Travel Troubles: Emerging Crime Trends in the Tourism Sector

Here we highlight several crime, kidnapping and scam-related developments that have affected both travellers and the hospitality industry in 2019. One of S-RM’s security consulting experts, Peter Dolamore, shares some key insights on how to better prepare against such threats. 

CRIME 

There has been a rise in criminal incidents in several popular tourist hotspots around the world in 2019. Barcelona, Spain’s second largest city, saw a 31 percent upsurge in violent robberies in the first half of 2019. In many of these incidents, local criminals targeted tourists. For example, in June, muggers attacked a South Korean public servant who later died from her injuries. In another incident in August, Afghanistan’s ambassador to Spain was mugged and injured in the city centre. Elsewhere, in South Africa, tourism has declined amid rising crime levels, with theft, burglaries, robberies and scams being the most common crimes affecting foreign nationals in the country. There were several incidents of tourists being attacked in holiday resorts in Mexico. Official 2019 statistics show that eight coastal tourist destinations – including Cancún and Zihuatanejo – are among the 50 most violent locations in the country, where drug cartels have been fighting for control. Moreover, some cartels that engage in oil theft, such as Santa Rosa de Lima, have responded to a fierce government crackdown by increasingly turning their focus towards the extortion of restaurants, bakeries and butcher shops, especially in Guanajuato State.

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KIDNAPPING

In 2019, South America remained the region with the highest number of kidnappings in the world. However, kidnapping incidents have been rising in some countries in sub-Saharan Africa (South Africa, Nigeria) and Asia (India and the Philippines). While more than 90 percent of kidnap victims around the world are locals, perpetrators continue to view foreign nationals as attractive targets. For example, in April, gunmen kidnapped a US tourist and her local guide in Uganda's Queen Elizabeth National Park. They demanded a USD 500,000 ransom, some of which was paid to secure her release. In another instance in October, Abu Sayyaf militants kidnapped a UK national and his Filipino wife from a resort that they own in southern Philippines. The kidnappers demanded a ransom of USD 1 million. Security forces rescued the victims in late November. In early November, police arrested four fellow officers and two civilians in Jakarta, Indonesia, for kidnapping a UK national, who was ransomed for USD 900,000. These incidents are broadly indicative of criminal and militant elements trying to generate income by targeting tourists and other foreign nationals, a pattern that will undoubtedly persist in 2020.  

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SCAMS

Scams continue to be a major concern for tourists and other travellers, as con artists, taxi drivers and even restaurant staff target them due to their perceived wealth and potential unfamiliarity with their destination. In recent years, online scams have become more prevalent. While the majority of online holiday scams relate to the sale of airline tickets, scams involving private accommodation bookings (such as an apartment or villa) have become increasingly common. This is often done via websites that appear to be legitimate, offering luxury accommodation for rent, often at reduced rates. In some cases, the accommodation is offered by scammers without the owner’s knowledge, while in others, the property does not even exist. This type of scam is common in France and Spain. For example, in September, a UK couple paid more than USD 12,000 to rent a luxury two-bedroom apartment in Ibiza, Spain, only to discover that the property did not exist. In 2018, online hotel booking scams cost customers an estimated USD 5.7 billion. These scams are expected to become more prevalent in 2020, and increasingly involve other services sought by tourists. For instance, in June 2019, a conman based in Cape Town, South Africa, used his fake car rental company to scam several tourists out of tens of thousands of US dollars. Operators in the hospitality industry have been targeted too: in separate incidents in October and November in Detroit, Michigan, scammers used various ruses to direct restaurant employees to purchase gift cards using cash from the tills. The employees were then asked to send the details of the cards to the scammers, who could use that information to spend the money on the cards.

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Read our 2020 Travel Security Special Edition for more global security insights.