Economic Sector Support: Tourism Safety

Economic sector support

What is Tourism Safety?

Safety and security are vital to providing quality experiences in tourism. More than any other economic activity, the success and failure of a tourism destination depends on being able to provide a safe and secure environment for visitors.

Why Tourism Safety is important?

Whilst Tourism is a significant contributor to the Western Cape economy, the impact of crime on tourists threatens to negatively affect this sector. As Western Cape tourism faces the realities of emerging markets and global demand trends, it is of utmost importance that visitors feel safe and protected. It must be noted that tourists are more vulnerable to crime than citizens. Crime against tourists can impede tourism by significantly damaging a location’s image. Therefore, the most important prerequisite for a successful tourist industry is a reputation for having crime under control and communicating tourism safety.

Tourism Safety Strategy

Tourism significantly contributes to the Western Cape economy both in terms of GVA and job creation and as such addressing the factors affecting tourism safety needs to be championed by the Department Economic Development and Tourism (DEDAT). The National Department of Tourism has made tourism and tourism safety a priority thus providing DEDAT the perfect fertile ground to play a leadership role by bringing in safety & security, social development, and environmental issues all under the umbrella of Tourism Safety. Having a dedicated Tourism Safety strategy has the advantage of this niche part of the Western Cape’s economy getting the priority and focused attention it deserves.

The objectives of the Tourism Safety strategy are:

Reduction in crime affecting tourists within the Western Cape.
Improvement in the brand image of Cape Town and the Western Cape from a safety/security/crime perspective.
Development of a multi stakeholder and collaborative working solution which brings public sector and private players together.
Building a sense of confidence in the role of government to make a difference on key issues affecting our economy and society.
Creating a best practice model for crime reduction which could be implemented elsewhere to reduce crime for all South Africans.
Improvement in the level of safety and security readiness and preparedness within the tourism industry – attractions and tourism businesses (such as tour operators, venues, guides).

The six-lever Tourism Safety strategy is depicted in the figure below: