INTRODUCTION

Problem statement
What are the socio-economic effects of crime on tourism in Trinidad and Tobago?

Statement of problem
I will focus my study on the socio-economic effects of crime on tourism on the geographical area of Carenage, Chaguaramas Trinidad.

The purpose of this study

The purpose of this study is to conduct research to show the socio-economic effects of crime on and to raise awareness of the importance of tourism to the sustainable development of the country. This study also aims to satisfy the Internal Assessment requirement of the Caribbean Studies Syllabus (2012) for Caribbean Advanced Profiency Exams (CAPE).

Educational value
This investigation is expected to provide information for future research in society. Knowledge about the effects is very beneficial to several individuals such as tourist officials, teachers and service officials. The government will be able to use the statistical data from this report to assist in the development of policies; aimed at mitigating tourism related crimes.

Definitions of key terms

Socio-economic- a term used that examines social and economic factors to better understand how the combination of both influences something. Foreign investor- a person who places a particular sum of money in business ventures, real estate, or Securities of a permanent nature in a host country to produce an income. Tourism-The commercial organization and operation of vacations and visits to places of interest for recreational, leisure, or business purposes.

Research questions
1. What effects does crime in the tourism sector have on society? 2. What effects does crime in the tourism sector have on the local economy? 3. What is the rate of influence on safety in relation to tourism in the country? 4. What will happen to the tourism sector in the future if there is increased crime in the country? 5. What measures should the government implement to protect and preserve the tourism sector from crime in the country?

LITERATURE REVIEW
In order to fully research my topic, information was gathered from a variety of sources and was inspected thoroughly for this literature review.

Many ongoing investigations are being done to investigate the social impacts of crime in tourism. According to Sharon Clark (2012), crime in tourism has different effects on the social life of people. These social impacts of tourism affect host communities of direct and indirect relations with tourists and of interaction with the tourism industry. Additionally she notes for a variety of reasons the social impacts of crime in tourism brings about changes in value systems and behavior, thereby threatening indigenous identity. Changes often occur in community structure, family relationships, collective traditional life styles, ceremonies and morality.

The cost of tourism related crime leads one to wonder how this will affect the local economy. According to Travis Rampersad article on this website http://www.trinidadexpress.com/businessmagazine/The_Impact_of_Crime_on_Tourism_in_Trinidad_and_Tobago122132388.html ,Rampersad sates that the World Bank and Tourism council (established in 2010) notes that the Trinidad and Tobago Tourism and Travel agency accounted for 3.8% of Gross Domestic Profit (GDP) decreasing foreign revenue. He also notes that a decrease from 35,000 to 33,000 jobs in the tourism sector is as a result of crime in the country. As a result of negative marketing identity tourist arrivals are reduced to the country affecting the countries local economy.

Many concerns are being put forward as to what will happen to tourism with increasing crime. Shaw and Williams (1994) elucidates that with increasing crime in the tourism sector, we will suffer the consequences of criminal activities against tourist and the tourism sector will result in ceasing to exist, reducing the ability attract tourists and to generate foreign revenue. De Albuquerque (1984) postulates that with increasing crime in tourism, those whose jobs are
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dependent on tourism will be affected directly decreasing the amount of foreign investors to the country in near future.

The level of safety within a country influences the amount of truism related crimes. The Tourism and Travel agency in cooperation with the Central Statistical Office (CTO) stated that the level of security in Trinidad and Tobago tourism industry is 90% sufficient. According to the website http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Crimes_against_tourists_down-175531411.html: Hardwicke stressed that, visitors to this island are safe, because we are safe and therefore we have to make sure that all stakeholders' interests, including the residents and citizens alike, are taken into account.

To recognize tourism as top priority, government must elevate tourism related crimes as an issue to the top in building confidence in safety and security. With reference to the article on the website article http://www.popcenter.org/problems/crimes_against_tourists/print/ : tourism related crimes can be reduced by introducing more free sporting programs and other recreational facilities in tourism communities were crime and poverty are abundant. Free counseling programs and education on the awareness of the importance of tourism to ones country.

In conclusion it is clear from the information above that tourism related crimes can lead to many other socio-economic impacts. This research project will focus on how the residences of Carenage are affected by tourism related crimes and what they believe can alleviate such crimes.

DATA COLLECTION SOURCES

On Saturday October 2012 I travelled to Chaguaramas and distributed questionnaires to

randomly selected individuals in the community of Carenage. The research sample comprised forty households and businesses randomly selected. Random sampling was used to select the houses and businesses so that any probability of researcher bias would be eliminated.

Furthermore a tourist, who wishes to remain anonymous, was interviewed on Sunday 21st October, 2012 at the Waterfront Hyatt Regency in Port-of-Spain with regards to their experiences to being affected by crime within the country.

Instrument of data collection

Questionnaire
Advantages: 1. It enables the collection enables the collection of a large amounts of data in a short time. 2. It guarantees the confidentiality of all respondents. 3. It is convenient for both the researcher and the respondents.

Disadvantages: 1. It does not facilitate the collection of the respondents nonverbal communication. 2. There is no way to tell how truthful a respondent is being 3. There is no way of telling how much thought a respondent has put in answering the questionnaire.

The questionnaires had a total of twenty questions each. Fifteen of these questions were closedended while the remaining five were open-ended questions.

Interview
Advantages: 1. First-hand knowledge about the topic at hand can be obtained.. 2. New relevant data which may not have been predicted can emerge during the interview process.

Disadvantages:
1. Subjective evaluations are made.

2. Not much evidence of validity of the selection procedure.

The interviewee was visiting Trinidad for a business conference and has been a victim of robbery in the city of Port-of-Spain. The tourist was asked ten open-ended questions and became subjective when describing how the incident occurred.

Secondary data collection sources

In addition to the primary data collection sources mentioned above, I made use of reliable online journals and articles. I also utilized several books to ground my research.

PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA

Presentation of data
The findings from the distributed questionnaires will be analyzed where graphs, diagrams, charts and tables will be used to illustrate the information.

" What do you think is the main reason for tourism related crime in your community?"
25% 40% 28%

2%

5%

Figure One: Column chart showing the percentage of peoples responses as to what they think is the main reason for tourism related crimes. Twenty-five percent of these respondents chose poverty; twenty-eight percent choose unemployment; forty-five percent chose lack of education; two percent of these respondents believed that it was the choice of peoples lifestyle, and five percent chose other.

"How do tourism related crimes affect your social life in the community?"

70% 60% 50% Negative idientity of community 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Disturbs traditonal lifestlyes Socialization Other

Figure Two: Column chart showing peoples responses as to how tourism related crime affects their social life. Sixty-five of these respondents selected negative identity of community, twenty-five percent selected disturbs traditional lifestyles, and nine percent selected socialization and one percent selected other.

Percentage respondents

10

"Is your job dependent on tourism?"

Non dependant 10%

Dependent 90%

Figure Three: Pie chart showing the percentage of peoples responses, as to if their job is dependent on tourism in their community. Ninety percent of these respondents said dependent and five percent said non- dependent.

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How do you think crime in tourism affects the economy? OPTIONS Decrease in foreign revenue Reduced employment opportunities Negative publicity which decreases foreign investors All of the above PERCENTAGE 25% 30% 35% 10%

Table One: Table showing percentage of peoples responses, as to how they think tourism related crimes affect the local economy. Twenty-five of these respondents believed that it causes a decrease in foreign revenue; thirty percent believed that it causes a reduction in local employment opportunities; thirty-five percent believed that it causes negative publicity which decreases the attraction of foreign investors to the country and ten percent selected all of the options provided.

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"How do you rate the level of safety in your community?"

low

response

high

Moderate

0%

10%

20%

30% Percenatge

40%

50%

60%

Figure Four: Bar chart showing peoples responses as to how they rate safety on tourism in their community. Fifty percent of these respondents said moderate, fifteen percent said high and thirty-five percent said low.

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"What do you think will happen to tourism sector if crime is increased?"

Amount of respondents

12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Reduction of tourist arrival Decreased employment

Reduced foreighn investors Responses

Figure Five: Line chart showing the responses of people as to what they think will happen to the tourism sector crime is increased community. Ten of these respondents chose reduction of tourist arrivals, twelve chose decreased employment and eight chose reduced foreign investors.

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" What can the government do to reduce tourism related crimes?"

25

Number of respondents

20

15

10

0 Increased security Education Solutions

Figure Six: Bar chart showing peoples responses as to what they think the government can do to reduce tourism related crimes. Twenty-five of these respondents said increased security and five respondents said education.

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Analysis of data
Previously data was presented graphically in the form of diagrams and tables. These presentations revealed different information in relation to the topic which will now be interpreted.

Firstly, if one makes reference to Figure one, one will observe that certain responses were given to the question about what respondents thought was the main reason of tourism related crimes within their community. Twenty-five percent selected unemployment, 28% stated poverty, 2% believed it is the way people chose to live whilst majority (45%) believed that its prevalence is due to that lack of education amongst the village population. These statistics suggest that tourism related crimes originate from poverty amongst the people who lack finance to gain a proper education and employment.

Additionally, when the respondents were asked how does tourism related crime affect their social life as illustrated in Figure two, an overwhelming percentage of individuals, 65%, indicated that it displays an unsafe community for tourist. Twenty-five percent stated that it disturbs collective traditional lifestyles, whilst 9% are affected through socialization in terms of moral values and behavior changes. Whereas only 1% experience high levels of stress where it puts constraints on employment with reference to figure three, since 90% of these peoples jobs are dependent on tourism. These findings indicate the level of damage crime inflicts within tourism in their community greatly affects their social life.

The fact that most respondents are concerned with the high levels of crime affecting their employment provides a relationship as to how dependent their jobs are on tourism as illustrated in Figure three. A majority of the respondents (90%) jobs were dependent, whereas 10% of the
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respondents job was non-dependent. One can conclude that the community is a highly tourism based community. Furthermore when they were asked how they think tourism related crimes affect the local economy as illustrated in Table One, 25% of respondents said a decrease in foreign revenue and 30% said reduced employment opportunities for locals since in figure four; most jobs are dependent on tourism. One would also observe that 35% of the respondents state that it creates negative publicity which reduces foreign investors, whereas 5% said all of the options provided. This indicates that with increasing crime in tourism, constraints will be put on the economy.

Furthermore, when they were asked how they rate the level of safety in tourism illustrated in Figure four, the majority (50%)of respondents stated that it was moderate; 35% stated that it was low whereas only 15% stated that it was high. From such statistics, one can conclude that with reference to figure six, 85% of respondents believe the security system within this community is not strong and more should be done to increase the availability of security to protect tourists.

The respondents were asked what they think would happen to the tourism sector if there is increased crime within the country as illustrated in Figure five. Ten respondents predicted the reduction of tourist arrivals to the country hence affecting the local economy as shown in table one. Twelve respondents predicted that those, whose jobs are dependent on tourism, with reference to Table one, will suffer since less employment will be available due to the increase of crime, whereas 8 respondents predicted a reduced level of foreign investors to the country. One can conclude that the respondents have taken into serious consideration the significance of crime in tourism and the sustainable development of it from future predicaments.

When asked what do they think the government officials should do to reduce tourism related crimes as illustrated in Figure Six, a majority of 85% suggested that the security system be increased within their community, this result seems to be contrary to that of Figure one .Even though 45% stated that lack of education was the main cause of tourism related crimes only 10%
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percent suggested that more educational facilities and opportunities be available to every poor community whereas only 5% suggest that government educate the population of the importance of tourism to their country. This indicates that the village of Carenage is limited with security since with reference to figure four, only 15% of the people rated safety as high.

These statistics indicate not only the seriousness of the matter with which people of Carenage are presented with when dealing with crime in tourism. They show that the respondents are truly concerned about the safety of tourists.

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DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
From interpreting the data collected, it was noted that some of the results corresponded to that stated in the Literature Review whilst some to a certain extent contradicted.

In relation to the first research question crime in tourism has different effects on the social life of respondents within the Carenage community. According to the Literature Review, Sharon Clarke (2012) stated in her book that the social impacts of tourism affects host communities of direct and indirect relations with tourists and of interaction with the tourism industry. In the presentation of data, figure two, 65% of the respondents also stated this. Clarke states that for a variety of reasons the impact of crime in tourism brings about changes in value systems and behavior, thereby threatening indigenous identity as 9% of respondents agreed to this. Furthermore, Clarke also stated in her article that changes often occur in community structure, family relationships, collective traditional life styles, ceremonies and morality. When compared to the results, 25% of respondents in Figure two also agreed with this information. However, only 1% of respondents stated that they experience stress, this information was not included in the Literature Review.

The second research question was based on the effects of tourism related crimes on the economy. According to Travis Rampersad article (Trinidad Newsday, 2011) in the Literature Review which states that the World Bank and Tourism council shows that the Trinidad and Tobago tourism and Travel agency accounted for 3.8% of Gross Domestic Profit (GDP) decreasing foreign revenue. Likewise, from the presentation of data, illustrated in Table one, 25% of respondents stated that is reduces foreign revenue in the country. Rampersad states that a decrease from 35,000 to 33,000 jobs in the tourism sector as a result of tourism related crimes in the country. Thirty percent of respondents stated that it reduces employment. Rampersad also states that tourist arrivals are reduced to the country; likewise 35% of respondents in table one also stated this.

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The third research question deals with residents rating the level of safety in their community against tourists. The Literature review states that the tourism and travel agency in cooperation with the central statistical office (CTO) stated that the level of security in Trinidad and Tobago tourism industry is 90% sufficient, however in contrast to the results obtained in Figure four, only 15% of the respondents stated that is was high in their community thus not supporting the information provided in the Literature Review.

The impact of such reported crimes on tourism leads to the fourth research question which deals with what may happen to the tourism sector in near future with increasing crime rate. The Literature Review states that with the consequences of criminal activities against tourist, tourist arrivals will reduce (Shaw and Williams 1994). Likewise in Figure five, 10 respondents predicted a reduction of tourist arrivals to the country as shown in table one .De Albuquerque (1984) goes on to say that with increased crime in tourism, those whose jobs are dependent on tourism will be affected directly and a decrease of foreign investors to the country. Likewise 12 of the respondents in stated a decrease in employment since in figure that 90% of the respondents jobs are dependent on tourism whereas 8 respondents said a decrease in foreign investors.

The last research question deals with respondents recommendations to alleviate tourism related crimes. According to the Literature Review an article stated that tourism related crimes can be reduced by introducing more sporting programs and recreational facilities, free counselling programs and more education on the awareness of the importance of tourism. However the information illustrated in Figure six, 25 respondents indicated that government need only to provide more security within the communities such as Carenage, whereas only 5 of the respondent agreed that the population should be educated on the importance of tourism.

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CONCLUSION, LIMITATTION OF THE RESEARCH, RECOMMENDATIONS

Conclusion
Residents of the Carenage community believe that a high level of unemployment is one of the main causes of tourism related crimes in their area. They also believe that there is poor security access in their area. Significant reports of robberies, rape and other tourism related crimes as a result of high levels of poverty and unemployment, have a negative effect on the social life of residents and the economy. Residents believe that by providing more security, employment and education would drastically decrease the occurrence of such crimes. However, this study uncovers further issues on the matter. Respondents state that no tangible efforts are being made to alleviate tourism related crime in this vicinity.

Limitations
While conducting this research, several limitations were faced; Respondents did not answer all questions in the questionnaire Respondents did not answer the questions truthfully A lack of local research resources, thus having to rely on foreign ones.

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Recommendations
From the findings of this study one should consider the following recommendations in relation to the topic: 1. Imposing additional taxes in tourist areas to support special security measures. In tourist areas such as Carenage, property owners should pay a special fee to support security and reduce safety risks to tourists.

2. Offering rewards for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those who commit serious crimes against tourists. The tourism industry should be willing to help finance reward programs with local government in conjunction with Crime Stoppers for developing such program.

3. Educating tourists to reduce their risk of victimization. Police in tourist areas should develop an array of methods for educating tourists about crime prevention; one such example is creating a website with a dedicated tourist menu that provides safety tips.

4. Increasing uniform patrols in tourist areas. Highly visible police patrols can discourage offenders who target tourists and increase tourists sense of safety. In response, surveillance cameras should be added by government to complement foot patrols.

5. Changing the physical environment to reduce opportunities for tourist crimes. Such measures might include putting up appropriate signs for tourists at key locations (e.g., near airports) to prevent their becoming lost or a traffic hazard, or inadvertently going into highrisk areas.

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SAMPLE QUESTIONNAIRE

Dear sir/madam, My name is Christopher Seeraj and I am a lower six student of Vishnu Boys Hindu College. I am currently conducting a survey on the socio-economic impacts of crime on tourism in this area. You are kindly asked to answer each question appropriately by placing a tick ( ) in the box where required and short answers where applicable. Your assistance in filling out this short questionnaire would be greatly appreciated. As your name is not required your identity will remain completely anonymous.

Yours respectfully

_________________________

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INSTRUCTIONS: This questionnaire has twenty questions. Please read all questions carefully and answer accordingly. Answer questions as directed.

Please tick on appropriate answer for the following questions. 1. Please select gender o o o o o o Male female

2. What age group do you belong to? 15-20 20-30 30-40 40 and above

3. Do you think tourism plays an important part in your country? o o o Yes No Maybe

If No, state reasons for answer.

4. In what way does tourism impact on your life? o o o o Financially through generating foreign revenue by marketing/production/sales. Creates employment opportunities. Learning different cultural aspects through socialization. All of the above Other (Please specify)

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5. What do you think is the main reason for crime in your community? o o o o o Juvenile delinquency Poverty Unemployment Lack of education Peoples choice of living Other (please specify) _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ 6. How does tourism related crime impact on your social life? o o o Unsafe community identity Negative socialization Disturbs traditional lifestyles Other (please specify) _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ 7. On average an average percent how much d you think crime has affected tourist arrivals in your community/country? o o o o 1%-25% 25%-50% 50%-75% 75%-100%

8. Using the choices given below, on average percentage, place the following choices A, B, C and D in the table by ticking the respective box. Foreign exchange = A Employment= B cultural = C business= D

Which sector, on average percentage do you think is affected by crime in tourism? 35% 50% 10% 5% 26 A B C D A B C D A B C D A B C D

9. In what ways do criminal activities against tourists impact on the identity of your community? o o o o Underdeveloped and rural community Under privileged community Ghetto lack of moral values Un educated community Other (please specify) _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ 10. Do you think the only reason for increased security against criminal activities in your community is because of the introduction of tourism? o o o o o o Yes No Maybe

11. In relation to question (9), do you believe that this is fair to local residents? Yes No Maybe

State the reason for your answer __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 12. With reference to the incident in which two British nationals were assaulted, what do you think was the main motive for the crime? o o o o Discrimination of people in host countries. Possession of Valuables Terrorism Sexual Crimes (Other please specify) _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________

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13. Is your job dependant on tourism? o o Dependant Non dependant

14. On average percentage, to what extent does your job depend on tourism? o o o o o o o o 1%-25% 25%-50% 50%-75% 75%-100%

15. How do you think crime in tourism affects the economy? Decrease in foreign currency Reduced employment opportunities Negative publicity which decreases foreign investors All of the above

16. Do you think the increased crime in tourism will have a massive effect on the economy? o o o Yes No Maybe State the reason for your answer _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________

17. What is the rate of influence of safety on tourism in your community? o o o moderate high low

18. Drug trafficking is a result of increased tourism. In relation to this statement do you: o o o o Agree Dis agree Strongly agree Strongly Disagree

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19. What will happen to the tourism sector in future if there is increased crime in the country? ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ 20. Suggest some ways in which residents can assist in reducing crime within their communities. ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________

21. In what ways do you think the government should implement strategies to deter the increased crime levels in tourism? ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ 22. What ways can you suggest that will be able to educate nationals of the importance of tourism in the country? ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________

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INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

1. When did the robbery occur? 2. What did they demand from you? 3. Did they use any weapons? 4. What was your first reaction? 5. Can you give a description of the criminal who assaulted you? 6. What do you think was the reason for the robbery? 7. Did you report the incident to local police station and what was their response? 8. Were you compensated for your loss? 9. How has this incident affected you psychologically? 10. How do you believe criminal activities can be reduced towards tourist? 11. What do you see currently being done to reduce crime in the country? 12. Would you return to this country?

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