Tourism and crime: A preliminary assessment of the relationship of crime to the number of visitors at selected sites1

Abstract

Tourists and visitors represent a valuable and appreciated element of many countries and many communities. Anecdotal evidence suggests that these tourists and visitors are at great risk of being victims of violent and property crimes in the cities they visit. This paper assesses the relationship between the number of visitors to various cities and the types and patterns of crimes, over time, in two cities engaged in mass tourism. If the anecdotal reports are valid indications, crime should fluctuate directly in proportion to the number of visitors. If other factors have stronger explanatory power, the relationship between tourists (visitors) and crime will not be strong or consistent. Based on the data, this research showed that the number of tourists over the course of an eleven year period does not adequately explain the variations in violent crime rates of either of the two cities. Violent crime rates in Honolulu and Las Vegas from 1982 through 1993 showed less of an increase than the increases experienced by other similar cities in the United States for the period studied. The data showed that there was no significant correlation between any of the four serious violent crimes (murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault) and the number of visitors to Las Vegas. For Honolulu, there was an inverse relationship between the number of visitors and the violent crimes of murder and robbery but a direct and significant relationship to aggravated assault. The results could assist these and other cities in studying more idiosyncratically the relationship between crime and tourism as well as the localization of crimes on visitors in order to engage in measurement and prevention efforts which would serve visitors as well as residents.