(TITC) – Safety and security are vital to providing quality in tourism. More than any other economic activity, the success or failure of a tourism destination depends on being able to provide a safe and secure environment for visitors. ASEAN Clean Tourist City Standard (ACTCS) requires ASEAN cities to assess the health safety and urban safty and security in nomination document.
Safety and security is the responsibility of the local authority of the area and ensuring of safety of tourists as well as of people living in the region is the main objective of this indicator. The indicator is aimed at desiring a view of harmonization between international tourists and local people, and at encouraging the cities to take actions to contribute to the reduction of risk which is occurred in all forms and in the sense of contributing to the tourism development in the context of safe tourism.
The indicator assesses the number and quality of health centres, pharmacies and health service providers, that are available in the city as well as evaluating the risk management strategy in place, the extent of sanitation inspection, public order management, the safety of travelling around the city, and the dissemination of information provided to tourists and the local population about the crime prevention and the enforcement of the rules. There are 4 detail indicators as flowing.
Health safety has two aspects: 1) evaluation of the number and quality of health centres (hospitals, clinics…) and pharmacies as well as the health service providers; and 2) the extent of sanitation inspection at areas where tourists congregate (restaurants, markets, fast food outlets, street vendors, etc.…) according to laws and regulations in place in the country.
Safety and security in the city assesses the level of public order in place and can be measured by the number of police (especially tourist police) and how they are trained to deal with issues involving tourists. How taxi drivers treat tourists courteously and honestly should also be considered. Another sub-indicator could refer to safety of travelling around the city (traffic, road congestion, safety in crossing roads, safe pavements etc.…).
Crime prevention and enforcement of rules (child prostitution, drugs etc.) This ascertains the efforts in place to protect the local population from illegal activities and to dissuade tourists from indulging in them such as child prostitution, drugs, trafficking, smuggling, damage of environmental and cultural assets etc.… It evaluates the enforcements of the rules (policing and sanctions) and the effectiveness of awareness campaigns.
Risk management strategy assesses the ability of the country to cope up with unexpected events such as natural disaster etc. It evaluates the scope and effectiveness of risk management strategy if it exists.
Table of assessment on 4 indicators of Health Safety and Urban Safety and Security
| HEALTH SAFETY AND URBAN SAFETY AND SECURITY | Requirement of major criteria | Criteria | Evidences for criteria | Appraisal | Score |
| 1.Health safety | Does health safety be ensured in the city? | Are there enough health centres in the city? | Provide a detailed list and map of all health centres (staffs, equipment and size etc.) in the city and compare it to the total number of population in the city (refer to the latest census data) | Yes (At least 1 for 500 inhabitants to get a score) No | |
| Are there enough pharmacies in the city? | Provide a list and a map of all pharmacies in the city and compare it to the total number of population in the city (refer to the latest census data) | Yes (At least 1 for 500 inhabitants to get a score) No | |||
| Is there a sanitation norm for the places where tourists congregate? | Provide the specific sanitation norm, if any, for each place where tourists congregate (restaurants, markets, fast food outlets, street vendors, etc.) | Yes No | |||
| How often are sanitation inspections carried out at areas where tourists congregate (restaurants, markets, fast food outlets, street vendors, etc.…)? | Provide name of the authority in charge of inspection, the schedule of sanitation inspection and the annual report with the date of each inspection | Monthly or more often (At least once a month to get a score) Less than once a month | |||
| 2.Safety and security in the city | Quality of safety and security in the city | Are there sufficient police officers in the city? (based on individual country’s norm) | Provide the number of police officers in the city and the country’s norm related to this issue | Yes No | |
| Is there a dedicated tourist police unit in the city? | Provide : -government’s decision on tourist police unit with its roles and responsibilities -the locations of tourist police unit in the city | Yes No | |||
| Have they been properly trained to deal with issues that tourists may have? | Provide details about trainings conducted for tourist police officers (type of courses, materials, number of intake, etc.) | Yes No | |||
| 3.Crime prevention and enforcement of rules | Strategies and/or specific measures for crime prevention and enforcement of rules | Are regulations (protective and preventive measures and activities) against illegal activities resulting from tourism enforced to protect the local population (i.e. child prostitution, drugs, trafficking, smuggling, damage of environmental and cultural assets etc.)? | Prove: – the existence of related laws and regulations – protective and preventive measures and activities taken by authorities – latest data of the number of tourism-related crimes occurring in the city | Yes No | |
| Are awareness campaigns to persuade tourists not to indulge in illegal activities carried out regularly? | Justify the existence of awareness campaigns (type of campaigns, targeted groups of tourists, materials/means and frequency) | Yes No | |||
| 4.Risk management strategy | Strategies and/or specific measures for risk management strategy (Refer to Safety and Security Best Practices of ASEAN) | Is there a risk management system in place? | Provide decision and/or documents related to the risk management system of the city | Yes No | |
| Is it regularly updated and are the main people involved trained and their skills updated? | Provide: – date and details of each update – details about training and skills update for main people involved | Yes No | |||
| Is there a crisis management system in place? | Provide decision and/or documents related to crisis management system of the city | Yes No | |||
| – Number of Detailed Indicators: 2 – Number of Criteria: 5 | Total | 5 |
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