Cities, Vol. 19, No. 4, pp. 273282, 2002 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reservedPergamon

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Visitor safety in urban tourismenvironments: the case ofAuckland, New ZealandMichael BarkerCentre for Tourism Research, Massey UniversityAlbany, Auckland, New Zealand

*Stephen J. PageDepartment of Marketing, University of Stirling, Stirling, Scotland FK9 4LA, UK

There is limited research relating to urban tourism and the behaviour of visitors within theurban environment. Comparatively few studies of perceptions of safety in urban areas exist.As a result, there is a poor understanding of visitor safety issues, particularly in relation tospecial events. This paper examines the scope and dimensions of visitor safety during onehallmark sporting event in Auckland, New Zealand during 20002001 the Americas Cup.The research reviews both the existing research on tourist safety and crime in urban areasand establishes the nature and impact of a sporting event on tourist-related crime. 2002Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: safety, visitor perceptions, special events, urban tourism

IntroductionUrban tourism attracts distinct visitor groups basedon differences in the type of traveller and in theirmotivations to visit (Page, 1995; Page and Hall,2002). One method to promote the city and attractnew visitor groups is through the use of special eventsand the publicity that these can generate for the hostdestination (Faulkner and Tideswell, 1999). Specialevents can attract distinct visitor groups (Law, 1993),while some sports events such as the Olympic Gamesand the Americas Cup can appeal to wider audiences.

The presence of large numbers of visitors at eventsmay establish an environment that epitomises the con-centration of tourism and tourist opportunities forcrime. Such outcomes have become major planningand security considerations within the destinationsthat host major events. The relationship between tour-ism and special events has received limited attentionin the tourism literature in terms of the impact ofcrime in the host destination (eg Hall et al, 1995;Barker, 2000). There is also a notable lack of researchon visitor behaviour at urban destinations during spe-

E-mail: mbarkernz@hotmail.com Corresponding author. Tel.:+44-1786-466451; fax: +44-1786-464745; e-mail: s.j.page@stir-.ac.uk

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cial events. This lack of understanding also applies tovisitor perceptions of personal safety during specialevents. Research on tourist perceptions of safety atdestinations during their travel exists (eg Demos,1992; Pinhey and Iverson, 1994), but few studiesreport the impacts of visitors perceptions and experi-ences of crime and personal safety during specialevents.

Given the apparent deficiencies within the literatureconcerning safety for urban tourists (with the notableexception of the study by Savitch and Ardashev,2001), this study was designed to explore visitor per-ceptions and potential concerns for safety held by dif-ferent visitor groups, and to scope the extent forfurther research on this issue. The study was conduc-ted during a major special event in Auckland the2000 Americas Cup. This was a significant eventupon which to study perceptions as it was the largestevent ever staged in New Zealand and was thereforeassociated with a number of uncertainties regardingits impacts. The Americas Cup provided an opport-unity for both Auckland and New Zealand to demon-strate their ability to host major international eventsand to showcase the destinations tourism attractionsand facilities.

In this paper, visitor perceptions at an urban desti-nation are addressed in relation to feelings and experi-

Visitor safety in urban tourism environments: Michael Barker and Stephen J Pageences of safety. Since the majority of studies focuson residents perceptions of tourism and safety, thefindings presented in this paper can be used to under-stand the perceptions held by visitors as these are alsoimportant given the efforts and significance ofattracting tourists to the city. Thus, by collectivelyidentifying the perceptions among residents, busi-nesses and visitors to Auckland, city and securityofficials will be better able to identify where theirsafety efforts should be focused (see Skogan andMaxfield, 1981). However, prior to examining thesurvey data, it is useful to examine the context of theresearch and conceptual issues associated with eventtourism in an urban context, namely Auckland.

Special event tourism in the urbanenvironment: tourism impactsThe impacts of special events are particularly interest-ing because of the spatial and temporal impacts asso-ciated with their hosting (Getz, 1991). According toan economic impact report commissioned by theOffice of Tourism and Sport (2000), the AmericasCup regatta generated NZ$473 million for the Auck-land economy and NZ$640 million for the New Zea-land economy in net additional expenditure. Theevent attracted Cup-related tourists including syndi-cates, family, media, sponsors and spectators.Although many of these visitors lived in Auckland forthe duration of the event, many used their visit as anopportunity to travel throughout the country duringthis time. This had a substantial impact on additionalvisitor expenditure throughout the country (Office ofTourism and Sport, 2000). International visitors to theAmericas Cup made a substantial contribution totourism activity both by travelling outside Aucklandand by extending their length of stay, and generatingNZ$64 million and NZ$164 million for the Aucklandand national economies respectively (Office of Tour-ism and Sport, 2000). Yet, the fact remains that one ofthe major difficulties New Zealand faces in attractinginternational tourists is its relative geographical iso-lation from the tourist-generating regions of NorthAmerica and Europe. This distance and related costswas cited as one reason for a lack of European syndi-cates entered in the 2000 event.

Tourism safety in urban environments:conceptual issuesThe Americas Cup-related investment in Aucklandcontributed to a NZ$85.7 million urban redevelop-ment of the downtown waterfront precinct known asthe Viaduct Basin. It included the construction of anAmericas Cup marina for the syndicate yachts, resi-dential apartments and numerous restaurants, bars andhospitality services. This created a social and enter-tainment hub for the event and the city and enhancedthe image of the city as a tourism destination. How-

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ever, there is often limited investment that is directlychannelled towards specific event facilities. At theBarcelona Olympics in 1992, only 10% of the invest-ment was on sports facilities, while the city benefitedfrom major rejuvenation of the waterfront develop-ment, transport systems, accommodation and similarurban infrastructure (Law, 1993). An improvement inphysical safety is often intimated as a result of thesedevelopments since improved lighting and clean andwell-maintained surroundings are commonly associa-ted with safety within urban environments (Barker,2000; Central Area Planning, 2000).

Urban areas and their associated activities (eg citywalks, shopping and dining) comprise a major part ofthe tourists travel experience and time (Page, 1995).It follows that visitor perceptions of personal safetyin these urban areas are important for understandingtourists awareness of their environment and howtheir behaviour and experiences might be affectedaccording to how safe they feel. Perceptions of safety(Williams and Dickson, 1993) are important becausethey can affect a persons behaviour including thelikelihood of going out at certain times of the day(Valentine, 1989; Madge, 1997), participation inactivities and the overall satisfaction with an eventand destination. The social changes that occur duringevents can thereby affect visitors perceptions of per-sonal safety and their likelihood of attending an event.Perceptions of crime and safety are influenced by apersons conditioning to safety, the image portrayedof a destination, and the way in which the mediainfluences perceptions of risk that can affect tourismvisitation and restrict behaviour based on the natureand level of reporting of crime. In this sense, percep-tions of safety provide visitors with subjective reality.

A number of studies have examined the perceivedimpact of crime on the community (eg Lankford,1996; Pizam, 1978; Rothman, 1978; Snaith andHaley, 1994; Young, 1988). Research on residentsperceptions of crime and safety in the presence oftourism have found that residents often perceived adecline in the level of safety as a result of an influxof tourists (Pizam, 1978; Rothman, 1978). There isalso research on community behaviour and reactionto increased tourism activity (eg Brown and Giles,1994; Dogan, 1989). A concern for these impacts ledto an increasing number of studies that examine resi-dents perceptions of special events on the host com-munity (eg Americas Cup Office, 1987; Ritchie andLyons, 1990; Soutar and McLeod, 1993).

A recent survey of tourists in New Zealand foundthat tourists perceived Auckland as a relatively safedestination, although it was rated the least safe of ninemajor national destinations among both domestic andoverseas travellers (Barker, 2000), a feature re-emphasised by Savitch and Ardashevs (2001) analy-sis of terror in cities at a global scale. Furthermore,a survey conducted by the Auckland City Councilfound that 71% of respondents felt there was a needto improve levels of safety in the central city, parti-

Visitor safety in urban tourism environments: Michael Barker and Stephen J Pagecularly among residents of the area (Central AreaPlanning, 2000; Devereux, 2000). According toBarker (2000), safety during the daytime was per-ceived among tourists to be very safe, although thisperception declined as expected at night particularlyamong domestic tourists and women.

Crime and urban tourist areas: micro issuesSafety and security issues are significant becausetourists and tourist areas possess a range of character-istics that make them vulnerable to crime (Chesney-Lind and Lind, 1986). These characteristics havereceived substantial attention in the literature basedon reports that tourists have a statistically higherchance of being victimised than residents (eg deAlbuquerque and McElroy, 1999; Fujii and Mak,1980; Jackson and Schmierer, 1996). Such claimshowever, are more likely to be specific to destinationsin which these studies were conducted than as an all-encompassing relationship.

The enclave nature of many tourism environmentscan congregate tourists and criminal opportunities(Schiebler et al, 1996), although they also have thecapacity to create visitor-friendly environments thatare more effectively policed. The tourism industrycreates a unique environment whereby the presenceof tourists alters the characteristics of the populationat risk of crime and thereby the nature of criminalopportunities available and those subsequently com-mitted. Such areas that are conducive to crime areconsistent with what Ryan and Kinder (1996) termeda crimogenic place. The impact of crime can becompounded during special events where the desti-nations carrying capacity may be reached orexceeded and the impacts can be event-specific whichmeans they are difficult to anticipate when hostingevents.

The characteristics exhibited by tourists and touristdistricts can increase the visibility of visitors as out-siders and make them less confident in an unfamiliarenvironment where they may be constrained by lang-uage difficulties and have limited knowledge of theirwhereabouts. Lynch (1960) suggested that thisunfamiliarity and difficulties with environmentallearning have implications for a persons fear, senseof security and emotional stability. Fear of crime canplace constraints on a persons lifestyle behaviour orpromote defensive behaviour that encourages them tobe more vigilant about crime. Greenberg and Ruback(1992) found that women were more fearful of crimeeither as a result of perceived vulnerability com-pounded by sexual risk or by differences in acknowl-edging fear.

There is limited literature on the impact of crimeon events, and it posits that some events inherentlyattract large numbers of people and generate hedon-istic activity such as alcohol and drug consumption,with the potential for social changes that can exacer-bate crime (Kelly, 1993; Ryan, 1991). An increase in

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criminal activity arising from tourism has been notedat previous special events (Burns and Mules, 1989;Hall et al, 1995). The New Zealand Police identifiedthat the Americas Cup would provide an occasionwhereby a specific policing strategy would need tobe enforced, and had an informed judgement of theseexpectations with additional contingency plans ifgreater security was required. The New Zealand Pol-ice examined Americas Cup events in Fremantle andSan Diego to assist with planning for the strategicmanagement of the 2000 event. This led to the forma-tion of a special policing operation named OperationMarlin which involved 182 police personnel and wasestablished specifically for the Americas Cup event.

MethodologyThe measurement of visitor perceptions of safety iscritical to identifying and addressing the needs andconcerns of tourists and thereby improving their travelexperience. This was considered of particular impor-tance in this study given the lack of research in urbandestinations and at special events. In order to ascertainthese perceptions, a convenience sample of domesticand international visitors to Auckland was derivedbetween December 1999 and March 2000 during theAmericas Cup regatta. This involved some 1003 per-sonal interviews of visitors aged 16 years and abovewhich were conducted in downtown Auckland and theViaduct Basin where the Americas Cup syndicateshad their bases and a Cup Village was constructedfor the event. In order to ensure representation of awide range of visitor types, surveys were conductedat various times between daylight hours of 9 a.m.9p.m. and across each day of the week.1

Main findingsOf the 1003 respondents, 29% were domestic touristsand 71% were visiting from any one of 45 overseascountries, predominantly those in Europe and NorthAmerica. There was a wide representation of agegroups in the sample and a high proportion of visitorsindicated that they were either travelling alone (34%)or with one other person (44%). The characteristics of

1Questions on travel and demographic information were includedand the survey was divided into three major parts those beingvisitor perceptions, concerns and experiences of crime and safety.Part one of the survey asked visitors to rate their perceptions ofsafety based on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from very unsafeto very safe. A further scale rated visitor perceptions from verypoor to excellent based on experiences had in downtown Auck-land where the Americas Cup and Viaduct Basin were based. Thesecond part of the survey examined visitor concerns for personalsafety arising from the potential for criminal victimisation andwhether these had in any way impeded the visitors intended travelbehaviour. Concerns for victimisation were measured on a 4-pointLikert scale ranging from not at all concerned to very con-cerned. Visitors were also asked to indicate whether their concernswere less, the same or greater as a tourist to New Zealand thanwhen they were in their home environment.

Visitor safety in urban tourism environments: Michael Barker and Stephen J Pagethe sample population are important for understandingdifferences in the responses to the survey. However,the findings represent the responses of the surveysample only and cannot be assumed to be representa-tive of the total visitor population to Auckland forwhich comparable data on visitor origins to Aucklandwere unavailable.

Visitor perceptions of safetyTourists were asked to rate their perceptions of safetybased on a range of situations and locations encoun-tered during their visit (Table 1). The Americas CupVillage generated the highest mean in terms of per-ceptions of safety, where environmental design andthe presence of police and other tourists created a per-ception of a safe visitor enclave. As a destination,New Zealand was perceived as safe by 89% of visi-tors while 79% felt that Auckland was safe. Percep-tions of safety in Auckland as a city, during the dayand at night, were also significantly higher amongoverseas visitors when compared to domestic visitors.Overall, perceptions of safety in Auckland werefavourable, although as expected, these perceptionsdeclined substantially at night. Indeed, while 93% ofvisitors felt safe during the day, this proportion fellto 56% during night hours. This decline in perceptionsof safety after dark was most evident among womentravellers. Perceptions of overall safety were alsolower among women tourists and this supports find-ings from the city councils survey of public percep-tions of safety (Central Area Planning, 2000).

Visitor perceptions of downtown Auckland (seeFig. 1 and Table 2) were also rated according to satis-faction with a number of variables. The overall meanresponses of domestic tourists were less favourablewith the exception of the number of police andsecurity, which was rated lower among internationalvisitors. The literature suggests that an increased pres-ence and interaction between the police and the com-munity can raise public perceptions of safety (Pizamet al, 1997; Barker, 2000; Tarlow, 2000) as well asattitudes towards police, and these were among themajor objectives identified by the New Zealand Police

Table 1 Visitor perceptions of safety during the Americas Cup

Perception variable P Mean Mean by visitor status

Domestic Overseas

How safe or unsafe do youPerceive New Zealand to be as a country? 0.000 4.38 4.11 4.49Perceive Auckland to be as a city? 0.000 4.05 3.71 4.19Perceive the Americas Cup Village to be? 0.970 4.49 4.49 4.48Feel in public in Auckland during the day? 0.000 4.42 4.26 4.49Feel in public in Auckland during the night? 0.000 3.62 3.29 3.75Feel compared with in your home country/town? 0.000 3.91 3.42 4.11The large number of people makes me feel 0.451 4.12 4.09 4.14The event atmosphere of the AC makes me feel 0.373 4.19 4.15 4.20

Note: 1=Very unsafe, 2=A bit unsafe, 3=Average, 4=Fairly safe, 5=Very safe

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Figure 1 Auckland City and the Americas Cup Village

during the Americas Cup. This objective reflected avisible yet unobtrusive presence of police and secur-ity, although it is noted that this may lead to a falsesense of security among visitors (Mathieson and Wall,1982). The presence of tourist enclaves (eg theViaduct Basin) can also increase tourist confidenceboth in the physical environment and from the higherratio of other tourists. The friendliness of people inthe area, good lighting in public spaces and thecleanliness and upkeep of the Cup Village undoubt-edly also enhanced a safe perception as these factorshave previously shown to increase perceptions of

Visitor safety in urban tourism environments: Michael Barker and Stephen J PageTable 2 Visitor perceptions of downtown Auckland

Experience variable P Mean Mean by visitor status

Domestic Overseas

The friendliness of people 0.000 4.10 3.81 4.21The quality of service from local businesses 0.008 3.91 3.81 3.95The prices of goods and services 0.000 3.41 2.94 3.60The feeling of safety 0.001 4.14 4.00 4.20The amount of lighting at night 0.074 3.70 3.63 3.73The number of police and security 0.170 3.64 3.70 3.61

Note: 1=Very poor, 2=Poor, 3=Average, 4=Very good, 5=Excellent

safety (Evans et al, 1992; Barker, 2000; Skelton andEccles, 2000).Safety informationA recent study by Barker (2000) found that there wasan anomaly between the availability of visitor safetyinformation in New Zealand and the demand for thisinformation among certain visitor groups, particularlyamong culturally different visitors from Japan andother Asian nations. The survey conducted in thepresent study also asked tourists about the importanceof travel safety information with regard to crimeawareness and prevention. The findings showed that93.8% of respondents had never seen and were notaware of the existence of the Polices tourist safetybrochure. Interestingly, however, some 85.1% of visi-tors felt that this information should be readily avail-able. Moreover, 78.6% of tourists indicated that theywould personally read safety information including ahigher proportion of women (P = 0.006), first-timevisitors (P = 0.016), those travelling in groups (P = 0.001) and increasingly older travellers (P = 0.000). A weaker but notable correlation showedthat overseas tourists had a greater demand for safetyinformation than domestic tourists.

The demand for safety information was mostapparent among visitors who were most at risk andconcerned for their safety whereby information searchis related to perceptions of risk (Roehl and Fesenma-ier, 1992). This is an important finding because itimplies that any stigma associated with providingsafety information needs to be addressed, and cor-rectly managed, and this has previously been shownnot to increase concern for crime among visitors(Barker, 2000; World Tourism Organisation, 1997).Visitor concerns for crimeThe survey also asked tourists about any concernsthey held for their personal safety and security (Table3). Although concerns for personal victimisation ofcrime were not high overall, the level of concern andfear of victimisation differed markedly between indi-vidual tourists, a finding noted in previous research(eg Pawson and Banks, 1993). For instance, differ-ences in ethnicity, age, accommodation choice and the

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number of travelling companions affected tourist per-ceptions and concerns regarding crime and safety.The highest proportion of tourists who were slightlyconcerned or very concerned about being physicallyattacked or robbed included Japanese (46.4%), visi-tors of other decent (43.4%) and other Asians(38.9%). This expression of concern may be due tocultural reasons or a perceived vulnerability amongthese groups because of their ethnic and touristic visi-bility whilst travelling, although additional researchwill help explain such factors. Indeed, previousresearch (eg Barker, 2000) has found that the real orperceived visibility generated by being a tourist con-tributed to significant levels of apprehension amongsome tourists. The highest levels of racially-motivatedconcern were expressed by other Asian, other originand Japanese tourists. However, on average there wasless concern regarding overall personal safety thanwhen at home (P0.02). With the exception of racialharassment, domestic visitors tended to be more con-cerned about crime than visitors from overseas. Thiswas most apparent with regards to concerns for theftor burglary, where 64% of domestic tourists wereconcerned about being victimised compared with 47%of overseas tourists. This was a significant result atthe 1% level of significance. The threat of sexual har-assment or attack was understandably higher amongfemale tourists than for male tourists, although 93%of tourists (and 90.1% of women) felt that the risk ofsexual victimisation was less than or no different tothe risk they would encounter at home.

Fear of crime Of the respondents who participated inthe survey, 10.1% of tourists indicated that they hadfelt unsafe at some stage during their travel. Themajor sources from which this fear was derived wererelated to the perception of personal vulnerability ofthe tourist. Fear among tourists was related to gender,group size and age, whereby women, those travellingalone and teenagers encountered some experiencewhere they had reason to fear for their safety. Fearwas also statistically related to the domestic/overseasstatus of the tourist at the 5% level of significance (P = 0.003), where, interestingly, domestic touristswere more likely than overseas tourists to experience

Visitor safety in urban tourism environments: Michael Barker and Stephen J PageTable 3 Visitor concern for crime

Concern variable Overall Concern Relative to Home

1 2 3 4 1 2 3

Racially harassed 69.3 17.8 10.3 2.6 19.8 67.2 13.0Property stolen through theft or burglary 23.7 24.3 40.6 11.5 18.8 60.7 20.5Attacked or robbed 36.8 34.6 22.8 5.9 18.5 67.3 14.2Sexually harassed or attacked 67.3 18.4 10.0 4.4 11.8 81.2 7.1

Note: Tourists rated each concern variable on two different Likert scales. Overall Concern refers to concerns in New Zealand where 1=Not at allconcerned, 2=Not very concerned, 3=Slightly concerned, 4=Very concerned. Respondents concern Relative to Home is measured by 1=Less,2=Same, 3=More

fear of crime. This is likely to be explained in part byrelative levels of safety perceptions held by inboundvisitors to New Zealand.

The survey also found that some 19% of visitorschanged their behaviour in some way to reduce therisk of possible victimisation. This was primarilydone through increasing their alertness of their sur-roundings and being more vigilant about safety. Thisincluded a higher proportion of women, Japanese andother Asians, as well as tourists staying in backpackeraccommodation or campervans. Yet, only 1.7% ofthose who feared for their safety felt it was necessaryto restrict their intended behaviour because of a fearof potential victimisation. The findings from the studyindicate that some of the most vulnerable tourists forcrime had acknowledged their risk and adoptedadditional precautions to reduce their risk of crimewithout actually limiting their travel behaviour (egwomen, backpacker tourists and non-Europeans). Infact, research has found that women took more safetyprecautions than men in response to this risk of crimeeither as a result of perceived vulnerability com-pounded by sexual risk or by differences in acknowl-edging fear (Barker, 2000). Yet, the increase in pre-cautions and presumably lowering of risk amongwomen does not appear to minimise their perceptionsof personal risk of crime (Weatherburn et al, 1996).Visitor experiences of crimeSome 30 respondents, or 3% of the sample, reporteda total of 34 incidents of crime. Of these offences,50% involved the theft or burglary of property fromthe tourists accommodation and 29% involved theftfrom vehicles. Only two incidents of violent crimewere reported by respondents, accounting for 5% ofoffences. The incidence of tourist victimisationreported in the survey was highest among overseastourists, those in low-security paid accommodationsuch as backpacker hostels, those aged 2039 yearsof age and those travelling alone. However, given thelow sample size of tourist victims, the findings relatedto tourist victimisation should be treated as indicativerather than conclusive and based on the nature ofreported crimes only.

There is an important distinction about the victim-

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isation rates between tourists and residents. As noted,previous research has argued that tourists are morelikely to be victimised than residents. Yet, the victim-isation rates between tourists and residents is bothunclear and complex and therefore likely to differacross situations than be a rule. The findingspresented in this study are more clear in that theyindicate that overseas tourists are more likely to bevictimised than domestic tourists. This conclusionwas derived from a number of critical factors wherebydifferences in accommodation, visibility and ethnicitywere related to the domestic/international status andto victims of crime. Significant differences were alsofound in the nature of crimes against domestic andinternational tourists based on differences in theirexposure to risk.

Despite over four million visits to the Cup Villageduring the 5-month period of the Americas Cup,Operation Marlin police figures show that only one-third (33%) or 169 of the total of 511 arrests tookplace within the Americas Cup Village. Table 4shows the days of the week when arrests were madeby Operation Marlin police, the highest occurring onFridays and Saturdays with some overlay into earlySunday morning. The timing of these arrests are con-sistent with Barkers (2000) findings due to theincrease in population during these periods whenpeople are not working and the hospitality establish-ments are open late. It also indicates the periods thatgenerate the greatest demands for police and whentheir resources need to be allocated. The time of arrestprovides interesting, but again not unexpected, find-ings. Over half (59%) of all arrests occurred between

Table 4 Day of arrest

Day of arrest n %

Monday 39 7.6Tuesday 47 9.2Wednesday 58 11.4Thursday 57 11.2Friday 101 19.8Saturday 122 23.9Sunday 87 17.0TOTAL 511 100.0

Visitor safety in urban tourism environments: Michael Barker and Stephen J PageTable 5 Time of arrest

Time of arrest n %

06.0008.59 10 2.609.0011.59 14 3.612.0014.59 12 3.115.0017.59 33 8.518.0020.59 38 9.821.0023.59 91 23.500.0002.59 136 35.103.0005.59 53 13.7TOTAL 387 100.0Missing 124

the hours of 9 p.m. and 3 a.m. (see Table 5 and Fig.2). An examination of this data suggests that the inci-dence of arrests was influenced by several key factors.For instance, the presence of the bar and hospitalityestablishments and the associated consumption ofalcohol suggests that alcohol had a major influenceon offending. This was confirmed in the data foroffence type whereby 23% of arrest offences were fordisorderly and related behaviour alone, some of whichwere likely occurring when patrons were leaving forhome and considerably inebriated. Furthermore, theprofile of the visitor to the Viaduct area during thattime period was undoubtedly more representative ofthe younger hedonistic visitor, while family groupsby contrast would have been few.

The evidence in Auckland suggests that theincreased police presence in the vicinity of theViaduct Basin had a positive effect on deterringcrime. Such locations can also create a safe enclavefor tourists if there is a sufficient police and securitypresence to deter crime as demonstrated by OperationMarlin. However, these may also lead to issues ofthe displacement of crime to other areas. The socio-demographic and socio-economic profile of the com-munity and the event visitor also affects the socialand economic impacts generated and the planning ofevents to satisfy the needs of different markets.

The incidence of crimes against tourists during theperiod of the Americas Cup was low and the preva-

Figure 2 Time of arrest by Operation Marlin police

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lence of crime was arguably lower given the increasein population to the central city in this time (see Wea-therburn et al, 1996 for explanations about the inci-dence and prevalence of crime). Furthermore, a num-ber of serious crimes (eg assaults and sexual attacks)in the city and subsequent warnings about safety incertain locations at night that were publicised in themedia meant that crime was not far from the mindsof the public.

Management implicationsThere are important management implications forthose involved in policing urban areas and hostingspecial events. At a management level, this willrequire increased coordination between the tourismsector and security professionals including the timingand planning of events (Tarlow, 2000; World TourismOrganisation, 1996). The nature of this research willallow police and the tourism industry to identifyexactly where their crime prevention and educationefforts need to occur. Yet, one of the potentialobstacles that may hinder future resourcing from thefunding bodies and management of tourism desti-nations and police departments is the lack of criminalactivity associated with the 2000 Americas Cup: thiswas insufficient to justify significant future resourcesand expenditure associated with crime prevention fortourists and specifically at special events. However,one of the primary reasons for the low incidence ofcrime can be attributed to the strong policing meas-ures being in place. What is more, differences in theconcerns and victimisation rates of visitor groups, andevidence of increased crime at previous events indi-cate that the potential for increased crime is real andtherefore it cannot be discounted at other events.

There are implications for ensuring the provisionof safety in tourist areas through crime preventionthrough environmental design (CPTED) as evidentfrom the Americas Cup Village. The hosting of theAmericas Cup and the associated development ofbars at the Viaduct Basin has led to a change in thesocial network of the city. Whether this has merely

Visitor safety in urban tourism environments: Michael Barker and Stephen J Pageresulted in dispersal of patrons across a larger numberof bars is uncertain, although it appears that the low-ering of the drinking age to 18 years of age inDecember 1999 and the growth in hospitality serviceshas increased the opportunity for night-time entertain-ment in Auckland and this has subsequent impli-cations on the management and policing of publicactivity in the central city. There is also considerablescope for improving security in crime hotspots thatwere associated with a high proportion of propertyoffences, such as low-security tourist accommodation.Research on visitor satisfaction and the travel experi-ence has significant implications for tourism pro-viders, not least in terms of visitor safety and security.Indeed, it is not solely the risk of crime that is ofconcern to the industry, but mixed with one of publicperception, particularly following negative mediacoverage about crime.

Policy recommendationsThere appears to be a lack of collaboration in Auck-land with respect to implementing a common strategyfor making the central city a safer place to visit. Inter-est groups such as the Auckland City Council andSafer Auckland, residents groups, the business, retailand hospitality sector and the police need to recognisesafety in Auckland City as part of a long-term andholistic strategy that is essential to attracting visitors,the community, new residents and shoppers into thecentral city, as there seems to be a lack of coordi-nation and reluctance to address the safety issues first-hand. Yet, there still seems to be some apprehensionamong city groups towards safety issues and a lackof coordination to achieve safety objectives for thecity and this is counter-productive. The same issuesrelating to improving safety are recurring and includeincreased police/security presence and improvedlighting; however, there has been a limited responseto these areas.

In central Auckland there are 16 closed-circuit tele-vision cameras (CCTVs) currently in operation bypolice at known hotspots and these account for a sub-stantial proportion of arrests each year. Yet CCTV isnot without its critics as a policy instrument. Fyfe andBanister (1996) questioned the efficacy of deployingpublic sector resources on capital-intensive measuressuch as CCTV, where the main beneficiaries financi-ally are local businesses that can develop additionaltrade. Furthermore, theoretical debates by Giddens(1984) have questioned the role of CCTV as it high-lights prevention rather than solution in what has beentermed the pursuit of ontological security and adecline in urban public life. From a criminologicalperspective, Fyfe and Banister (1996) also point to apotential growth in bystander indifference and a dropin the propensity to report incidents to the police.Ironically, when the public have been surveyed onattitudes to CCTV and its use in public places as asurveillance tool to prevent crime, it has been posi-

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tively endorsed in many locations due to the impacton perceptions of safety and the feel good factor,where a technological solution has been applied tocrime.

In Auckland, in December 2000, private securitypatrols funded by the business community were alsodeployed on Queen Street in an effort to reclaim thedecreasing sense of safety amongst the communityand shoppers to complement the role of CCTV in thedowntown area. However, effective policing needs tohave a face in terms of increased public visibility ofpolice personnel. There is a need and demand toincrease the police presence on major public and tour-ist thoroughfares such as Queen Street. In preparationfor the 2002/03 Americas Cup in Auckland, resourceallocation of police will need to consider the policepresence between the Viaduct Basin and areas suchas Queen Street where there was a low visibility ofbeat police due to under-staffing and low public per-ceptions of safety. There is also less control over theurban environment and an increased diversity ofpeople in and around Queen Street (eg youth and carhoons) with the increased potential for intimidation,fear and criminal activity.

The high level of glass litter generated from drink-ing containers from surrounding bars at the ViaductBasin was a real concern during the Americas Cup.This became an even greater concern in the Villageduring the Cup celebrations, with broken beverageglass causing dangers to the public as foot injuries oras potential weapons or missiles. Indeed, the avail-ability of glass drinking vessels at night is one issuethat will need to be addressed in preparation for the2002/03 event and for the Viaduct area in general.Part of this enforcement will involve addressing theproblems arising from having drinking establishmentsin outdoor areas which overflow into public areaswhere alcohol consumption is not normally tolerated.This may require enforcing dry zones where alcoholis strictly not permitted. The lack of division oflicensed premises with public spaces can haveimpacts on disorderly behaviour that was prevalentduring the Cup and on the publics perception of pub-lic order. Indeed, the tolerance of consumption ofalcohol in public areas was noted one of the mostsurprising aspects of the event among overseas tour-ists to Auckland.

ConclusionThe study has been important not just from the per-spective of assessing the impact of special events oncrime, but for analysing the intricacies of crimesagainst tourists in urban areas. It was also identifiedthat one of the common weaknesses in the literaturewas a general failure to identify visitor perceptionsand concerns of safety. Yet, the paradox is that theperception of crime by tourists is critical to under-standing and satisfying their intrinsic needs for safetyand in generating repeat visitors. Hosting special

Visitor safety in urban tourism environments: Michael Barker and Stephen J Pageevents in urban areas has also highlighted the widerimplications for other destinations seeking to plan formajor events. Managing the influx of additional visi-tors certainly poses both policy and managementimplications for destinations, not least of which arethe logistical problems of integrating the event intothe locality and the juxtaposition of residents, workersand visitors in the urban environment. One of the leastresearched areas of tourism remains how publicagencies, such as the police, manage and interact withthe community and visitors at special events and theimpact this has on their normal day-to-day activities.In reality some redeployment of existing resources isimplicit in operational plans for policing specialevents, as well as additional resources to cope withpeaks in visitor and resident use. For visitor-relatedcrime, the displacement effect of additional policingat special events may provide criminological opport-unities in other parts of the urban environment, ifresources are redeployed.

The paper has also highlighted the need for localpoliticians to reassess the commitment to strategies torevitalize urban environments with a tourism strategybased on special events. It may impact upon existingfeelings of safety and security which exist and there-fore necessitate massive investment in policing andsecurity measures to reassure the visiting public oftheir safety. It is evident from this study that safetyand security for visitors is not a simplistic notion, butan evolving concept that cannot easily be transferredbetween places. What this means is that even similarevents such as the Americas Cup hosted in differentlocations can yield different safety and crime impacts,as the comparison between the 1987 event in Fre-mantle, Perth, Western Australia and Auckland, NewZealand had differing impacts and experiences.Whilst this is partly related to the individual factors atwork in each destination, it does suggest that derivinggeneralisations is difficult for other locations hostingsimilar events. What the Americas Cup research doesshow is the typical types of problems which visitorsexperience.

The research presented in this paper provides con-siderable baseline data for the next hosting of theAmericas Cup in 2002/03, which will allowimportant longitudinal comparisons of event-relatedsafety in a single destination. One of the possibledrawbacks of this study is that it utilised a con-venience sample and surveyed visitors to the Amer-icas Cup Village. This may account for the high read-ings on the safety-related variables and could haveexamined those visitors least affected by fear to visitthe development and area during the event. However,in spite of these possible limitations, the potentialimpact of crime at special events is unquestionablebased on changes in the status of the population andthe criminal opportunities that a seasonal increase intourism activity presents. This study concludes thatvisitors to Auckland had a favourable perception ofsafety during the Americas Cup and that the level of

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reported tourist crime was low. However, both per-ceptions and victimisation differed significantlyamong identifiable visitor groups including thedomestic/international status and gender. The avail-ability and consumption of alcohol played a majorpart on criminal activity during the Americas Cup, ahigh police presence and the confined area of theViaduct Basin made policing far more effective. Thevisible presence of police has been considered animportant factor for improving perceptions of safetyand deterring crime and this strategy proved highlyeffective during the Americas Cup. In terms of vic-timisation rates, overseas tourists appeared morelikely to be victimised than domestic tourists. Simi-larly, several concerns were expressed towards safetyamong some visitor groups, particularly towardscrimes with potential racial motivations and theseneed to be addressed. Tourists were most concernedfor the security of their personal property and justifi-ably so, as property crimes were responsible for thehighest number of offences against tourists. Concernsfor crime, however, were considered no greater thatwhen at home. Indeed, there are some importantimplications for addressing visitor concerns, con-trolling crime including increased education andsecurity measures that can be adopted within the tour-ism industry and by tourists who need to be madeaware of the criminal risks that they may face.

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Visitor safety in urban tourism environments: the case of Auckland, New ZealandIntroductionSpecial event tourism in the urban environment: tourism impactsTourism safety in urban environments: conceptual issuesCrime and urban tourist areas: micro issuesMethodologyMain findingsVisitor perceptions of safetySafety informationVisitor concerns for crimeFear of crime

Visitor experiences of crime

Management implicationsPolicy recommendationsConclusion

References