NCJ Number
178547
Journal
Crime and Justice Bulletin Issue: 42 Dated: January 1999 Pages: 1-8
Date Published
1999
Length
8 pages
Annotation
A survey of crime victimization of international tourists in New South Wales (NSW) found that the biggest risks faced by tourists involved harassment, intimidation, or abuse.
Abstract
The survey was conducted on behalf of the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research by the Australian Bureau of Tourism Research and involved data collection at Sydney International Airport between October and December 1997. The survey form was completed by 2,480 of 2,840 tourists. Survey respondents tended to be fairly young--two-thirds were in their 20s or 30s--and they spent a median of 8 nights in Australia and 4 nights in NSW. Of the 2,480 tourists, 2,424 (97.7 percent) said they had not experienced harassment or crime. The remaining 56 tourists or 2.3 percent said they had experienced harassment, actual or threatened assault, robbery, or theft. The most common incidents were harassment and theft; 26 tourists (1 percent) experienced harassment, and 21 tourists (0.8 percent) experienced actual or attempted theft. Tourists provided additional data on incident location, time of day when the incident occurred, and the proportion of incidents reported to the police. The author concludes that the crime victimization rate for international tourists in NSW is low in absolute terms but recommends further surveys to see how NSW compares with other regions of Australia. The survey form is appended. 33 notes, 9 tables, and 1 figure