The Tourism Infrastructure: A Safe Community

The community must do everything in its power to protect the tourist from danger. At all times, the tourist must be safe.

Remembering that safety is a perception and not necessarily a reality, the community must make sure the visitor feels safe at all times.

Unlit and deserted streets, dark alleys, illegal activity and homeless people do not add the feeling of safety.

I’ve worked with several cities that really have the desire to attract visitors to their older, downtown areas. One of the top three reasons that people are not attracted to those areas – especially after the sun goes down – is the perception that the areas are not safe. The local champions for downtown tourism always point out that the lack of safety is only a perception, not a fact. They show crime statistics that prove crime is more prevalent in other, more modern and more popular areas. They’re quick to point out that criminals go where the money is. Well, that makes perfect sense and I do believe it one hundred percent. They even go as far as to really try to educate the rest of the community, telling them over and over again how safe it is and how wrong the perception is. Instead of trying to convince everyone that they’re wrong, why don’t they just change the perception by adding some lighting, eliminating blight and making sure there’s a strong police presence?

So, brighten up the lights, clean up the graffiti, sweep up and…

Perhaps it’s not politically correct to try to come up with a plan to displace homeless people in an attempt to make a place more visitor-friendly, but it is a reality. A community must decide whether it wants its tourist area to be a home for the homeless or a place where tourist want to come and spend time – and money.

(next: Clean Restrooms)