In Jamaica, like many other Caribbean countries,
tourism has been a major source of
foreign exchange earnings and employment
generation. Because of the importance of the
tourism sector in Jamaica, there has a been a
great deal of concern about the impact of crime
on tourist arrivals. This concern persists even
though official statistics indicate that crimes
against tourists have either stabilised or
declined over the past two decades. If crime
affects the ability of a society to generate
income from tourism then this creates a vicious
cycle; one that creates the environment for
crime, which in turn destroys the very activity
that could change that environment.