Time sharing in Cyprus - From time Sharing to Profit Sharing in Cyprus Tourism - A curse or a blessing?

A “war” against time sharing has started the last few days by the Municipalities and the Tourism professionals. It is a fact that this issue is becoming a “threat” for the tourists who, as they get away from the “All Inclusive Packages”, run into the sales people of the time sharing.

I really do not understand why in Cyprus we “hide behind our finger”. Isn’t it obvious that those selling time sharing are working for eponymous Cypriot businessmen? Maybe they are not on their payroll system but they serve their interests indirectly. Time sharing is a networking, a phenomenon well spread in holiday areas and Cyprus is not an exception to the rule. Cypriot businessmen have made deals with time sharing suppliers and have entered this network. This is neither illegal nor immoral. But the so called time sharing “sales people” in Cyprus may sell buildings in Egypt in the same network. This is what confuses the Authorities and they do not understand that the network is made in a certain way so as to sell anywhere and everybody is benefited.

Time sharing is a widespread method of selling holiday accommodation and first started from the USA and was spread all over the world. Countries like Aruba, Bermuda, USA, Latin America and many more have accepted it and gave the institution a legal coverage. The most well know time sharing company in the world is Marriott (www.marriott-vacations.com) with more than 50 locations from USA, Spain, France, Aruba, Thailand etc. Another company is the world known Starwood (www.starwoodvacationownership.com) with again many locations.

There is of course the opposite side of time sharing. During the 1990’s in the region of Malaga in South Spain (Torremolinos, Benalmadena etc) English and Belgians with guileful ways have taken millions from tourists in order to sell them time sharing in projects under construction. In this trap some Spanish land developers participated since they believed that their “collaborators” had their customers ready and since they took an advanced deposit started to build. The problem arose when the English and Belgians “collaborators” took 80% of the money and disappeared leaving the Spanish developers exposed. In this story many Cypriots, staying in England lost their money since they invested in the project.

In Cyprus since ownership is allowed time sharing found its way of spreading out quickly. The “sales people” do not even have the basic knowledge of how to sell. They become extremely pushy and try to sell by giving out free accommodations etc. Those sales people work without any contract and undertake the risk of getting arrested by the police and pay the fine. They work only on commission basis and therefore nobody can figure out their relationship with Cypriot enterprises and businessmen. In reality what is happening is in everybody’s knowledge. The end result, sales, is at the benefit of the businessmen and this is what everybody is not telling whey they speak publicly.

The names of the companies dealing with time sharing can be found easily on the internet and you can find those at www.vpresales.com, www.rci-timeshare.com, www.sellmytimesharenow.com, and many more. There you will find out which Cypriot companies are involved in this type of business. I would say that in order to solve the problem, we should look into the Board of Directors of many companies and find out the people who brought this to Cyprus. The issue which remains is whether those people who speak publicly are in reality willing to solve the problem.

If we get deeper into the issue, we will see many interesting things. Just ask Google for “Pafos time sharing” and in two seconds will give you its results. Have a look and make your own conclusions.

The question is whether Time Sharing is good for tourism and the economy of Cyprus. Well, if it is well organised, legal and institutionalized in a way that each ones role is clearly defined, and if the so called “sales people” stop bothering then yes it is good because at the end new tourists will come on the island with tourism consciousness since they will be owners as well. If though, the “sales people” continue to act in a fraudulent and pressing way and if the Cypriots selling the time sharing do not undertake the responsibility to clear out the situation, then this will be another factor of the tourism crisis Cyprus will have to face.

The internet is full of complaints about Cyprus; complaints and discussions take place in social media and forums. Many angry tourists complain about the “harassment” they get into. If this continues without taking any serious steps then the consequences will be destructive for the reputation of Cyprus as a tourist destination.