Tourism minister urges visitors to secure valuables

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Antigua and Barbuda's Minister of Tourism The Hon. Charles Fernandez and CEO of the Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority Colin C. James

Visitors to Antigua and Barbuda are being urged to properly secure their travel documents and other valuables before venturing outdoors.

Minister of Tourism Charles Fernandez, issued the warning, after an Italian national reported being stranded on the island, after her passport was stolen.

Last Friday thieves broke into Rosalinda Scipioni’s car, and made away with her handbag, which contained travel documents for her and her young son.

The car was parked at a popular beach at the time of the incident.

Minister Fernandez, said visitors to the island should leave their valuables and important documents at the hotel.

“I am not happy with it but we need to educate our visitors more that they shouldn’t leave valuables in plain sight of thieves. They must protect their belongings at all times. Even in this era of credit cards, sometimes tourists walk around with hundreds of United States dollars” he said.

Though saddened by the situation, Minister Fernandez said Antigua and Barbuda has the lowest crime rate in the Caribbean.

“This is a petty crime and if we have to make a big deal of that, then I guess we are not doing too bad after all” he said.

The tourism minister said signs will be erected to alert visitors of crime hotspots.

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5 COMMENTS

    • Many of these beach criminals come from Jamaica and Haiti, everybody knows this. Until the government gets serious about illegal immigration from Jamaica and Haiti, we will have problems here. When will this government get serious about reducing crime?

    • I am sure that’s also part of the problem. They need to be banned for life from ever stepping foot in Antigua and deported immediately when caught.

  1. How about more police patrols (undercover as well as uniformed presence) around the beach areas, so that thieves know they can not get away with this anymore.

  2. Set up a system to tackle these hungry belly thieves. Tourist will give bad reviews once robbed and it will negatively impact our tourism industry.

Comments are closed.