Balancing Tourism Marketing and Security Needs
April 2006
The 21st century has experienced a major marketing paradigm shift. Even as late as the last decade of the twentieth century it was not uncommon to hear tourism officials voice their concerns that they feared that too much, or too visible, tourism security practices would lead to visitor fear and a lowering of profits. The twenty-first century has changed that attitude considerably. Few tourism officials would now make such a statement. Instead, in an ever more dangerous world, visitors and tourists demand to know what security precautions are being taken, how their safety is being considered, and to whom to turn in case of an emergency.
Modern tourism authorities recognize that there is a fundamental paradigm shift underway in the travel industry and that old assumptions will no longer hold. From a business perspective, these old assumptions are very dangerous. Those entities and organizations in the travel and tourism industry that embrace and emphasize security will have a good chance of surviving and this includes federal facilities. The venues that provide give good security mixed with good customer service will flourish. Those parts of the travel and tourism industry that hold on to the old way of thinking will fade away. While no one can produce absolute security, here are some suggestions that will make your locale or attraction a smaller target and help to you to use security as a marketing tool. Remember to always start with achievable successes and use those successes to build momentum.
- Security and safety may have different meanings to scholars and in the US government, but in the world of travel they are one and the same. In the new paradigm shift, recognize that poison water and gunfire have the same results: the destruction of your business. Begin to see the relationship between risk management and security. They are two sides of the same coin.
- Beautification and security go hand and hand. When the environment is safe, the visitor also feels safe. Tourism security professionals know that good security begins with a perception of safety. By cleaning your streets, planting flowers, trees and mini-gardens around your city, you are not only lessening the chances that a crime will occur but also increasing a visitor’s desire to spend time in your community. Make sure that when you landscape an area to do it according to the principles of CPTED (crime prevention through environmental design)
- Be careful of whom you chose to invite into your community to give advice. Tourism security specialists must know both tourism and security. They need to be people who can help a community not merely solve a problem but promote a vision. Tourism security can only be a marketing tool if it is part of a community’s total vision. That means that the vision must be accepted by the local attractions, politicians, police departments, hotels and tourism authorities.
- Never create false senses of security. Never promise what you cannot fulfill. Marketing disasters occur when reality does not match expectations. Train and prepare your community to be safe and secure. Good security is not a matter of gas masks, but simple logic. Check to make sure your signage is accurate, review traffic patterns, and provide up-to-date tourism information and emergency numbers.
- Work with your local chief of police. Make sure that your police administration is aware of how important tourism security is to you. Most police officers have never been trained in good tourism security. It is essential to have a person work with your local police who can “translate” between tourism and security issues. Most tourism officials do not realize that police departments follow strict Weberian bureaucratic procedures. If your chief of police does not support a tourism security policy and the training of officers, then there is a low probability of police cooperation. Help your chief to understand that tourism security is good business not only for the community but also for his/her department. Too many police departments still believe that their task is to earn money for their communities through the giving of traffic tickets. Have your city government explain to your police department that such policies are not only out of date but counterproductive.
- Do seminars for your police department. Police departments will be much more willing to aid in tourism security if they too see the benefits. Show them how the profits from tourism can help to purchase new equipment, fund a new position or aid their budget.
- Encourage tourism security professionals and police agencies to attend state tourism conferences and regional tourism security conferences. The oldest and most famous tourism security conference is held each year in Las Vegas. Every major CVB should have a representative at a tourism security conference along with at least one member of its law enforcement agency.
- Know what is unsafe in your community and work with local governments to improve these security concerns. How safe is your local airport? Are hotel and restaurant workers’ backgrounds investigated? How often do taxi drivers over charge? Do tour companies provide their customers with what they promise? How often are credit card numbers stolen as part of an identify theft scam?
- Know who is studying at your local university, especially in engineering courses. University students act sociologically as if they are long term visitors. The difference is that they may also be people who are studying your community while studying an academic subject. Tourism security specialists never want to go beyond the law, but do want to have a good idea about who is in their community and for what reasons.
