Tourist crime - We must defend our reputation

There were 361 crimes reported against some 620 tourists in this country last year, according to figures released yesterday by a support group for visitors.

Most of those crimes were reported to the Irish Tourist Assistance Service (ITAS) by Garda stations in Dublin, Wicklow, Louth, Kerry and Galway.

The most common crimes were theft from the person, which accounted for 48% of all crimes reported, while there were 38 cases of thefts from their cars. There were also nine reports of violent crimes against foreign visitors, ranging from aggravated theft to robbery with violence. The crimes tended to be committed during the afternoon when the tourists were sightseeing, shopping, or just relaxing in restaurants or cafes.

ITAS is a free nationwide service offering support and assistance to tourists victimised while visiting Ireland. It is made up of staff and volunteers who speak a variety of languages. Their aim is to try to help the victims get their holiday back on track as quickly as possible.

The victims were frequently young females between the ages of 17 and 26. The importance of being able to provide assistance in a variety of languages is highlighted by the fact that more than half of the victims were visitors from France, Italy, Germany and Spain, whereas British and American tourists constituted 21% of all the victims, who comprised of 40 nationalities.

When so many young women from non-English speaking countries were the victims, it is particularly important that they should receive prompt assistance to minimise the trauma and any extra expense arising from the crime. In the vast majority of cases (84%), the victims actually continued on their holiday.

A major element in the promotion of tourism here has always been word of mouth. The best advertising is tourists returning home speaking highly of their holiday in this country, whereas tourists, who have been traumatised by being mugged or robbed during their stay, are unlikely to encourage others to visit Ireland.

Being robbed while in a foreign country is inevitably a frightening experience, especially for those who do not speak the local language and are unfamiliar with the local customs, or the legal environment. In such circumstances tourists are particularly vulnerable, so the work of ITAS in providing assistance should be warmly commended.

But more needs to be done. It is vital that this kind of crime should be tackled with determination, because tourism can play a vital part in our economic recovery.

Over the decades we have earned a reputation as the land of the welcomes. We must not allow this to be tarnished by greedy thugs, because their behaviour would inevitably have serious economic and social consequences for society as a whole.

Allowing tourists to be seen as easy victims will surely undermine the economic potential of tourism, and it will ultimately undermine our own quality of life.