Examining newspaper articles on tourism and crime in South Africa.

Abstract

Tourism may be seen as a catalyst for economic growth and government’s job creation drive in South Africa. Regrettably, however, crime in the country constitutes a threat to a thriving tourism industry. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the threat posed by crime to tourism growth, a thematic analysis of relevant newspaper articles was conducted. The analysis revealed that crime, in particular robbery, is a threat to tourists. This article provides guidelines for the South African government on how to deal with the issue of crime against tourists. The article specifically recommends the empowerment of local communities to enable them to act as capable guardians in deterring crime where it raises its ugly head.

Keywords

• Tourism
• crime
• safety
• tourist destination
• robbery
• guardians