Chapter 2 Property Crime and Tourists

Abstract

This chapter addresses the extent to which tourists are at risk of property crimes. It starts with a discussion of the difficulties of measuring crime risk that largely replicate those in mainstream criminology, but with the additional problem that the number of tourists – in the general population or who are victimised – is rarely distinguished. Accepting these limitations, police statistics, victim surveys, newspaper data, and offenders’ accounts of their preferred targets are used to confirm that tourists are indeed overrepresented among the victims of property crime. This seems to apply across different offence categories, such as burglary, vehicle theft, robbery/theft from the person, and fraud. The final section attempts to explain the findings. Combining routine activity theory, opportunity theory and rational choice theory, four dimensions are identified that help explain why tourists consitute a high risk category: rewards, justifiability of target, guardianship and accessibility.