As we have seen in the preceding chapters, tourism security, and by extension, tourism policing covers a vast array of subjects and disciplines. Even a partial list of the many sub-forms of tourism security helps us to understand the field’s depth and vastness and why tourism security has both commonalities but is also site and location dependent. It is important to remember that not every tourism security expert or professional will need to deal with each of these sub-groupings, but it is important that s/he be aware of them and some of the security challenges that each one offers the tourism security professional. In this chapter we shall examine some of these skills and challenges.
Here are just a few of the sub-areas of tourism security given in alphabetical order and a brief summation of a few of the challenges that this sub-grouping presents to the security professional:
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Aquatic Tourism (Boating, Water Skiing, Surfing, Underwater Activities, Being at the Beach): This form of tourism security offers the additional challenge that the security expert must deal with security and policing issue on both land and in the water.
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Nighttime Entertainment: This area of tourism security additionally has to deal with issues of intoxication, potential for underage drinking, spiked drinks leading to multiple forms of potential assault, potential for traffic accidents due to drinking under the influence of alcohol.
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Issues of Drugs and Prostitution: These two challenges may be interrelated or not, but both are illegal activities that often occur in tourism zones.
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Event Management: This includes conventions, outdoor concerts, theatrical productions and even large religious events. This form of tourism security presents issues of weather-related challenges, issues of crowd control, potential for riots and panic, and the challenge of controlling illegal activities within a potential large crowd.
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Hotel and Lodging Security: Hotels are often mini-communities: both visitors and staff are potential victims. There is also the need for site protection and the stopping of pilferage.
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Indoor and Outdoor Sporting Events and Stadium Management: This sub-group offers many of the same challenges as that other events, but also must deal with the fact that team loyalty may spill over into all sorts of hooliganism.
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Restaurant Security: This may be part of hotel security or it may be a stand-alone grouping. There are not only issues here of food safety, but a wide range of other issues from robbery and assault to protection of patrons’ vehicles.
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Reputational Security: Tourism lives on its reputation. If the locale loses its reputation it may lose its entire industry. Reputational security touches upon how police and security professionals’ actions can lead to reputational enhancement or harm. It is the mixture of security and safety with marketing.
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Street Security and Protection of Visitors From Issues of Assault or Other Criminal Behavior: This refers especially to tourism districts where visitors are often pedestrians. This subgroup touches upon issues such as pickpockets, illegal solicitations, pedestrian harassment, and even safety in crossing streets
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Transportation Security, Including Airline, Bus, Railway, Transportation Terminal Safety, and Issues of Baggage Claim: Since the terrorism tragedies of September 11, 2001 there has been a great emphasis on transportation security. When these incidents occur, they receive a great deal of publicity and have the potential to result in many people being either injured of murdered,
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Winter Sports such as Sledding, Snow Skiing and Extreme Sports Security: Often these activities present issues of safety and risk management. Their protection issues revolve around site security, post-activity security (après-ski events) and the potential for anything from guest protection to lodging pilferage.