Analysis of the perceptions of crime against tourists in Florida Road, Durban

Abstract

The goal of this study was to investigate the perceptions of crime on tourists eating out at Florida Road in Durban. According to Visser and Rogerson (2004 cited in Goerge and Booyens 2014: 450), although South Africa has been classified as a relatively safe tourist destination, high levels of crime threaten the country’s tourism growth prospects. Crime Stats Simplified (2014) indicates that Durban central is one of the top ten worst precincts in South Africa with high crime rate at 10.9% after Mitchells Plain and Cape Town Central with 17% and 12.2% respectively. Therefore the study focused at the Florida Road since Durban has been a destination of choice for many visitors (Durban Experience 2015), with the aim of analysing the perceptions of crime on tourists eating out at Florida Road.

Safety and security are regarded as pillars for tourism growth and destination competitiveness. The main objectives of this research were; to investigate the perceptions of crime on tourists in Florida Road; to determine whether the stakeholders such as police and businesses are doing anything to tackle the issues of crime against tourists; to investigate the stakeholders’ observation about behaviour of tourists in general in relation to safety and security in the area; to what extent does crime affects restaurant businesses that are serving tourists in the area; to make recommendations to what further can be done to prevent crimes against tourists in Florida Road and the province at large.

The triangulation methodology was used by employing both quantitative and qualitative methods through descriptive research approach by means of self- administered questionnaires with 42 hospitality workers, UIP security guards & taxi drivers and 10 law-enforcement agencies and interviews and focus group discussions with 5 key informants respectively. The data collected was processed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences [SPSS] and NVivo software programmes. The results were analysed using descriptive statistics, inferential statistics and a thematic analysis.

There is a perception that the number of tourists has decreased in the last three years due to the crime and the area is currently experiencing high level of theft of motor vehicles and theft out of motor vehicles. There was a perception of safety and poor visitor experience due to vagrants who poses as car guards to commit crimes. There is a perception that visitors do not make return visits once they become victims of crime and some businesses do closes down or relocate, it is also perceived that businesses experience financial losses due to crime in the study area.