International tourists’ perceptions of crime-risk and their future travel intentions during the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ in South Africa

The 2010 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup™ tournament provided an opportunity for South Africa to showcase its unique beauty and attractiveness as an international tourist destination. However, the trepidation over crime emerged as a key concern in relation to South Africa's ability to host a successful 2010 FIFA World Cup™. This study investigates 398 foreign tourists’ perceptions of South Africa during the soccer tournament, especially regarding crime and safety concerns. A questionnaire was distributed among tourists in Cape Town and Johannesburg, two of the major host cities and semi-final and final venues, respectively. Findings reveal that most respondents had positive perceptions of South Africa as a holiday destination. Two-thirds of those interviewed agreed that South Africa was a safe place to visit. Over half of respondents were not concerned about their safety while in South Africa. Several individual factors were found to affect their crime-risk perceptions of which the most significant was nationality. Most notably, soccer tourists from the Middle East and Asia felt the safest, whereas those from South America and Western Europe felt the least safe. Crime-safety issues did not appear to affect respondents’ future travel intentions, as a majority of study respondents said crime-safety concerns would not deter them from returning to South Africa. The findings of the study are useful to practitioners and contribute to the development of staging major sporting events in Africa specifically, and globally more generally, in the future.


Introduction
S port tourism, as a niche of the tourism sector in South Africa, has been rapidly evolving ( Department of Sport and Recreation, 2009 ). It is reported that 10 per cent of all international tourists visiting South Africa fall in the category of sports tourists, with 60 -80 per cent of these being classifi ed as spectators ( South Africa.info, 2010 ). The hosting of numerous high profi le sporting events in South Africa such as the 1995 Rugby World Cup ™ and the 2003 Cricket World Cup ™ , as well as the 2009 F é d é ration Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) Confederations Cup ™ , has further led to the growth and development of this sector ( Oosthuizen, 2010 ).
Mega-events such as the 2010 FIFA World Cup ™ and the Olympic Games have considerable impacts on the hosting country. Cornelissen and Swart (2006, p. 100) defi ne mega-events as ' complex affairs, which originate from a specifi c set of economic objectives, but which have potential and social corollaries that usually extend far beyond ' . The 2010 FIFA World Cup ™ , the biggest single sporting event, was unique in that it was the fi rst time the tournament had been staged on the African continent. As South Africa moves to an event-driven economy, the strategy by the national government is to use the hosting of mega-events to signal international recognition in relation to its economic, social and political capacity ( Swart et al , 2010 ). The 2010 FIFA World Cup ™ presented a unique opportunity for South Africa to showcase its tourism attributes to the world.
The hosting of a mega-event offers an increase in employment, tourism, spending and media coverage ( Kim et al , 2006 ). For example, the number of tourists visiting Barcelona, Spain doubled in the decade following the 1992 Olympic Games ( World Sport Destination Expo, 2009 ). The staging of the event placed the international spotlight on the city, and although diffi cult to quantify, would certainly have contributed to the sharp increase in visitor numbers. The 2006 FIFA World Cup ™ , allowed Germany to change previous negative international perceptions to those which distinguish it as ' hospitable and welcoming ' ( Pillay et al , 2009, p. 3 ). However, it is further cautioned that major sport events have both positive and negative impacts on host destinations, including economic factors such as increased income to the host destination and socio-cultural impacts such as crime ( Barker et al , 2003 ;Matos, 2006 ). While the attractions of the destination are showcased, some of the more negative elements are also highlighted. Perceptions of high crime rates and incidents of crime involving foreign tourists are likely to tarnish the image of the event host destination ( Kim et al , 2006 ).
As the democratic political elections in 1994, South Africa has been plagued by a reputation for being one of the most dangerous countries in the world ( George, 2003 ). It is, thus, not surprising that trepidation over crime emerged as a key concern in relation to South Africa ' s ability to host a successful 2010 FIFA World Cup ( Swart et al , 2010 ). Steyn et al (2009) add that the negative impacts of the high levels of crime would likely deter tourists from visiting South Africa. In the run-up to the FIFA 2010 World Cup ™ tournament, the media in several countries (such as England, Germany) reported that South Africa had a high crime rate and that people should avoid travelling to the country and visitors attending would be at risk to local criminals.
The South African Department of Tourism ' s 2010 Tourism Plan identifi ed the several challenges with respect to tourists ' safety and security; viz. insufficient focus on tourism safety and security, limited crime prevention strategy and a lack of a national tourist safety and security plan ( Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism and South African Tourism, 2005 ). Cornelissen and Maennig (2010) noted that the 2010 World Cup security plan also required an effective communication strategy to counter negative international perceptions of the country. The security blueprint for the World Cup was approved in principle by FIFA ( Mthetwa, 2010b ) . However, it emerged that during the Confederations Cup, the test event a year before the actual event, that the country ' s World Cup security plan required improvement ( Cornelissen and Maennig, 2010 ). The South African Police Services deployed more than 44 000 new police offi cers (GCIS, nd) and the South African government spent R1.3 billion on 2010 World Cup safety and security ( Mthetwa, 2010a ). Extra police were deployed on foot, motorbikes and horseback at key points throughout the country, including Durban ' s beachfront, the V & A Waterfront in Cape Town and the Gautrain route in Johannesburg. Transport infrastructure was substantially upgraded and security devices implemented on public transport such as trains. In addition, special crime courts were set up to deal with World Cup-related cases.
South Africa managed to host the 2010 World Cup successfully, with very limited safety and security issues. A study conducted by the country ' s national tourism organisation, South African Tourism and the Ministry of Tourismthe National Department of Tourism -showed that 309 554 tourists visited the country for the event and spent more than R3.6 billion (US $ 0.5 billion) (South African Tourism, 2010). Tourism Minister, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, said in his speech at a conference following the 2010 FIFA World Cup ™ that ' the tournament has positioned South Africa as a viable market and a spin-off of improved perceptions abroad could have a long-lasting impact, not only on South Africa and its development, but on the continent as a whole ' . The South African president, Jacob Zuma (2010) , spoke of the World Cup being ' the single biggest turning point in the marketing of our country . The 2010 FIFA World Cup ™ was unique in that it was the fi rst time the tournament had been staged on the African continent. ' However, the murder of Swedish honeymooner, Anni Dewani, in November 2010, shortly after the hosting of the World Cup, made international newspaper headlines and once again highlighted South Africa ' s violent crime problem.
The objective of this study is to investigate foreign tourists ' perceptions of South Africa as a travel destination while attending the 2010 FIFA World Cup ™ tournament. The research focuses on the tourists ' perceptions of safety and crime-risk, their motivation to visit the country, as well as their likelihood of both returning to South Africa and recommending the country as a travel destination to other people. Furthermore, the study aims to determine whether respondent ' s perceptions of crime-risk are linked to personal and behavioural factors such as age, gender, education level, nationality and previous travel experience. Before the results and fi ndings of the study are discussed, the literature pertaining to the topics of sport tourism, tourism-crime, perceived risk and tourist behaviour is reviewed.

Sport tourism research
The study of sport-related tourism has become increasingly important, both in terms of the tourism product itself and as an academic fi eld of study ( Gibson, 1998 ;Weed, 2009a ). Kurtzmann (2005, p. 47) describes the sport tourism industry as a ' multi-billion dollar industry ' that has become a ' dominant and defi ning force in the lives of millions of persons globally; to the extent that it is considered to be universally compelling ' . Although there are primarily three types of sport tourism (participatory, celebratory and event based), it is the latter that receives the most attention ( Turco and Swart, 2012 ). It is not only the economic impacts that are of signifi cance, but also the number of other impacts which may have both positive and negative long-term effects on the host city, or country in which they take place, as mentioned previously. The Olympic Games and FIFA World Cup are considered the most prestigious event promises raised awareness through extensive media coverage, higher and continuous tourism demand, and increased investment through infrastructure development ( Weed and Bull, 2009 ).
Sport tourism events can serve as part of the set of attractions a destination offers consumers ( Dimanche, 2003 ). They can be viewed as a signifi cant element for the branding of destinations as desirable locations for tourism and investment. Higham (2005) underscores that the media plays an important role in achieving destination branding. However, this is especially challenging for South Africa (and Africa generally) as the destination is often associated with negative images ( Turco and Swart, 2012 ).
Much of the sport tourism research has focused primarily on the economic impacts of the event ( Getz, 1998 ). There are, however, gaps in the sport tourism literature focusing on event tourists ' experiences. Gibson (1998) suggests that future research needs to be conducted in order to explain the needs, expectations and behaviours of sport tourists. Moreover, Weed (2009b) underscores the importance of ensuring that sport tourism research remains relevant within the face of changing global trends and issues. There is a dearth of research that has been conducted on events in developing countries but with more emerging countries hosting mega-events (Delhi 2010, Brazil 2014, Sochi 2014 and so on); these events present unique opportunities for further sport tourism research. This paper not only contributes to sport tourism research within a developing context, but also addresses risk perceptions arising from South Africa ' s notorious image as crime hotspot.

Tourism and crime-safety
The relationship between crime and tourism is one that has been examined and researched extensively over the last two decades ( Pizam and Mansfeld, 1996 ). The effects that crime has on a tourist ' s decision-making experience while on holiday, and their post decision-making behaviour means that it is a crucialrisk factor to explore ( Barker et al , 2002 ). The majority of international research has examined specifi cally the impact of crime on tourism demand and whether or not tourism has an effect on crime rates at a particular destination. An analysis of the literature reveals the following relevant themes: the affect of crime on tourism demand, tourists as victims of crime, tourists ' perceptions of crime and crime relating to event tourism ( George, 2003 ).
A number of researchers have focused their studies on the impact of crime on tourism demand at certain holiday destinations ( Pizam and Mansfeld, 1996 ;Pelfrey, 1998 ;Levantis and Gani, 2000 ;Tarlow, 2000 ;Alleyne and Boxill, 2003 ). Although crime against tourists is not a new phenomenon, these researchers had diffi culty linking crime to the demand for tourism. Hence, a number of other factors such as economic considerations, accessibility, climate and changes in consumer trends affect the decision-making behaviour of tourists ( George, 2003 ). In addition, the collection of valid and accurate data to measure crime is near impossible ( George, 2003 ) and prevents researchers from providing substantial evidence that directly links crime rates to tourism demand ( Fujii and Mak, 1980 ). Another area of research has focused on tourist-crime victimisation at various tourist destinations. For example, studies have examined whether tourists are more susceptible to crime than local residents ( Harper, 2001 ;Crotts, 2003 ). The common consensus among researchers is that because tourists frequent specifi c tourist locations, and display certain behavioural characteristics, they are more prone to be a victim of crime ( Harper, 2001 ).
A major area highlighted in the literature is the issue of tourist perceptions of crime-safety and its effect on tourist destination revisitation. The research has shown that perceptions of crime have a detrimental effect on tourism demand, as well as an effect on tourists ' travel behaviour ( Demos, 1992 ;Barker et al , 2003 ;George, 2003George, , 2010. This may be because perceived crimerisk is a major, overriding factor in the decision-making process and tourists will choose the safer option when given the choice between two destinations offering similar benefi ts ( S ö nmez and Graefe, 1998 ).
Holcomb and Pizam (2006) , however, found that personal theft or knowing someone that has been a victim of theft while on a trip, did not affect the likelihood of visiting a destination where the theft occurred. Notably, the manner in which the crime report was handled by authorities was found to be the only factor to have a statistical effect on the likelihood to travel to the affected destination. Holcomb and Pizam ' s results support those of Mawby et al 's (2000) and George's (2003) who found that tourists who experience personal theft would still return to the affl icted destination.
Tourists may develop a negative image towards a destination if they feel that their personal safety will be ' at risk ' while visiting that destination. This may cause a reduction in tourism demand in three ways; fi rst, prospective visitors may be deterred from visiting the destination as a negative reputation may have been formed. Second, tourists may not feel comfortable to partake in activities based outside of their accommodation, and third, tourists may not return or recommend the destination based on their experience at the destination ( George, 2003 ). Tourists ' perceptions of crime and the way in which they form these perceptions may vary depending on factors such as the number of visits to a destination and the demographic profi le ( Demos, 1992 ). These perceptions of crime and safety may also be affected by a person ' s ' conditioning to safety, the image portrayed of a destination, and the way in which the media infl uences perceptions of risk ' ( Barker et al , 2003 ).
Mega-sports events attract large audiences to the host destination. Such events also provide an increased opportunity for criminal activity at a host destination ( Barker et al , 2003 ). Jarrel and Howsen (1990) investigated the effect of transient crowds into an area on crime rates in the area. They expected an increase in crime because of several factors. First, as the number of unidentifi ed people increases to an area; criminals are less likely to be easily identifi ed. Second, the large number of strangers into an area provides a large pool of potential victims. Third, synonymous with the tourist-crime literature (see Chesney-Lind and Lind, 1986 ), these unidentifi ed people are attractive targets as they may carry money or other lucrative assets. Events including the FIFA World Cup ™ could have a compounding effect on crime, where the impacts may be specifi c to the event itself. This makes it diffi cult for event organisers and planners to forecast when hosting such events ( Barker et al , 2003 ). The research on event visitor behaviour at host destinations is limited, as is the understanding of tourists ' perceptions of personal crime-safety during a special event. Such perceptions infl uence tourists ' decisions to participate in certain activities, venture out at certain times of the day, as well as tourists ' overall enjoyment of an event ( Barker et al , 2003 ). The social changes that may occur as a result of an event will have an effect on tourists ' perceptions of crime and safety, and their decision as to whether they will attend the event ( Barker et al , 2003 ).

Perceived risk and tourism
Risk is defi ned in the consumer behaviour literature as ' an individual ' s perception toward uncertainty and an exposure to the possibility of loss or injury ' ( Richter, 2003 ). Risk creates anxiety, which occurs as a result of being exposed to either potential or actual risk ( Reisinger and Mavondo, 2006 ). Perceived risk is a major factor for travellers when selecting a tourist destination ( S ö nmez and Graefe, 1998 ) and is inherently related to a tourist destination ' s image ( Lepp and Gibson, 2003 ). Making tourists feel safe and secure before and during a holiday is becoming increasingly important for international destination competitiveness, as tourists usually consider several alternatives. The negative image formed through the lack of safety and security may harm the tourism industry because of negative word-of-mouth communication, regardless of the fi rst-class visitor attractions on offer at the destination ( Goodrich, 2002 ;Pizam, 2002 ).
In recent years, travel-related risk has been associated with a number of factors including terrorism ( Ara ñ a and Le ó n, 2008 ), war and political instability ( Gartner and Shen, 1992 ), health threats ( Carter, 1998 ;Lepp and Gibson, 2003 ;Chakraborty, 2009 ), natural disasters ( Faulkner andVikulov, 2001 ) and crime in or around tourist destinations ( Pizam and Mansfeld, 1996 ). If consumers perceive there to be any threat from these risk factors, they may be discouraged to visit and may change their choice of travel destination ( Kozak et al , 2007 ). For example, the September 11 (9 / 11) terrorist attacks in New York led to a 6.8 per cent decrease in international visitors to the United States during the year following the attacks ( World Trade Organization, 2005 ). Similarly, political instability in Zimbabwe in the early 2000s led to the demise of the Zimbabwean tourism industry ( Lepp and Gibson, 2003 ). Countries with high crimes rates have also affected tourist arrivals and have led to negative perceptions being formed by international travellers ( George, 2003 ). These uncontrollable factors may have a lasting affect when they happen. As the likelihood of crises and disasters affecting the tourism industry increases, it becomes important to understand the nature of these incidents, forecast their potential impacts on the industry and manage their consequences.
Researchers have found that tourists ' perceptions of risk are affected by a number of individual factors such as age, gender, social class, education, nationality and personality traits. Gibson and Yiannakis (2002) reported that preference for risk in tourism decreases with age. Although S ö nmez and Graefe (1998) did not fi nd gender to infl uence an individual ' s perceptions of risk, gender is known to infl uence risk perceptions. In a study of young tourists in London, United Kingdom, Carr (2001) found that women have greater risk perceptions when it comes to the dangers associated with the city during night time. Similarly, Gibson and Jordan (1998) noted that women are more vulnerable to risk than men. Pizam et al (2004) found that men were more likely to seek spontaneous, adventure-fi lled experiences, and were less likely to change their travel plans when confronted with risks such as terrorism, health and natural disasters. Qi et al (2009) in their study of US travellers ' perceptions of risk and travel to China and the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games found that women perceived much higher violence risk than men, whereas men expressed more concern about health risks.
Nationality also appears to explain differences in perceptions of risk associated with travel ( Richardson and Crompton, 1988 ;Tremblay, 1989 ;Barker et al , 2003 ;Reisinger and Mavondo, 2006 ;George, 2010 ). Richardson and Crompton (1988) postulated that travellers of different nationalities may perceive the same risk differently. Tremblay (1989) , for instance, found that tourists that originate from the United States may have a greater perception of risk when considering terrorism as a risk factor, because of their increased exposure to terrorism and media relating to terrorism. Barker et al (2003) noted that international tourists attending the 2000 America ' s Cup in Auckland, New Zealand, placed higher emphasis on demands for safety than domestic tourists. Similarly, George (2010) also reported differences of risk perceptions among international and domestic tourists to Table Mountain National Park in Cape Town, South Africa. George found that domestic tourists were more aware of crime-risk and feared for their personal safety in the park than international visitors. Reisinger and Mavondo (2006) found that US and Australian tourists are more likely to perceive travel as risky compared with British, Greek and Canadian tourists.
Earlier studies show that an individual ' s perception of travel risk is affected by several behavioural characteristics such as purpose of visit ( Rittichainuwat et al , 2002 ;George, 2010 ), length of stay ( Barker et al , 2003 ;George, 2003 ), past travel experience ( Chen and Gursoy, 2001 ;Lepp and Gibson, 2003 ) and travel information search and sources ( Pizam et al , 2004 ;Kozak et al , 2007 ). For instance, tourism-crime researchers have found that past travel experience can also affect perception of risk. S ö nmez and Graefe (1998) noted that tourists that have experience of international travel may perceive less risk owing to the fact that they have confi dence from their past experiences and are more likely to return because their feelings of safety were increased. Lepp and Gibson (2003) suggested that there is a signifi cant difference in risk perceptions between experienced and inexperienced tourists. They noted that experienced travellers were less risk perceptive specifi cally when considering health and terrorism.

Perceived risk and sport tourism
There is a paucity of research conducted on the relationship between risk perceptions and sport tourism ( Qi et al , 2009 ). The few studies that have been carried out have focused on terrorism as the main risk factor related to mega-events such as the Olympic Games. Sport mega-events such as the Olympic Games are a lucrative target for terrorists as they attract signifi cant amounts of media attention ( Cashman and Hughes, 1999 ). Both the 1972 Munich and 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games were victims of terrorist attacks. These attacks were likely to have had an effect on tourists ' perceptions of risk relating to terrorism and sporting events ( Qi et al , 2009 ). Perceptions of increased risk associated with safety may affect tourists ' future decision making to attend or travel to a major sporting event ( Kim and Chalip, 2004 ). In recent years, mega-events such as the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and 2010 New Delhi Commonwealth Games, had to increase safety and security budgets, as well as implement stringent anti-terrorism measures. Neirotti and Hilliard (2006) , in their study of visitors attending the Athens Olympic Games in 2004, found that spectators attending a sports event are infl uenced by their perceptions of the risks associated with the event. Most importantly, almost two-thirds of the study ' s respondents were concerned about safety and security in their decision making to attend the 2004 Games. Over a quarter of spectators knew at least one person who decided not to attend the mega-event because of safety and security considerations. Qi et al (2009) examined the relationship between risk perceptions and travel intentions associated with China, host of the 2008 Olympic Games. The researchers investigated the perceived risk factors that 350 US college students held of China as an Olympic Games host country and their intentions to travel to the Beijing games . They found that the Beijing Games was perceived as less risky than visiting China as a general tourist destination. In addition, Qi et al found several risk factors had negative impacts on respondents ' intentions to attend the Beijing Games. The perceived factors were further found to be associated with gender and tourist role types. Women perceived higher violence risk (including terrorism) than men, and organised mass tourists were found to be more risk averse than drifters. The researchers did not fi nd that previous international travel experience to be a signifi cant predictor of perceived risk associated with travel to China.

Repeat visitation
Sport mega-events such as the 2010 FIFA World Cup ™ attract a signifi cant number of tourists and international media attention, despite the event only occurring every 4 years. Hence, such mega-events have a huge potential for a long-term impact on tourism through repeat visitation ( Taks et al , 2009 ) which is defi ned as the post-purchase decision made by tourists to travel to a specifi c destination again, after already having visited there ( Rittichainuwat et al , 2003 ).
Satisfaction is one of the most commonly referred to dimensions used to explain repeat visitation ( Bowen, 2001 ). Several studies show that tourist satisfaction has a positive effect on the likelihood of a return visit to a destination ( Baker and Crompton, 2000 ;Chen and Gursoy, 2001 ;Kozak, 2001 ). Tourist satisfaction with a destination is thus a complex concept, based on tourist perceptions of different aspects of the destination. Tourists ' past experience of a destination is also found to be a signifi cant infl uencer of repeat visitation ( Court and Lupton, 1997 ). A number of studies have found that repeat visitors have a higher probability of returning to a destination than fi rst-timers ( Court and Lupton, 1997 ;S ö nmez and Graefe, 1998 ;Kozak and Rimmington, 2000 ). Alegre and Cladera's (2009) study in the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean found that both satisfaction and number of previous visits have a positive effect on intention to revisit a destination.
As with destination image, past travel experience strongly infl uences potential tourists ' information search in the decision-making process, as fi rsttime and repeat travellers obtain their information from different sources, and place different weightings on those information sources ( Fodness and Murray, 1999 ). First-time visitors have no prior experience with the destination, so they rely on external information sources such as travel agents, holiday brochures and the Internet. However, repeat visitors can rely on their experience as a source of information ( Chen and Gursoy, 2000 ).

Methodology Sample
We conducted the method of personal (face-to-face) exit interviews on six match days during the 2010 FIFA World Cup ™ ; specifi cally in June before and after soccer matches. We administered this method so that respondents, that is, principally overseas tourists with English often being their second language can be carefully cross-examined. This method also permits fi eldworkers to answer questions, ensure survey completion and check the quality of the interview process ( Aaker, Kumar and Day, 2007 ).
We adequately trained fourth-year University of Cape Town Business Science marketing students to recruit and conduct the fi eldwork. They interviewed international tourists at various locations in Cape Town and Johannesburg, such as fan parks, outside host stadiums and popular visitor attractions. They carried out an even number of interviews in both cities. Interviews lasted for approximately 10 -15 min.
We employed convenience sampling in order to obtain large numbers of completed questionnaires quickly and economically. Moreover, we assumed that other means of sampling is impractical for exit interviews at spectator events. In addition, consumer research, which attempts to identify cross-cultural differences among respondents, will typically use convenience samples ( Aaker, Kumar and Day, 2007 ).

Survey instrument
A self-administered, structured questionnaire was used as the research instrument. Academics, foreign tourists and local South Africans pre-tested the questionnaire to check for consistency in survey style and scale measurement before deploying the questionnaire into fi eld. Three hundred and ninety eight (97 per cent) completed questionnaires were deemed usable.
The questionnaire included fi ve sections: (i) earlier travel and Soccer World Cup experience; (ii) perceptions of South Africa as a holiday destination; (iii) perception of crime-risk; (iv) travel intentions; and (v) demographics. We assessed earlier travel experience by asking respondents whether they had previously visited South Africa before and had attended a FIFA World Cup on another occasion. Respondents were then asked how many times they had visited South Africa; how many days they were staying in South Africa; how many other tourists were travelling with them; and what other cities they had visited in South Africa.
The second set of questions asked respondents about their perceptions of South Africa. Respondents evaluated eight 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly agree -5 = strongly disagree) questions related to safety, including how safe they thought South Africa is as a travel destination. Respondents were then asked whether or not they were aware of any incidences of crime or had encountered crime while in South Africa (and asked them to explain what happened in the specifi c incident). Respondents assessed four 5-point Likert scale questions on the likelihood to recommend South Africa as a holiday destination and to return to South Africa based on their perceptions of safety. The last set of questions captured demographic variables including nationality, age, gender and occupation.

Data analysis procedure
We performed descriptive statistics initially to summarise the responses of tourists and make inferences about the survey data. We then conducted tests of item reliability to ensure constructs of perceptions of crime-safety and likelihood of returning to South Africa were internally consistent. To gain an overall measure of tourists ' perceptions of crime-safety, we summed questions 18 -25 from the questionnaire to form a single measure. To gain an overall measure of tourists ' likelihood to return to South Africa, we aggregated questions 27 -29 to form a single measure.
We conducted an analysis of variance (ANOVA) to explore possible links between demographics and tourists ' perceptions. Our main objective was to investigate discrepancies in perceptions of crime-safety, likelihood to recommend South Africa as a holiday destination and return to South Africa for a holiday given differences in country-of-origin, age, gender, number of visits, length of stay and purpose of visit.
In order to establish whether overall tourists ' perceptions of crime-safety can predict the likelihood of recommending South Africa as a tourist destination and likelihood of returning to South Africa, we conducted two linear regression analyses. We used the summated scale of overall perceptions of crime-safety as the independent variable for our two linear regression models. However, the dependent variable was the likelihood of recommending South Africa for the fi rst model and the likelihood to return to South Africa for the second model.

Demographics
Of the 398 respondents, 76 per cent were men and 24 per cent were women. We recruited and interviewed mainly men given that soccer tourists who attend the 2010 FIFA World Cup ™ tournament were predominantly men. In addition, fi eldworkers identifi ed men as more interested in participating in this study.
The majority (54 per cent) of respondents were between the ages of 25 and 35 years; 22 per cent were between 36 and 50 years of age; 16 per cent of respondents were between 19 and 24 years of age; 6 per cent were 51 years or older; and 2 per cent were 18 years of age.
The largest group (41 per cent) of respondents was from Latin America (that is, North, Central and South Americas). The second largest group (40 per cent) was from Western Europe. The remainder were from Australasia (8 per cent), Asia (4 per cent), the Middle East (4 per cent), Eastern Europe (2 per cent) and Africa (1 per cent). These demographic results are reasonably consistent with SA Tourism ' s 2010 World Cup survey conducted. Twenty-four per cent of soccer tourists interviewed were from Eastern and Western Europe, 13 per cent from Latin America and 32 per cent were from Africa.

Previous travel and FIFA World Cup experience
Our research showed that the majority (81 per cent) of respondents were visiting South Africa for the fi rst time. It can be assumed that the majority of soccer tourists interviewed had no fi rst-hand experience of the country. Of these fi rst-time visitors, 87 per cent travelled to South Africa to attend matches for the 2010 FIFA World Cup ™ , which could explain the large amount of fi rst-time visitors. This fi nding is consistent with those of the World Cup Global Fans Survey. Eighty six per cent of their survey respondents were also fi rst-time visitors ( CapeInfo, 2010 ). In our study, 15 per cent of respondents had visited South Africa between 2 and 5 times; 1 per cent had visited between 6 and 10 times; and 2 per cent had visited more than 10 times.
Each respondent ' s visitation time varied. For example, 32 per cent per cent of the respondents had been in the country for up to a week; 31 per cent for up to two weeks; 17 per cent for up to three weeks; 5 per cent for up to four weeks; and the remaining 15 per cent, for more than four weeks. This data was cross-tabulated with respondents ' perceptions of safety. The analysis revealed that respondents visiting South Africa for extended periods were less concerned about their personal safety and perceived South Africa as a safe place to visit. This fi nding is consistent with George's (2003) study, which uncovered that visitors ' duration of stay infl uenced their perceptions of safety while on holiday in Cape Town.
Two-thirds (67 per cent) of respondents had not attended a prior FIFA World Cup ™ event in another country, whereas the remainder had attended at least one previous event (that is, hosted in Germany, Japan / South Korea, France and United States). Of the respondents who had attended a previous FIFA World Cup ™ , most respondents were from United States (28 per cent) and Western Europe (United Kingdom, Germany, France, the Netherlands and so on) (47 per cent).
Of the respondents interviewed, 86 per cent said they were in South Africa solely to attend the 2010 FIFA World Cup ™ . This large percentage indicates that people who were in the country for the fi rst time were motivated to attend the 2010 FIFA World Cup ™ . Florek et al (2008) assert that a mega-event such as the FIFA World Cup ™ is an important motivator as opposed to the destination alone. Of the remaining respondents, 8 per cent reported to be in South Africa for holiday / vacation purposes; 5 per cent for business purposes; and 1 per cent were in the country to visit family and friends.

Perceptions of crime
With reference to perceptions of crime in the country, a vast majority (90 per cent) of respondents were aware of high crime rates in South Africa. Of these, 19 per cent had no concerns for crime-safety. Forty-fi ve per cent of respondents were made aware of crime through friends and family. However, 50 per cent communicated that television and radio provided them the best source of information about crime. This fi nding suggests that tourists who watch the news on television or read newspapers gain the most insight on crime statistics in South Africa. Travel guidebooks and embassies appear to create minimal awareness of crime-safety, as fewer (9 per cent) respondents gained intelligence and news on crime-safety within South Africa. Visitors who had never visited South Africa relied on the information provided to them by external sources to shape their perceptions of the country.
Although less than one-fourth of international tourists had no concerns about crime during their South African trip, mugging (33 per cent), general crime (28 per cent) and petty theft (27 per cent) were reported as major concerns. Out of all incidents of crime being reported, 15 (4 per cent) victims had their cameras and other personal items stolen from their hotels or in other areas during their stay in South Africa. Four tourists (1 per cent) had items stolen from their rental cars and another seven (2 per cent) were pickpocketed.
International tourists were least concerned about violent crimes such as assault (17 per cent), rape (7 per cent) and murder (4 per cent). For example, two respondents had their cars stolen with one was hijacked. Although relatively small in number, the nature of crimes committed against foreign tourists is cause for alarm for the South African tourism industry and police authorities. Table 1 shows that respondents generally had positive perceptions with regards to crime-safety while attending the 2010 FIFA World Cup ™ in South Africa. The majority of respondents felt that South Africa was a safe destination to visit, with 64 per cent answering ' agree ' or ' strongly agree ' , and only 9 per cent answering ' disagree ' or ' strongly disagree ' . However, it should be noted that 25 per cent indicated a neutral feeling with regard to this item.
Seventy-one per cent of respondents had not witnessed crime, with 46 per cent answering ' strongly disagree ' and 25 per cent ' disagree ' to having witnessed crime during their entire stay in South Africa. Similarly, a majority (91 per cent) of respondents had not experienced crime personally while in South Africa during the 2010 World Cup tournament. Moreover, the statistical analysis revealed that respondents who had attended a previous FIFA World Cup were less likely to feel unsafe during the 2010 tournaments. The majority of respondents (79 per cent) felt safe walking in the streets during the daytime. This percentage is signifi cantly higher than the study conducted by George (2003) which found that only 50 per cent of respondents felt unsafe walking the streets of Cape Town in the daytime. However, the bigger security and police force was introduced during the 2010 FIFA World Cup ™ in areas where tourists were expected to be on foot, such as the cities ' central business districts (CBDs) and in and around the stadiums. Therefore, the employment of additional policing and other precautionary measures may have enhanced soccer tourists ' positive perceptions of crime-safety. Our research fi ndings revealed that 51 per cent of respondents were not worried about their personal safety, and 27 per cent were neutral towards their personal safety. Moreover, 94 per cent of respondents were not warned about terrorist attacks. This fi nding is not surprising given that South Africa has not experienced any major act of terrorism since the 1998 Planet Hollywood bombing ( George, 1999 ). Lastly, respondents were somewhat undecided as to whether or not they might fall victim to crime since 35 per cent answered ' neutral ' to fallen to victim to crime in South Africa.

Willingness to recommend South Africa as a tourist destination and likelihood of returning to South Africa for a holiday
Respondents gave mainly positive responses to the items related to likelihood to recommend and return to South Africa. Ninety-two per cent (30 per cent answered ' agree ' and 62 per cent ' strongly agree ' ) of respondents were likely to recommend South Africa as a tourism destination. This fi nding was consistent with the African Response Survey which also found that 92 per cent of visitors were likely to recommend South Africa as a tourist destination ( African Response, 2010 ). Eighty-three per cent (31 per cent answered ' agree ' and 52 per cent ' strongly agree ' ) of our respondents were likely to return to South Africa for a holiday in the future. Fayos-Sola (1998) andDimanche (2003) stated that major sporting events could substantially improve destination image and attractiveness. Hence, we speculate that there is a link between likelihood to return and the excitement and hype of attending the 2010 FIFA World Cup ™ .
Respondents were also asked to consider their intentions to return to South Africa depending on their perceptions of crime-safety. Most soccer tourists stated that they either strongly disagreed or disagreed (94 per cent and 93 per cent, respectively) to not returning to South Africa for fear of their safety. Although several researchers ( Loeb and Lin, 1981 ;Pizam, 1982 ) noted that it is extremely diffi cult to link crime to tourism demand, it, however, seems that fear of crime and safety during the 2010 FIFA World Cup ™ did not have a negative impact on the likelihood of respondents returning to South Africa.

Socio-demographic patterns of respondents ' crime perceptions
A summary of the F -statistics from tests of ANOVA (refer to Table 2 ) suggests that nationality has a statistically signifi cant effect on respondents ' perceptions of crime-safety, likelihood of recommending and likelihood of returning ( Table 3 ) .
In particular, tourists ' country-of-origins have a signifi cant effect on perceptions of South Africa as a safe place, their perceptions of safety during both night and daytime, and their fear of terrorist attacks. Respondents from the United Kingdom and Australia felt the safest at night. Respondents from Asia stated that they felt less safe walking during the day for fear of safety. This risk-averse attitude towards safety is consistent with Hofstede's (2010) cultural dimensions as Brazil and countries from Asia display high levels of uncertainty avoidance. This fi nding is also consistent with several other travelrisk perception studies that suggest perceptions of safety contrast among tourists from different cultures.
Tourists originating from Brazil and the United Kingdom are likely to return to South Africa for a holiday and those from United Kingdom and United States are likely to return in the future because they do not fear their safety and fi nd South Africa is safe. These fi ndings are consistent with George's (2003) study of tourists ' perceptions of crime-safety in Cape Town, where nationality infl uences tourists ' likelihood to return Cape Town as holiday destination.
Gender also infl uences tourists ' perceptions of crime-safety. This fi nding differs from those of S ö nmez and Graefe (1998) , George (2003 and Lepp and Gibson (2003) , where gender had little impact on travellers ' perceptions of risk. In our study, women feel less safe going out at night and are more worried about that personal safety than their men counterparts. Gender also infl uences respondents ' likelihood to recommend South Africa as a holiday destination and likelihood of returning to South Africa. In both cases, women are more likely to recommend and return to South Africa. As we did not have a 50:50 split on gender for our study ' s sample, we cannot quite disagree with the fi ndings of S ö nmez and Graefe (1998) , George (2003 and Lepp and Gibson (2003) .
Age ( P = 2.91) is a signifi cant infl uencer of perceptions of South Africa as a safe destination. Compared with tourists younger than 50 years, older tourists deemed that they are more prone to become victims of crime in South Africa. Our fi nding is similar to that of George's (2010) that found older respondents were more likely to feel worried about their safety while in Table Mountain National Park in Cape Town. In addition, respondents between 36 and 50 years of age are less likely to recommend South Africa as a tourist destination.  Earlier travel experience is a statistically signifi cant infl uencer of respondents ' perceptions of crime-safety and of public transport in South Africa. The number of visits to South Africa had a direct consequence on them witnessing a crime ( P = 5.45), perceptions that South Africa is unsafe ( P = 2.28) and feeling unsafe in public transport ( P = 5.12). As expected, respondents who had visited South Africa more than once had an act of crime infl icted upon them and were bystanders of a criminal act. Respondents were more likely to have witnessed crime and to perceive public transport in South Africa as unsafe if they have visited South Africa more than once. Our research fi ndings concur with George's (2010) study in which routine visitors of Table Mountain National Park are more likely to become a victim of crime and perceive Cape Town as an unsafe city. Only a minority of our survey respondents visited South Africa previously; therefore, we cannot agree with certainty that our fi ndings are comparable with that of George (2010) .
The length of time during which respondents had been in South Africa was statistically signifi cant in infl uencing whether or not respondents felt South Africa was a safe place ( P = 2.82) and had witnessed a crime ( P = 4.42). An increase in length of stay up to 3 -4 weeks improved perceptions of South Africa was a safe place to visit and displaced their worries about their personal safety. Moreover, as respondents apparently witnessed acts of crime for the most part after 3 -4 weeks, our fi ndings are consistent with our previous discovery that tourists witness more crime as their number of visits increase.

Conclusions and Recommendations
This study investigated the perceptions of international tourists attending the 2010 FIFA World Cup ™ tournament in South Africa. Overall, tourists had very positive perceptions of South Africa in terms of overall crime-safety and overall satisfaction. Tourists who attended the 2010 FIFA World Cup ™ largely felt that South Africa was a safe place to visit and few had witnessed or experienced crime. We can conclude that foreign tourists who left after the 2010 FIFA World Cup ™ most likely left South Africa positive perceptions towards crime and safety. However, we cannot necessarily extrapolate this conclusion to tourists ' future experiences in South Africa, as special safety and security measures were implemented during the 2010 FIFA World Cup ™ . Although the 2010 FIFA World Cup ™ might have had a signifi cant effect on improving tourists ' perceptions of crime-safety, foreign tourists ' could fi nd themselves having different perceptions and expectations of South Africa during a period after the 2010 FIFA World Cup ™ ; when the country is operating under normal policing conditions. FIFA 2010 World Cup ™ tourists ' perceptions of crime-risk in South Africa were infl uenced by factors such as age, nationality and previous travel experience. Tourism managers and destination marketers would benefi t from researching the perceptions of different nationality groups and use this as variable for market segmentation. When comparing perceptions of tourists of different nationalities, researchers should use country-of-origin along with national culture, in particular Hofstede's (2001) Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UIA) index. These types of investigations are under-researched in the tourism management literature ( Lepp and Gibson, 2003 ).
The 2010 FIFA World Cup ™ was a successful marketing tool in creating positive perceptions of South Africa. Our study results support these positive perceptions in that an overwhelming majority of tourists (90 per cent) would both return to South Africa and recommend South Africa as a tourist destination. Furthermore, unlike most of the respondents in this study whose initial motivation to travel to South Africa was to attend the 2010 FIFA World Cup ™ , motivation for travel in the near future will not be to attend a mega-event. Rather, the motivation to travel could be due to tourists ' positive perceptions and exceeded expectations of the 2010 FIFA World Cup ™ . Tomlinson et al 's (2009) study carried out after the 2006 FIFA World Cup ™ in Germany confi rm our conclusion that positive perceptions of crime-safety infl uence repeat tourism.
Clearly the fi ndings from this study reiterate that an important aspect of destination and event management is related to risk perception ( Qi et al , 2009 ). Roehl and Fesenmaier (1992) suggest that the promotion of safety is not enough to reduce perceived travel risks, but that risk reduction should be addressed in order to motivate risk-sensitive tourists to travel. Although risk is a multidimensional measure, health issues and crime threats such as theft and muggings are considered major risk dimensions within emerging markets.
In future studies, gathering data in all of the host cities would provide a larger more varied sample that could enhance the fi ndings and results of the study. Similarly, a comparative study between the host cities could identify city / country-specifi c factors that infl uence visitors ' perceptions. It could also be valuable to conduct a before and after study, whereby respondents are questioned using entry and exit surveys. This would help determine the true expectations and perceptions of fi rst-time visitors to the destination. Future researchers could also replicate this study at other mega-events and international tourist attractions and use several individual and behavioural criteria such as group composition and income and their affect on tourists ' crime-risk perceptions.
Building on the work of Kozak et al (2007) , additional mega-event research could disaggregate different countries into regional geographical regions and nationalities to gain more insight, in an attempt to achieve more targeted marketing strategies. Finally, research could also focus on tourists ' perceptions of mega-event safety at different locations within host cities, for example, in and around stadiums, fan parks and CBDs.