Award Date

12-2013

Degree Type

Professional Paper

Degree Name

Master of Science in Hotel Administration

Department

Hotel Administration

First Committee Member

William Werner

Number of Pages

49

Abstract

The hospitality industry relies upon regular and repeat customers for its survival. No traveler or visitor will return to a hotel property where a bad incident occurred. Would a diner go back to any restaurant where they were sickened by their meal? Would a hotel guest return to any property where they were a victim of a crime? Bad experiences make us tell ourselves, “I will never go back there again!”

This same psychology holds true for criminals. At places where they have been deterred by a high security presence, it is unlikely that they would return there, either. A bank with no security guards on duty is certainly a much more enticing and inviting target for a robber, than one with security guards on duty.

In the summer of 2013, there was an incident of violence at a shopping mall in Kenya. Such venues are places of public accommodation, as are those of the hospitality industry. These high profile crisis situations make for poor public relations, not only for the venue and for the property owner, but also for the local and multinational corporations vending there.

Yet, crime and violence need not come in the form of the terrorism that is seen on television, which usually takes place in and around the Middle East and Africa. There is plenty of crime and violence in the United States. These crimes come in the form of assault, battery, rape, murder, burglary, abduction, theft, etc. Many of these crimes transpire on hotel and motel properties. For anyone who follows the news regularly, or travels even to a minor extent, this may be common knowledge. Hotels and motels that have little or no visible security measures make for soft and easy targets for criminals. Travelers, many of whom are so easily distinguished from locals, make for soft and easy prey for criminals.

Keywords

Crime; Criminal psychology; Criminals; Hospitality industry; Hotels; Hotel management; Hotels--Security measures; Motels; Motels--Security measures; Public relations; Tourism; Tourists; Travelers; Victims of crimes

Disciplines

Criminology and Criminal Justice | Hospitality Administration and Management | Psychology | Public Relations and Advertising

File Format

pdf

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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