet, to exchange views on the best way to ensure the continued success of your market niche. A niche which, when benchmarked against the industry's wide spectrum, annually gains in importance and profile.

When we talk timeshare we speak about 8% of tourism's annual guest night total. We speak about close to 15% of the number of UK visitors per annum, and about thousands of timeshare owners who, through investment, underscore long-term loyalty to Malta. I could go on, and on and on, and sing the praises of the timeshare industry, of Maltese operators and resorts.

However, I will today limit myself and say how glad I am to be with you; that the majority of Malta's timeshare resorts and operators are members of the Organisation for Timeshare in Europe; that you have set up an OTE National Chapter; and that you all strongly subscribe to a code of ethics designed to provide consumers with fair protection and freedom of choice.

You will certainly remember my announcement, this time last year, that the Malta Tourism Authority planned to expand its contributor base and that I expected your Association to come up with an additional contribution proportionate to its size. While I thank you and place my appreciation on record for the Lm25,000 contribution which you offer, as the proposed collection system tends to penalise smaller timeshare operations, I believe that a more equitable solution should be found.

While I have every reason to restate Government's endorsement, as well as my own personal views in favour of timeshare, this is neither the time nor the occasion for us to indulge in a bout of mutual back-slapping. I will therefore refrain from wasting your valuable time and from trying everybody's patience by repeating platitudes.

I prefer to avail myself of the occasion to announce and explain Government's plans for timeshare and its better regulation.

I have lost count of the number of times that timeshare legislation and regulation has been mentioned in electoral manifestos and tourism policy documents. At long last the recently enacted Travel and Tourism Services Act 1999 finally allows government to proceed with much needed regulation, especially that of timeshare's sales side.

For the past months your Association's representatives have been meeting Tourism Ministry officials to achieve broad consensus on timeshare regulations. In the absence of specific legislation Government has opted for regulations based on European Union Directive 94/47 EC, which, as you all know, in its basic and more stringent form, regulates timeshare activity in all EU member states, including Malta's direct competitors Spain, Italy, Greece and Portugal.

Let me assure you that we have no intention to experiment, nor to be more Catholic than the Pope. I am sure that you will all be pleased to hear that we will not go beyond the Directive's basic principles and regulations.

In a few weeks' time we will publish the text of the regulations by Legal Notice to allow timeshare resort operators and marketers sufficient time and opportunity to adjust their sales and other strategies to the spirit and letter of the law. We plan to bring the regulations into effect probably during the last quarter of 2000.

The proposed legislation strengthens the concept of consumer protection enshrined in your Code of Ethics, and furthermore, through the statutory introduction of a cooling off period and the prohibition to exact down payments, introduces measures which ensure a greater freedom of choice, another of OTE's stated aims.

As RCI were among the foremost proponents of the measures which the Directive provides, it is my belief that Timeshare Resort owners and managers will then be in a much better position to check the sometimes abusive and aggressive attitudes of some of your sales persons.

This brings me to what has unfortunately become a staple item in Ministers' addresses to this conference. This is where we cross swords. Malta has thousands of happy and satisfied timeshare owners who are, in themselves, the sector's best and most credible living advert. Why marketing companies prefer to rely on often uncouth, and arrogant OPC's, is therefore completely beyond me.

Do I need to remind you that in February 1998 the Malta Timeshare Association undertook to ensure that OPC's wear an identity tag clearly identifying them as Timeshare salespersons and showing their full name and that of the resort?

That salespersons should adhere to a dress code at all times and wear a uniform which could easily identify the resort?

That every indoor expatriate staff member should have a Maltese national as an understudy?

That applications for the issue of employment licences must be supported by a detailed C.V. and an official Police conduct certificate?

That in order to expedite processing of applications copies had to be forwarded to a designated official briefed to help Timeshare companies cut through red tape?

In April of that year MTA's Secretary Mary Ann Pule' informed all member resorts of the agreement reached with my predecessor in office.

That agreement, that Code of Conduct and Procedure, was however dead before it was born.

Regrettably time has shown that the agreement and Mrs. Pule's letter are not even worth the paper they were written on. Some representatives of marketing companies are their own worst enemies.

I am indeed sorry that practically from 'Day One' failure by some to honour the trust which the Ministry placed in them became the order of the day. We have drawn up a list of expatriates who currently hold work permits. The number of so called "consultants", a pseudonym which some use when their OPC quota runs out, must be seen to be believed.

Commitments should be made to be honoured. As some MTA members have repeatedly reneged on their commitment I give notice that the Ministry is no longer bound by the February 1998 agreement.

Therefore, no work permit will be extended or granted for a period longer than the end of 2000.

Anyone found working without a permit, and that includes trainees and persons on whose behalf applications have been submitted but as yet not approved, will be charged before the Courts as will managers of the marketing company involved.

It is indeed a pity that the sins of the guilty have brought this on those who have otherwise toed the line. You must accept that your efforts at self-regulation have failed. It is now time for official enforcement to take over.

I know that the EU Timeshare Directive is currently under discussion in Brussels. If the industry's negotiators succeed in amending its thrust and content, the changes will be immediately reflected in a review of the Legal Notice.

Again, should circumstances warrant and should OPC's comply with regulations, I will be equally disposed to review the policy which I have announced today.

I will conclude my address by asking two questions to which I urge you to find some time and reflect well on the answers.

If Timeshare can be marketed and sold successfully in Gozo without the employ of OPCs, what is holding you back from selling Timeshare in Malta on the same lines?

Is it really worth your while to get involved in the messy business of running OPCs, the only negative aspect of an otherwise excellent product?

Think hard about it, ladies and gentlemen, and I am certain that you will come up with alternative solutions and ways of making timeshare more acceptable, more consumer friendly and more successful.