The challenge of crime-safety perceptions by tourists : the case of the Inanda Heritage Route in Durban

Abstract

Over a decade ago, the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism in South Africa observed that 22 to 25 million potential travellers did not consider South Africa as a destination of choice because of safety concerns. Many authors also point to the crime perception factor as a major contributor to the decline in tourism demand at any tourism destination. Feelings of lack of safety or threat in a specific place can lead to a negative impression of the destination as a whole. This study set out to investigate whether the perception of crime in the Inanda Heritage Route has caused any damage to its overall tourism growth. The Valley of a Thousand Hills was used for comparison purposes. This study strategy used both quantitative and qualitative methods to ensure that the study was reliable and obtained the views of both the tourists and the attractions management regarding the effects of crime perceptions, and on what can be done to minimise the impact. Through convenience and simple random sampling methods, the study involved a quantitative survey of 201 tourists who were visiting the two tourism routes, as well as six managers and four owners of attractions on these routes. The tourists answered questionnaires and the managers and owners were interviewed to produce qualitative data. The findings of the study indicated that crime perceptions play a huge role in deterring tourist activities on attractions. It was also learnt that not all tourists on these routes experienced criminal activities, proving that the issues is possibly more perceptual than actual.