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Referrals
2009 saw a decrease of 23% in reported tourist crime to An Garda Síochána. ITAS received 354 referrals which included both crime and non-crime incidents. This compares with 380 referrals, a 7% decrease in 2008. 51% of the cases referred to the Service were at weekends and bank holidays. Garda referrals to ITAS made up 87% of casework compared with 85% in 2008. Other sources of referral included embassies (10 cases), tourist industry (10), tourists themselves (20) (after seeing our details on websites, posters, tourist guides) and miscellaneous sources (7).
ITAS is a national service and assists tourists throughout Ireland. In 2009, 77% of cases referred were from Dublin and 23% from outside Dublin. ITAS deals with cases by telephone as well as in the office. In 2009, ITAS assisted 639 tourists in total. 401 tourists (63%) visited the office and were assisted by staff and volunteers who offered their experience and knowledge to help resolve issues facing the tourist. 238 tourists received assistance over the phone. Most of these cases involved giving information and telephone numbers and staying in contact with them until they were happy that everything was resolved to their satisfaction. In some instances tourists required transportation to Dublin to visit their embassy and ITAS arranged this.
Many of the cases ITAS assists cannot be handled in one day. Tourists need to be phoned back or need to call back into the office for follow up assistance. In 2009, the number of days involved in casework totalled 457, which is a slight increase of 2.5% over 2008.
60% of tourists assisted were female. Tourists aged between 17 and 25 (33%) made up the largest group referred to ITAS. This is followed by 26-35 year olds (22%), 36-45 (9%), 46-55 (7%), 56-65 (7%), over 66 (4%), under 10 (2%), 11-16 (1%). 15% of the age category is unknown and is as a result of the case being handled by telephone.
An Garda Síochána Referrals
An Garda Síochána referred 307 cases to ITAS, which included 100 non-crime cases. Dublin garda stations referred 244 or 79% of these cases. 62% of ITAS referrals from Gardaí were received from the city centre garda stations of Store Street and Pearse Street, with Store Street Garda Station referring the majority of cases, 119, up from 69 in 2008. This significant increase from Store Street can be attributed to the fact that ITAS run the Service out of the station at weekends and bank holidays. This works well as tourists reporting incidents at the station can immediately be seen by ITAS staff. Pearse Street referred 70 cases a decrease of 34% on the previous year’s figure of 106 referrals. ITAS saw a decrease in referrals from Harcourt Terrace, Kevin Street and O’Connell Street Garda Stations and an increase in referrals from the Airport, Bridewell and Mountjoy Garda Stations.
Outside the Dublin Metropolitan Region, Gardaí in Co. Kerry referred the highest number of cases (9) to ITAS in 2009 up from 3 cases in 2008. Limerick Gardaí referred 8 cases up from 4. County Louth referred 7 cases up from 2 in 2008. Meath and Waterford Gardaí referred 6. There were decreases in referrals from Gardaí in Galway, Wicklow, Cork and Donegal.
Only 12% of all tourist crime reported to An Garda Síochána is referred to ITAS. The Service continues to work with the Gardaí towards increasing the number of referrals so that tourists can receive the best possible care in the aftermath of a crime.
Main Types of Crime
Theft from Person’ is the main type of crime referred to ITAS each year and in 2009 it accounted for 50% of the cases handled, a decrease from last year’s figure of 58%. Other types of crime were ‘Theft from Cars’ (9%) and ‘Burglary’ (3%). There were 9 violent crimes referred to ITAS and these included Assaults, Sexual Assaults and Robberies with Knife/Gun/Violence.
Non-Crime
Each year ITAS are referred a relatively high number of non-crimes including losses, road traffic accidents and tourists with no access to funds. Regarding the ‘losses’, it is believed that many could actually be thefts, however as the tourist does not actually see the alleged crime taking place, the incident is categorised as a loss.
Client Nationality
In 2009, ITAS assisted tourists from 38 different countries. The main nationalities referred are similar to those in previous years with the top 6 positions made up of the same nationalities, albeit in a slightly different order.
French citizens used the service the most in 2009 for the third year running, making up 15% of the total people referred. There was an increase in German (34%), Italian (19%) Spanish (66%) and American (6%) nationals using the Service while British clients, which in the past has been the largest category referred fell to sixth place. The following is a breakdown of the top six nationalities referred in 2009:
French 94 people (15%) American 68 people (11%)
German 86 people (14%) Spanish 68 people (11%)
Italian 75 people (12%) British 61 people (10%)
ITAS referred 198 cases on to their embassies for temporary documents or for a replacement passport to be issued. The main embassies ITAS worked with were the German embassy (40 cases) French embassy, (36 cases), Italian embassy (28 cases), Spanish embassy (27 cases), and American embassy (20 cases).
Assistance
Cash and credit cards were the items most stolen from tourists in 2009. Over €46,500 was taken from the 195 cases that had cash stolen, an average of €238.00 per case. 168 passports and 124 national identity cards were taken from ITAS clients, which meant that 198 people had to visit their embassy for temporary travel documents. On 66 occasions tourists used a secondary document they were carrying or had sent to them and on 28 occasions British nationals were able to fly home using the ITAS1 garda form. On 12 occasions airlines re-scheduled flights free of charge when tourists would not have made their flight due to the crime occurring so close to the time of departure. ITAS received 36 bed nights from hotels and hostels and 119 meal vouchers were handed out when tourists were left stranded after a crime with no immediate funds. Complimentary transport was organised in 76 cases, which included bus, rail, DART, taxi’s and ferries. 28 cases needed help with interpreting and 62 cases required garda liaison as the case was on-going or complicated. 15 cases were referred onto the Department of Social Welfare’s Homeless Section.
Outcome
The initial reaction of many tourist victims of crime is that they would like to go home. However, if a staff member or volunteer speaks to the tourist within a couple of hours of the crime occurring, it can have a huge positive effect emotionally. If the tourist knows that there is someone there to help and guide them through all that needs to be done, their initial reaction disappears and the majority continue with their holiday. In 2009, 544 tourist or 86% continued with their holiday after ITAS intervention.
7% were forced to stay – this mostly occurs when ID/passports are stolen and the tourist cannot travel until they obtain a temporary travel document. 3% had to abandon their plans due to the consequences of the crime. The trip status of 4% of tourists was not accounted for.
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STATISTICS