EVERY YEAR Paphos announces that it’s gearing up to deal with holiday and timeshare touts and every year nothing seems to work. Tougher penalties and an increased police presence were in the pipeline for this year. These included increasing the fines to €1,500 and providing for six months in prison, to two additional phone lines for people to report incidents.
Apparently even this is not working. Timeshare touts are a blot on the tourist landscape, especially in Paphos where the demographic apparently fulfills their requirements.
They approach middle-aged couples and well-heeled potential clients, and are not good at taking no for an answer, and that’s only in the cases where tourists might be aware of what’s going on. Other visitors get caught by surprise and rather than make a fuss, may go along with the touts to their offices rather than appear rude. Their approach is offputting at the very least, and aggressive at its worst and deters many people from strolling along the main tourist areas, thus taking business away from restaurants and shops.
When someone does report them and police respond, they scatter like cockroaches when they see a patrol car. When they are caught in the act, even the hefty €1,500 fine does not deter them by all accounts. On the contrary they have apparently expanded to bus stops where tourists are dropped to see the sights.
The head of the Paphos tourism board said this week he was at his wits end when during a stroll, he saw at least 15 touts working the seafront and harassing passers by. Some of them had already been issued fines by the police and were back out there, so clearly all the harassment is still paying off and the fines are no deterrent.
Police said that so far this year they had dealt with 1,035 of these cases and still they come, so clearly dealing with the issue after the fact is not working, which means authorities and tourism bosses in Paphos need to focus more on prevention rather than cure.
Instead of sending police cars when they receive a complaint, they should have a plainclothes officer of two in the worst-hit areas. Then touts would not have the chance to scatter and may avoid the area in future for fear of being caught. The CTO issues leaflets every year but perhaps large posters might work better, especially if they are placed at bus stops and directly in front of tourists when they get off at the sites they’re visiting. Ads warning that touts are operating could also be placed on the sides of buses. A concerted campaign of deterrence could work if it were done properly. The touts might then decide it not worth the trouble because clearly whatever measures are in force at the moment are not putting them off at all.
