Tourism, Security and Safety From Theory to Practice

Study Objectives
By now it should be evident that incidents of crimes and especially various forms
of thefts are most prevalent at tourist destinations. It is also evident that a high inci-
dence of violent crimes such as murder, rape, assault, or robbery affects tourist
arrivals through negative publicity that is caused by government warnings, media
reports, and word of mouth. What is not so clear is whether incidents of nonvio-
lent crimes such as theft at tourist destinations have a negative effect on tourist
future decision to travel to an affected destination.
To answer this question, we undertook a study, the purpose of which was to
determine what, if any, effects past incidents of personal theft on tourists have on
future decisions to travel to the affected destination. This was done by analyzing
two study groups, those who have experienced personal thefts while on a trip and
those who heard of such incidents through personal accounts of friends or family.
More specifically we were interested to find whether:
■
Tourists who experienced a personal theft while traveling will be less likely to
travel to the affected destination than those who did not experience such theft, but
knew someone who did.
■
The more time passes between the incidence of a personal theft that occurred to
tourists or their friends or relatives at a tourist destination and the decision to travel
to the same destination, the higher is their likelihood of revisiting that destination.
■
Tourists who have experienced a theft on their person while traveling will have a lower
tendency to return to the same destination than tourists who have experienced a theft
of their belongings in a property they were occupying (i.e., hotel room, car, etc.).
■
The more severe is the incidence of theft that occurred to tourists or their friends or
relatives while traveling, the lower the likelihood of visiting the affected destination.
■
The more satisfied tourists are with the way the destination’s authorities handled a
crime report at a tourist destination, the higher is the likelihood that they will
revisit the same tourist destination.
■
Tourists who have previously been victims of crimes in their own community will
be less likely to travel in the future to a destination where either they or their
friends or family members experienced a crime incident, than those who have not
been such victims in the past.
■
The passage of time will positively affect the decision to revisit or visit a tourist
destination where a theft crime occurred to tourists or their friends or relatives.
■
Learning of someone’s positive experience at a destination where tourists or friends
or relatives experienced a theft in the past will positively affect the decision to visit
the affected destination.
■
Learning from the media about the efforts to improve security in a destination
where tourists or their friends or relatives experienced theft in the past will posi-
tively affect the decision to visit the affected destination.
For the purpose of this study, personal theft is defined as “theft of personal property,
either from one’s person, a car, or lodging establishment, while a tourist is traveling.”
Does Theft Affect Tourist Destination Decisions?
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