Tourism Surety
December 2005
Tourism surety, the point where tourism security, safety, economics and reputation merge, has dominated 2005. From hurricanes to earthquakes, from crime to acts of terrorism, 2005 was a year that ought to have taught the tourism industry that without a strong tourism surety program the industry will suffer and profits will decrease. One part of the world that has taken tourism security very successfully is the Caribbean Island of Aruba (part of the Netherlands West Indies). In fact, despite the fact that worldwide attention was given to the tragedy of one missing (or dead) woman, Aruba has won several awards for tourism safety and security. The media attention given to the Natalie Holloway case is proof that one negative headline can create an unfair and inaccurate picture of a locale and ought to serve as a reminder to all tourism oriented communities that the tourism industry is a very fragile industry.
To help your own locale develop a tourism security program, Tourism Tidbits offers ideas from the Aruba tourism safety and security program, called the Aruba Hospitality & Security Foundation’s (AH&SF) “Visibility Team”. You can learn more about this unique concept at the International Tourism Security Conference to be held in Aruba in June of 2006.
- Aruba takes tourism security seriously and assumes that visitors read about a place prior to making a choice. The island does everything possible to stay off the US State Department’s travel advisory list.
- Aruba does not wait for the government or its agencies to take the lead in providing tourism security. While the Aruba police set security policy and implementation, it is the private sector that focuses on funding and providing the police with sufficient equipment and personnel. Last year the private sector helped to fund Arabian tourism and police with security guards, uniforms, radios, transportation needs, utilities, and office supplies. The Aruba government, however, pays the salaries of the police.
- Aruba began working under the assumption that tourists appreciate tourism police and security professionals and that the better the security the higher the tourism industry’s profits.
- The Aruba Hospitality & Security Foundation (tourism safety and security task force) is now composed of local hoteliers, businessmen/women, the former and current chief of police and has the full support of the Aruba government including its Minister of Justice. Each city/locale needs to pick those people who will be able to make their Hospitality and Security Foundation one of high prestige. For the model to work it is essential that the chief of police attend and participate in the foundation’s meetings.
- Both the private and public (tourism) sector subscribe to the same partnership idea, to keep Aruba safe, secure and environmentally friendly. The last point is essential, as there is a growing body of research that demonstrates the relationship between environment and crime.
- The Aruba model is open to public scrutiny (called in Aruba “transparency”). This principle means that all stake-holders in tourism security know how much money is spent, where it is, and how revenue is generated. Currently the private sector provides 33.4% of the funds needed for island wide tourism security. All money is held by a tourism security foundation with a board of directors and audited on a yearly basis.
- The tourism security plan has 5 major steps prior to implementation. These are (1) creation of an independent tourism security foundation, (2) private sector commitment to working with and providing funding to the local police department, (3) the full commitment of the chief of police, (4) the hiring of a program coordinator, and (5) the development and updating of a tourism security needs assessment. It should be noted that around the world, the success of tourism security and safety programs tend to be related to the support of the local police chief. A special section of the police is dedicated to tourism safety and security and is highly involved with the tourism community, not in a reactive, but proactive manner.
- Networking is essential in the Aruba model. This means that the AHSF is now working with representatives of such agencies as local drug czar, social workers, YMCA volunteers and other members of the local community. The model is based on the idea that tourism cannot be separated from the local community and that safe communities offer safe tourism destinations.
- If a program is too ambitious, regroup and start small. In the Aruba model, the original Visibility Team started with only nine hotels supporting the concept. As the concept caught on other hotels and businesses joined in. The bottom line is do not look at the negatives, but rather at the potential for growth. Once the program began, others soon joined in adding additional revenues and building success on success.
- Make sure that the public knows what you are doing. Often police departments lack good communication skills with the public. In tourism security communication skills are an essential part of tourism security. To gain public trust, consider the following as part of a cooperative effort between the local police and tourism industry: (1) speak about immediate results, (2) make sure that hotel security agencies and the police cooperate with and know each other, (3) know publicity and positive media coverage may not stop all crime but it will cause a displacement of crime
Results as of 2005. The Visibility Teams have so far been able to lower crime in not only the tourism sectors of the island but in all sections of Aruba. Due to the VT presence, drug sales have also decreased throughout the island, and the private sector is now seeking new ways in which it can lessen the police department’s burdens and increase its productive use of manpower. Furthermore the VT networks have improved the entire image of the police and gained for the police solid community support.
