The impact of crime on tourists and the need for greater support for tourist victims

Abstract

This article presents the first research to address the impact of crime on citizens who suffer crime during a vacation. Based on a small sample of US residents victimised while visiting five different countries, and drawn from a crowdsourcing platform, it is, essentially exploratory. However, the findings suggest that tourist victims are severely affected by their experiences and that this impacts their feelings about revisiting the country where the offence occurred. Most victims reported receiving support from both formal and informal sources, but at the same time most said they would have appreciated more support. While more research is needed to build on this study, the findings do underline the need for a greater focus on both crime reduction and harm minimisation.