Pergamon

PII: S0264-2751(02)00024-0

Cities, Vol. 19, No. 4, pp. 273282, 2002

2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved
0264-2751/02 $ - see front matter

www.elsevier.com/locate/cities

Visitor safety in urban tourism

environments: the case of
Auckland, New Zealand
Michael Barker
Centre for Tourism Research, Massey UniversityAlbany, Auckland, New Zealand

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

There is limited research relating to urban tourism and the behaviour of visitors within the
urban 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 to
special events. This paper examines the scope and dimensions of visitor safety during one
hallmark 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 areas
and establishes the nature and impact of a sporting event on tourist-related crime. 2002
Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: safety, visitor perceptions, special events, urban tourism

Introduction

cial events. This lack of understanding also applies to

visitor perceptions of personal safety during special
events. Research on tourist perceptions of safety at
destinations during their travel exists (eg Demos,
1992; Pinhey and Iverson, 1994), but few studies
report the impacts of visitors perceptions and experiences of crime and personal safety during special
events.
Given the apparent deficiencies within the literature
concerning safety for urban tourists (with the notable
exception of the study by Savitch and Ardashev,
2001), this study was designed to explore visitor perceptions and potential concerns for safety held by different visitor groups, and to scope the extent for
further research on this issue. The study was conducted during a major special event in Auckland the
2000 Americas Cup. This was a significant event
upon which to study perceptions as it was the largest
event ever staged in New Zealand and was therefore
associated with a number of uncertainties regarding
its impacts. The Americas Cup provided an opportunity for both Auckland and New Zealand to demonstrate their ability to host major international events
and to showcase the destinations tourism attractions
and facilities.
In this paper, visitor perceptions at an urban destination are addressed in relation to feelings and experi-

Urban tourism attracts distinct visitor groups based

on differences in the type of traveller and in their
motivations to visit (Page, 1995; Page and Hall,
2002). One method to promote the city and attract
new visitor groups is through the use of special events
and the publicity that these can generate for the host
destination (Faulkner and Tideswell, 1999). Special
events can attract distinct visitor groups (Law, 1993),
while some sports events such as the Olympic Games
and the Americas Cup can appeal to wider audiences.
The presence of large numbers of visitors at events
may establish an environment that epitomises the concentration of tourism and tourist opportunities for
crime. Such outcomes have become major planning
and security considerations within the destinations
that host major events. The relationship between tourism and special events has received limited attention
in the tourism literature in terms of the impact of
crime in the host destination (eg Hall et al, 1995;
Barker, 2000). There is also a notable lack of research
on visitor behaviour at urban destinations during speE-mail: mbarkernz@hotmail.com Corresponding author. Tel.:
+44-1786-466451; fax: +44-1786-464745; e-mail: s.j.page@stir.ac.uk

273

Visitor safety in urban tourism environments: Michael Barker and Stephen J Page

ences of safety. Since the majority of studies focus

on residents perceptions of tourism and safety, the
findings presented in this paper can be used to understand the perceptions held by visitors as these are also
important given the efforts and significance of
attracting tourists to the city. Thus, by collectively
identifying the perceptions among residents, businesses and visitors to Auckland, city and security
officials will be better able to identify where their
safety efforts should be focused (see Skogan and
Maxfield, 1981). However, prior to examining the
survey data, it is useful to examine the context of the
research and conceptual issues associated with event
tourism in an urban context, namely Auckland.

Special event tourism in the urban

environment: tourism impacts
The impacts of special events are particularly interesting because of the spatial and temporal impacts associated with their hosting (Getz, 1991). According to
an economic impact report commissioned by the
Office of Tourism and Sport (2000), the Americas
Cup regatta generated NZ$473 million for the Auckland economy and NZ$640 million for the New Zealand economy in net additional expenditure. The
event attracted Cup-related tourists including syndicates, family, media, sponsors and spectators.
Although many of these visitors lived in Auckland for
the duration of the event, many used their visit as an
opportunity to travel throughout the country during
this time. This had a substantial impact on additional
visitor expenditure throughout the country (Office of
Tourism and Sport, 2000). International visitors to the
Americas Cup made a substantial contribution to
tourism activity both by travelling outside Auckland
and by extending their length of stay, and generating
NZ$64 million and NZ$164 million for the Auckland
and national economies respectively (Office of Tourism and Sport, 2000). Yet, the fact remains that one of
the major difficulties New Zealand faces in attracting
international tourists is its relative geographical isolation from the tourist-generating regions of North
America and Europe. This distance and related costs
was cited as one reason for a lack of European syndicates entered in the 2000 event.

Tourism safety in urban environments:

conceptual issues
The Americas Cup-related investment in Auckland
contributed to a NZ$85.7 million urban redevelopment of the downtown waterfront precinct known as
the Viaduct Basin. It included the construction of an
Americas Cup marina for the syndicate yachts, residential apartments and numerous restaurants, bars and
hospitality services. This created a social and entertainment hub for the event and the city and enhanced
the image of the city as a tourism destination. How274

ever, there is often limited investment that is directly

channelled towards specific event facilities. At the
Barcelona Olympics in 1992, only 10% of the investment was on sports facilities, while the city benefited
from major rejuvenation of the waterfront development, transport systems, accommodation and similar
urban infrastructure (Law, 1993). An improvement in
physical safety is often intimated as a result of these
developments since improved lighting and clean and
well-maintained surroundings are commonly associated with safety within urban environments (Barker,
2000; Central Area Planning, 2000).
Urban areas and their associated activities (eg city
walks, shopping and dining) comprise a major part of
the tourists travel experience and time (Page, 1995).
It follows that visitor perceptions of personal safety
in these urban areas are important for understanding
tourists awareness of their environment and how
their behaviour and experiences might be affected
according to how safe they feel. Perceptions of safety
(Williams and Dickson, 1993) are important because
they can affect a persons behaviour including the
likelihood of going out at certain times of the day
(Valentine, 1989; Madge, 1997), participation in
activities and the overall satisfaction with an event
and destination. The social changes that occur during
events can thereby affect visitors perceptions of personal safety and their likelihood of attending an event.
Perceptions of crime and safety are influenced by a
persons conditioning to safety, the image portrayed
of a destination, and the way in which the media
influences perceptions of risk that can affect tourism
visitation and restrict behaviour based on the nature
and level of reporting of crime. In this sense, perceptions of safety provide visitors with subjective reality.
A number of studies have examined the perceived
impact of crime on the community (eg Lankford,
1996; Pizam, 1978; Rothman, 1978; Snaith and
Haley, 1994; Young, 1988). Research on residents
perceptions of crime and safety in the presence of
tourism have found that residents often perceived a
decline in the level of safety as a result of an influx
of tourists (Pizam, 1978; Rothman, 1978). There is
also research on community behaviour and reaction
to increased tourism activity (eg Brown and Giles,
1994; Dogan, 1989). A concern for these impacts led
to an increasing number of studies that examine residents perceptions of special events on the host community (eg Americas Cup Office, 1987; Ritchie and
Lyons, 1990; Soutar and McLeod, 1993).
A recent survey of tourists in New Zealand found
that tourists perceived Auckland as a relatively safe
destination, although it was rated the least safe of nine
major national destinations among both domestic and
overseas travellers (Barker, 2000), a feature reemphasised by Savitch and Ardashevs (2001) analysis of terror in cities at a global scale. Furthermore,
a survey conducted by the Auckland City Council
found that 71% of respondents felt there was a need
to improve levels of safety in the central city, parti-

Visitor safety in urban tourism environments: Michael Barker and Stephen J Page

cularly among residents of the area (Central Area

Planning, 2000; Devereux, 2000). According to
Barker (2000), safety during the daytime was perceived among tourists to be very safe, although this
perception declined as expected at night particularly
among domestic tourists and women.

Crime and urban tourist areas: micro issues

Safety and security issues are significant because
tourists and tourist areas possess a range of characteristics that make them vulnerable to crime (ChesneyLind and Lind, 1986). These characteristics have
received substantial attention in the literature based
on reports that tourists have a statistically higher
chance of being victimised than residents (eg de
Albuquerque and McElroy, 1999; Fujii and Mak,
1980; Jackson and Schmierer, 1996). Such claims
however, are more likely to be specific to destinations
in which these studies were conducted than as an allencompassing relationship.
The enclave nature of many tourism environments
can congregate tourists and criminal opportunities
(Schiebler et al, 1996), although they also have the
capacity to create visitor-friendly environments that
are more effectively policed. The tourism industry
creates a unique environment whereby the presence
of tourists alters the characteristics of the population
at risk of crime and thereby the nature of criminal
opportunities available and those subsequently committed. Such areas that are conducive to crime are
consistent with what Ryan and Kinder (1996) termed
a crimogenic place. The impact of crime can be
compounded during special events where the destinations carrying capacity may be reached or
exceeded and the impacts can be event-specific which
means they are difficult to anticipate when hosting
events.
The characteristics exhibited by tourists and tourist
districts can increase the visibility of visitors as outsiders and make them less confident in an unfamiliar
environment where they may be constrained by language difficulties and have limited knowledge of their
whereabouts. Lynch (1960) suggested that this
unfamiliarity and difficulties with environmental
learning have implications for a persons fear, sense
of security and emotional stability. Fear of crime can
place constraints on a persons lifestyle behaviour or
promote defensive behaviour that encourages them to
be more vigilant about crime. Greenberg and Ruback
(1992) found that women were more fearful of crime
either as a result of perceived vulnerability compounded by sexual risk or by differences in acknowledging fear.
There is limited literature on the impact of crime
on events, and it posits that some events inherently
attract large numbers of people and generate hedonistic activity such as alcohol and drug consumption,
with the potential for social changes that can exacerbate crime (Kelly, 1993; Ryan, 1991). An increase in

criminal activity arising from tourism has been noted

at previous special events (Burns and Mules, 1989;
Hall et al, 1995). The New Zealand Police identified
that the Americas Cup would provide an occasion
whereby a specific policing strategy would need to
be enforced, and had an informed judgement of these
expectations with additional contingency plans if
greater security was required. The New Zealand Police examined Americas Cup events in Fremantle and
San Diego to assist with planning for the strategic
management of the 2000 event. This led to the formation of a special policing operation named Operation
Marlin which involved 182 police personnel and was
established specifically for the Americas Cup event.

Methodology
The measurement of visitor perceptions of safety is
critical to identifying and addressing the needs and
concerns of tourists and thereby improving their travel
experience. This was considered of particular importance in this study given the lack of research in urban
destinations and at special events. In order to ascertain
these perceptions, a convenience sample of domestic
and international visitors to Auckland was derived
between December 1999 and March 2000 during the
Americas Cup regatta. This involved some 1003 personal interviews of visitors aged 16 years and above
which were conducted in downtown Auckland and the
Viaduct Basin where the Americas Cup syndicates
had their bases and a Cup Village was constructed
for the event. In order to ensure representation of a
wide range of visitor types, surveys were conducted
at various times between daylight hours of 9 a.m.9
p.m. and across each day of the week.1

Main findings
Of the 1003 respondents, 29% were domestic tourists
and 71% were visiting from any one of 45 overseas
countries, predominantly those in Europe and North
America. There was a wide representation of age
groups in the sample and a high proportion of visitors
indicated that they were either travelling alone (34%)
or with one other person (44%). The characteristics of
1
Questions on travel and demographic information were included
and the survey was divided into three major parts those being
visitor perceptions, concerns and experiences of crime and safety.
Part one of the survey asked visitors to rate their perceptions of
safety based on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from very unsafe
to very safe. A further scale rated visitor perceptions from very
poor to excellent based on experiences had in downtown Auckland where the Americas Cup and Viaduct Basin were based. The
second part of the survey examined visitor concerns for personal
safety arising from the potential for criminal victimisation and
whether these had in any way impeded the visitors intended travel
behaviour. Concerns for victimisation were measured on a 4-point
Likert scale ranging from not at all concerned to very concerned. Visitors were also asked to indicate whether their concerns
were less, the same or greater as a tourist to New Zealand than
when they were in their home environment.

275

Visitor safety in urban tourism environments: Michael Barker and Stephen J Page

the sample population are important for understanding

differences in the responses to the survey. However,
the findings represent the responses of the survey
sample only and cannot be assumed to be representative of the total visitor population to Auckland for
which comparable data on visitor origins to Auckland
were unavailable.
Visitor perceptions of safety
Tourists were asked to rate their perceptions of safety
based on a range of situations and locations encountered during their visit (Table 1). The Americas Cup
Village generated the highest mean in terms of perceptions of safety, where environmental design and
the presence of police and other tourists created a perception of a safe visitor enclave. As a destination,
New Zealand was perceived as safe by 89% of visitors while 79% felt that Auckland was safe. Perceptions of safety in Auckland as a city, during the day
and at night, were also significantly higher among
overseas visitors when compared to domestic visitors.
Overall, perceptions of safety in Auckland were
favourable, although as expected, these perceptions
declined substantially at night. Indeed, while 93% of
visitors felt safe during the day, this proportion fell
to 56% during night hours. This decline in perceptions
of safety after dark was most evident among women
travellers. Perceptions of overall safety were also
lower among women tourists and this supports findings from the city councils survey of public perceptions of safety (Central Area Planning, 2000).
Visitor perceptions of downtown Auckland (see
Fig. 1 and Table 2) were also rated according to satisfaction with a number of variables. The overall mean
responses of domestic tourists were less favourable
with the exception of the number of police and
security, which was rated lower among international
visitors. The literature suggests that an increased presence and interaction between the police and the community can raise public perceptions of safety (Pizam
et al, 1997; Barker, 2000; Tarlow, 2000) as well as
attitudes towards police, and these were among the
major objectives identified by the New Zealand Police

Figure 1 Auckland City and the Americas Cup Village

during the Americas Cup. This objective reflected a

visible yet unobtrusive presence of police and security, although it is noted that this may lead to a false
sense of security among visitors (Mathieson and Wall,
1982). The presence of tourist enclaves (eg the
Viaduct Basin) can also increase tourist confidence
both in the physical environment and from the higher
ratio of other tourists. The friendliness of people in
the area, good lighting in public spaces and the
cleanliness and upkeep of the Cup Village undoubtedly also enhanced a safe perception as these factors
have previously shown to increase perceptions of

Table 1 Visitor perceptions of safety during the Americas Cup

Perception variable

How safe or unsafe do you

Perceive New Zealand to be as a country?
Perceive Auckland to be as a city?
Perceive the Americas Cup Village to be?
Feel in public in Auckland during the day?
Feel in public in Auckland during the night?
Feel compared with in your home country/town?
The large number of people makes me feel
The event atmosphere of the AC makes me feel
Note: 1=Very unsafe, 2=A bit unsafe, 3=Average, 4=Fairly safe, 5=Very safe

276

0.000
0.000
0.970
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.451
0.373

Mean

4.38
4.05
4.49
4.42
3.62
3.91
4.12
4.19

Mean by visitor status

Domestic

Overseas

4.11
3.71
4.49
4.26
3.29
3.42
4.09
4.15

4.49
4.19
4.48
4.49
3.75
4.11
4.14
4.20

Visitor safety in urban tourism environments: Michael Barker and Stephen J Page
Table 2 Visitor perceptions of downtown Auckland
Experience variable

The
The
The
The
The
The

friendliness of people
quality of service from local businesses
prices of goods and services
feeling of safety
amount of lighting at night
number of police and security

0.000
0.008
0.000
0.001
0.074
0.170

Mean

4.10
3.91
3.41
4.14
3.70
3.64

Mean by visitor status

Domestic

Overseas

3.81
3.81
2.94
4.00
3.63
3.70

4.21
3.95
3.60
4.20
3.73
3.61

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

safety (Evans et al, 1992; Barker, 2000; Skelton and

Eccles, 2000).
Safety information
A recent study by Barker (2000) found that there was
an anomaly between the availability of visitor safety
information in New Zealand and the demand for this
information among certain visitor groups, particularly
among culturally different visitors from Japan and
other Asian nations. The survey conducted in the
present study also asked tourists about the importance
of travel safety information with regard to crime
awareness and prevention. The findings showed that
93.8% of respondents had never seen and were not
aware of the existence of the Polices tourist safety
brochure. Interestingly, however, some 85.1% of visitors felt that this information should be readily available. Moreover, 78.6% of tourists indicated that they
would personally read safety information including a
higher proportion of women (P = 0.006), first-time
visitors (P = 0.016), those travelling in groups (
P = 0.001) and increasingly older travellers (
P = 0.000). A weaker but notable correlation showed
that overseas tourists had a greater demand for safety
information than domestic tourists.
The demand for safety information was most
apparent among visitors who were most at risk and
concerned for their safety whereby information search
is related to perceptions of risk (Roehl and Fesenmaier, 1992). This is an important finding because it
implies that any stigma associated with providing
safety information needs to be addressed, and correctly managed, and this has previously been shown
not to increase concern for crime among visitors
(Barker, 2000; World Tourism Organisation, 1997).
Visitor concerns for crime
The survey also asked tourists about any concerns
they held for their personal safety and security (Table
3). Although concerns for personal victimisation of
crime were not high overall, the level of concern and
fear of victimisation differed markedly between individual tourists, a finding noted in previous research
(eg Pawson and Banks, 1993). For instance, differences in ethnicity, age, accommodation choice and the

number of travelling companions affected tourist perceptions and concerns regarding crime and safety.
The highest proportion of tourists who were slightly
concerned or very concerned about being physically
attacked or robbed included Japanese (46.4%), visitors of other decent (43.4%) and other Asians
(38.9%). This expression of concern may be due to
cultural reasons or a perceived vulnerability among
these groups because of their ethnic and touristic visibility whilst travelling, although additional research
will help explain such factors. Indeed, previous
research (eg Barker, 2000) has found that the real or
perceived visibility generated by being a tourist contributed to significant levels of apprehension among
some tourists. The highest levels of racially-motivated
concern were expressed by other Asian, other origin
and Japanese tourists. However, on average there was
less concern regarding overall personal safety than
when at home (P0.02). With the exception of racial
harassment, domestic visitors tended to be more concerned about crime than visitors from overseas. This
was most apparent with regards to concerns for theft
or burglary, where 64% of domestic tourists were
concerned about being victimised compared with 47%
of overseas tourists. This was a significant result at
the 1% level of significance. The threat of sexual harassment or attack was understandably higher among
female tourists than for male tourists, although 93%
of tourists (and 90.1% of women) felt that the risk of
sexual victimisation was less than or no different to
the risk they would encounter at home.
Fear of crime Of the respondents who participated in
the survey, 10.1% of tourists indicated that they had
felt unsafe at some stage during their travel. The
major sources from which this fear was derived were
related to the perception of personal vulnerability of
the tourist. Fear among tourists was related to gender,
group size and age, whereby women, those travelling
alone and teenagers encountered some experience
where they had reason to fear for their safety. Fear
was also statistically related to the domestic/overseas
status of the tourist at the 5% level of significance (
P = 0.003), where, interestingly, domestic tourists
were more likely than overseas tourists to experience
277

Visitor safety in urban tourism environments: Michael Barker and Stephen J Page
Table 3 Visitor concern for crime
Concern variable

Racially harassed
Property stolen through theft or burglary
Attacked or robbed
Sexually harassed or attacked

Overall Concern

Relative to Home

69.3
23.7
36.8
67.3

17.8
24.3
34.6
18.4

10.3
40.6
22.8
10.0

2.6
11.5
5.9
4.4

19.8
18.8
18.5
11.8

67.2
60.7
67.3
81.2

13.0
20.5
14.2
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 all
concerned, 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 by

relative levels of safety perceptions held by inbound
visitors to New Zealand.
The survey also found that some 19% of visitors
changed their behaviour in some way to reduce the
risk of possible victimisation. This was primarily
done through increasing their alertness of their surroundings and being more vigilant about safety. This
included a higher proportion of women, Japanese and
other Asians, as well as tourists staying in backpacker
accommodation or campervans. Yet, only 1.7% of
those who feared for their safety felt it was necessary
to restrict their intended behaviour because of a fear
of potential victimisation. The findings from the study
indicate that some of the most vulnerable tourists for
crime had acknowledged their risk and adopted
additional precautions to reduce their risk of crime
without actually limiting their travel behaviour (eg
women, backpacker tourists and non-Europeans). In
fact, research has found that women took more safety
precautions than men in response to this risk of crime
either as a result of perceived vulnerability compounded by sexual risk or by differences in acknowledging fear (Barker, 2000). Yet, the increase in precautions and presumably lowering of risk among
women does not appear to minimise their perceptions
of personal risk of crime (Weatherburn et al, 1996).
Visitor experiences of crime
Some 30 respondents, or 3% of the sample, reported
a total of 34 incidents of crime. Of these offences,
50% involved the theft or burglary of property from
the tourists accommodation and 29% involved theft
from vehicles. Only two incidents of violent crime
were reported by respondents, accounting for 5% of
offences. The incidence of tourist victimisation
reported in the survey was highest among overseas
tourists, those in low-security paid accommodation
such as backpacker hostels, those aged 2039 years
of age and those travelling alone. However, given the
low sample size of tourist victims, the findings related
to tourist victimisation should be treated as indicative
rather than conclusive and based on the nature of
reported crimes only.
There is an important distinction about the victim278

isation rates between tourists and residents. As noted,

previous research has argued that tourists are more
likely to be victimised than residents. Yet, the victimisation rates between tourists and residents is both
unclear and complex and therefore likely to differ
across situations than be a rule. The findings
presented in this study are more clear in that they
indicate that overseas tourists are more likely to be
victimised than domestic tourists. This conclusion
was derived from a number of critical factors whereby
differences in accommodation, visibility and ethnicity
were related to the domestic/international status and
to victims of crime. Significant differences were also
found in the nature of crimes against domestic and
international tourists based on differences in their
exposure to risk.
Despite over four million visits to the Cup Village
during the 5-month period of the Americas Cup,
Operation Marlin police figures show that only onethird (33%) or 169 of the total of 511 arrests took
place within the Americas Cup Village. Table 4
shows the days of the week when arrests were made
by Operation Marlin police, the highest occurring on
Fridays and Saturdays with some overlay into early
Sunday morning. The timing of these arrests are consistent with Barkers (2000) findings due to the
increase in population during these periods when
people are not working and the hospitality establishments are open late. It also indicates the periods that
generate the greatest demands for police and when
their resources need to be allocated. The time of arrest
provides interesting, but again not unexpected, findings. Over half (59%) of all arrests occurred between
Table 4

Day of arrest

Day of arrest
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
TOTAL

%
39
47
58
57
101
122
87
511

7.6
9.2
11.4
11.2
19.8
23.9
17.0
100.0

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

06.0008.59
09.0011.59
12.0014.59
15.0017.59
18.0020.59
21.0023.59
00.0002.59
03.0005.59
TOTAL
Missing

10
14
12
33
38
91
136
53
387
124

2.6
3.6
3.1
8.5
9.8
23.5
35.1
13.7
100.0

the hours of 9 p.m. and 3 a.m. (see Table 5 and Fig.

2). An examination of this data suggests that the incidence of arrests was influenced by several key factors.
For instance, the presence of the bar and hospitality
establishments and the associated consumption of
alcohol suggests that alcohol had a major influence
on offending. This was confirmed in the data for
offence type whereby 23% of arrest offences were for
disorderly and related behaviour alone, some of which
were likely occurring when patrons were leaving for
home and considerably inebriated. Furthermore, the
profile of the visitor to the Viaduct area during that
time period was undoubtedly more representative of
the younger hedonistic visitor, while family groups
by contrast would have been few.
The evidence in Auckland suggests that the
increased police presence in the vicinity of the
Viaduct Basin had a positive effect on deterring
crime. Such locations can also create a safe enclave
for tourists if there is a sufficient police and security
presence to deter crime as demonstrated by Operation
Marlin. However, these may also lead to issues of
the displacement of crime to other areas. The sociodemographic and socio-economic profile of the community and the event visitor also affects the social
and economic impacts generated and the planning of
events to satisfy the needs of different markets.
The incidence of crimes against tourists during the
period of the Americas Cup was low and the preva-

lence of crime was arguably lower given the increase

in population to the central city in this time (see Weatherburn et al, 1996 for explanations about the incidence and prevalence of crime). Furthermore, a number of serious crimes (eg assaults and sexual attacks)
in the city and subsequent warnings about safety in
certain locations at night that were publicised in the
media meant that crime was not far from the minds
of the public.

Management implications
There are important management implications for
those involved in policing urban areas and hosting
special events. At a management level, this will
require increased coordination between the tourism
sector and security professionals including the timing
and planning of events (Tarlow, 2000; World Tourism
Organisation, 1996). The nature of this research will
allow police and the tourism industry to identify
exactly where their crime prevention and education
efforts need to occur. Yet, one of the potential
obstacles that may hinder future resourcing from the
funding bodies and management of tourism destinations and police departments is the lack of criminal
activity associated with the 2000 Americas Cup: this
was insufficient to justify significant future resources
and expenditure associated with crime prevention for
tourists and specifically at special events. However,
one of the primary reasons for the low incidence of
crime can be attributed to the strong policing measures being in place. What is more, differences in the
concerns and victimisation rates of visitor groups, and
evidence of increased crime at previous events indicate that the potential for increased crime is real and
therefore it cannot be discounted at other events.
There are implications for ensuring the provision
of safety in tourist areas through crime prevention
through environmental design (CPTED) as evident
from the Americas Cup Village. The hosting of the
Americas Cup and the associated development of
bars at the Viaduct Basin has led to a change in the
social network of the city. Whether this has merely

Figure 2 Time of arrest by Operation Marlin police

279

Visitor safety in urban tourism environments: Michael Barker and Stephen J Page

resulted in dispersal of patrons across a larger number

of bars is uncertain, although it appears that the lowering of the drinking age to 18 years of age in
December 1999 and the growth in hospitality services
has increased the opportunity for night-time entertainment in Auckland and this has subsequent implications on the management and policing of public
activity in the central city. There is also considerable
scope for improving security in crime hotspots that
were associated with a high proportion of property
offences, such as low-security tourist accommodation.
Research on visitor satisfaction and the travel experience has significant implications for tourism providers, not least in terms of visitor safety and security.
Indeed, it is not solely the risk of crime that is of
concern to the industry, but mixed with one of public
perception, particularly following negative media
coverage about crime.

Policy recommendations
There appears to be a lack of collaboration in Auckland with respect to implementing a common strategy
for making the central city a safer place to visit. Interest groups such as the Auckland City Council and
Safer Auckland, residents groups, the business, retail
and hospitality sector and the police need to recognise
safety in Auckland City as part of a long-term and
holistic strategy that is essential to attracting visitors,
the community, new residents and shoppers into the
central city, as there seems to be a lack of coordination and reluctance to address the safety issues firsthand. Yet, there still seems to be some apprehension
among city groups towards safety issues and a lack
of coordination to achieve safety objectives for the
city and this is counter-productive. The same issues
relating to improving safety are recurring and include
increased police/security presence and improved
lighting; however, there has been a limited response
to these areas.
In central Auckland there are 16 closed-circuit television cameras (CCTVs) currently in operation by
police at known hotspots and these account for a substantial proportion of arrests each year. Yet CCTV is
not without its critics as a policy instrument. Fyfe and
Banister (1996) questioned the efficacy of deploying
public sector resources on capital-intensive measures
such as CCTV, where the main beneficiaries financially are local businesses that can develop additional
trade. Furthermore, theoretical debates by Giddens
(1984) have questioned the role of CCTV as it highlights prevention rather than solution in what has been
termed the pursuit of ontological security and a
decline in urban public life. From a criminological
perspective, Fyfe and Banister (1996) also point to a
potential growth in bystander indifference and a drop
in the propensity to report incidents to the police.
Ironically, when the public have been surveyed on
attitudes to CCTV and its use in public places as a
surveillance tool to prevent crime, it has been posi280

tively endorsed in many locations due to the impact

on perceptions of safety and the feel good factor,
where a technological solution has been applied to
crime.
In Auckland, in December 2000, private security
patrols funded by the business community were also
deployed on Queen Street in an effort to reclaim the
decreasing sense of safety amongst the community
and shoppers to complement the role of CCTV in the
downtown area. However, effective policing needs to
have a face in terms of increased public visibility of
police personnel. There is a need and demand to
increase the police presence on major public and tourist thoroughfares such as Queen Street. In preparation
for the 2002/03 Americas Cup in Auckland, resource
allocation of police will need to consider the police
presence between the Viaduct Basin and areas such
as Queen Street where there was a low visibility of
beat police due to under-staffing and low public perceptions of safety. There is also less control over the
urban environment and an increased diversity of
people in and around Queen Street (eg youth and car
hoons) with the increased potential for intimidation,
fear and criminal activity.
The high level of glass litter generated from drinking containers from surrounding bars at the Viaduct
Basin was a real concern during the Americas Cup.
This became an even greater concern in the Village
during the Cup celebrations, with broken beverage
glass causing dangers to the public as foot injuries or
as potential weapons or missiles. Indeed, the availability of glass drinking vessels at night is one issue
that will need to be addressed in preparation for the
2002/03 event and for the Viaduct area in general.
Part of this enforcement will involve addressing the
problems arising from having drinking establishments
in outdoor areas which overflow into public areas
where alcohol consumption is not normally tolerated.
This may require enforcing dry zones where alcohol
is strictly not permitted. The lack of division of
licensed premises with public spaces can have
impacts on disorderly behaviour that was prevalent
during the Cup and on the publics perception of public order. Indeed, the tolerance of consumption of
alcohol in public areas was noted one of the most
surprising aspects of the event among overseas tourists to Auckland.

Conclusion
The study has been important not just from the perspective of assessing the impact of special events on
crime, but for analysing the intricacies of crimes
against tourists in urban areas. It was also identified
that one of the common weaknesses in the literature
was a general failure to identify visitor perceptions
and concerns of safety. Yet, the paradox is that the
perception of crime by tourists is critical to understanding and satisfying their intrinsic needs for safety
and in generating repeat visitors. Hosting special

Visitor safety in urban tourism environments: Michael Barker and Stephen J Page

events in urban areas has also highlighted the wider

implications for other destinations seeking to plan for
major events. Managing the influx of additional visitors certainly poses both policy and management
implications for destinations, not least of which are
the logistical problems of integrating the event into
the locality and the juxtaposition of residents, workers
and visitors in the urban environment. One of the least
researched areas of tourism remains how public
agencies, such as the police, manage and interact with
the community and visitors at special events and the
impact this has on their normal day-to-day activities.
In reality some redeployment of existing resources is
implicit in operational plans for policing special
events, as well as additional resources to cope with
peaks in visitor and resident use. For visitor-related
crime, the displacement effect of additional policing
at special events may provide criminological opportunities in other parts of the urban environment, if
resources are redeployed.
The paper has also highlighted the need for local
politicians to reassess the commitment to strategies to
revitalize urban environments with a tourism strategy
based on special events. It may impact upon existing
feelings of safety and security which exist and therefore necessitate massive investment in policing and
security measures to reassure the visiting public of
their safety. It is evident from this study that safety
and security for visitors is not a simplistic notion, but
an evolving concept that cannot easily be transferred
between places. What this means is that even similar
events such as the Americas Cup hosted in different
locations can yield different safety and crime impacts,
as the comparison between the 1987 event in Fremantle, Perth, Western Australia and Auckland, New
Zealand had differing impacts and experiences.
Whilst this is partly related to the individual factors at
work in each destination, it does suggest that deriving
generalisations is difficult for other locations hosting
similar events. What the Americas Cup research does
show is the typical types of problems which visitors
experience.
The research presented in this paper provides considerable baseline data for the next hosting of the
Americas Cup in 2002/03, which will allow
important longitudinal comparisons of event-related
safety in a single destination. One of the possible
drawbacks of this study is that it utilised a convenience sample and surveyed visitors to the Americas Cup Village. This may account for the high readings on the safety-related variables and could have
examined those visitors least affected by fear to visit
the development and area during the event. However,
in spite of these possible limitations, the potential
impact of crime at special events is unquestionable
based on changes in the status of the population and
the criminal opportunities that a seasonal increase in
tourism activity presents. This study concludes that
visitors to Auckland had a favourable perception of
safety during the Americas Cup and that the level of

reported tourist crime was low. However, both perceptions and victimisation differed significantly
among identifiable visitor groups including the
domestic/international status and gender. The availability and consumption of alcohol played a major
part on criminal activity during the Americas Cup, a
high police presence and the confined area of the
Viaduct Basin made policing far more effective. The
visible presence of police has been considered an
important factor for improving perceptions of safety
and deterring crime and this strategy proved highly
effective during the Americas Cup. In terms of victimisation rates, overseas tourists appeared more
likely to be victimised than domestic tourists. Similarly, several concerns were expressed towards safety
among some visitor groups, particularly towards
crimes with potential racial motivations and these
need to be addressed. Tourists were most concerned
for the security of their personal property and justifiably so, as property crimes were responsible for the
highest number of offences against tourists. Concerns
for crime, however, were considered no greater that
when at home. Indeed, there are some important
implications for addressing visitor concerns, controlling crime including increased education and
security measures that can be adopted within the tourism industry and by tourists who need to be made
aware of the criminal risks that they may face.

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