Few tourists fall victim to crime

Research carried out by Victim Support Malta (VSM) into crime involving international travellers has confirmed the safety tourists enjoy during their stay on the islands.

The objective of the study, part of an AGIS project held in conjunction with Victim Support UK and INAVEM (France's Victim Support), was to establish the qualitative aspect of support given to international travellers who become victims of crime, and how support services may be improved if necessary.

Support services to tourists include assistance after the offence, ensuring that their permanence in Malta is not ruined, helping them to carry on with their stay, and steps to preserve a good impression of Malta, despite the visitors' negative experience.

Fr Mark Montebello, OP, a volunteer with VSM, carried out the research, which will be formally presented at a seminar on Thursday, Victim Support Day, at the Attard & Co Ltd foyer in Marsa at 6 p.m. The research is part of a report entitled "Making Malta safer for tourists".

With the co-operation of Malta International Airport, Fr Montebello held over 700 short interviews with departing visitors, who included tourists and business travellers.

"Out of the 700, only 21 had fallen victim to crime," Fr Montebello told The Sunday Times. "The percentage is very small. Around 2,500 tourists a year are victimised. That is fairly low considering that Malta hosts around 1.1 million visitors a year. Besides, the crime is not always serious and theft is the most common offence. These figures also tally with police statistics. Through the interviews we aimed to gauge the support victims of crime received during their stay."

The report recommends that Government liaise with tourism authorities to take special measures to improve surveillance and to raise awareness among proprietors of the harm crime causes the industry, and suggests the police consider signing a code of procedure to refer victimised tourists to VSM. It also recommends that a host of organisations take measures to supervise tourist service providers.

VSM has a six-member committee of professionals led by director Pamela Hansen, a columnist for The Sunday Times, all of whom are volunteers. The organisation has one full-time co-ordinator, Romina Baldwin, a psychology graduate.