Relationships between crime and tourism development: A comparative study of rural Colorado communities

Tourism is proving to be an attractive form of economic stimulation for many towns and cities in the United States, but it is unlikely that communities are fully informed of all the consequences of tourism development at the early planning stages. Among potential adverse consequences, crime has been a special area of concern in tourism because crime levels influence perceptions of visitor safety and also resident quality of life, and affect a community's reputation as a successful tourism destination.; This study undertook comparative analyses about differences in crime rates for four different types of tourism communities experiencing three different levels of community growth. Sixteen counties in Colorado were chosen for analysis; included in the study were four counties each from the categories of gambling, skiing, natural resource access, and other tourist attractions. Each county was also categorized into one of three levels of growth (low, medium, and high) using four growth indicators.; The results of this study indicated that high growth counties exhibited significantly higher property crime rate, while there were no significant differences either in violent crime rate or in total arrest rate. Ski counties were significantly higher in average property crime rate than the three other tourism types. County growth levels were associated with county tourism types, and the association between the two variables influenced their individual relationships to crime rate. The analyses of crime patterns showed that tourism counties were more likely to have property crime rather than violent crime, and some distinctive individual arrest patterns were associated with both high and low growth levels.; The results strongly suggest that the relationship between type of tourism and crime rate may be a function of county growth level. Among this sample, ski counties and gambling counties were characterized by high growth, and they reported higher crime rates than did the other types of tourism counties. The results of this study provide useful information for communities considering alternative strategies of tourism and economic development, and also suggest future directions for research into the social impacts of tourism development.