About 40 percent of vacationers blame themselves for having their luggage, MP3 players or cash stolen while visiting one of the nation's trendy hot spots, says a new study from Ball State University.

An examination of police reports at 64 high-profile hotels along Miami Beach in southern Florida found that the majority of thefts occurred in lobbies, guest rooms, parking lots, swimming pools and nearby beaches.

Many of the incidents occurred while vacationers were not paying close attention to their surroundings, said Michael Brown, who co-authored the study with fellow criminal justice professor Taiping Ho and Jinlin Zhao, a hospitality professor at Florida International University.

"Many people head to the beach or the pool, spread their stuff out and sleep or consume a few alcoholic drinks," he said. "When they wake up, their purse, camera or other items are missing. The same thing happens in lobbies when a guest puts down a piece of luggage and it quickly disappears.

"Many victims feel they were negligent. Some won't even take the time to report a crime because they feel it's their fault or it's not really a big deal. They are on vacation and want to get on with their lives."

The study examined police reports from 2002-03 and was recently published in the academic journal Crime Prevention and Community Safety.

Miami Beach police reported 756 crimes against tourists. Nearly half the crimes were thefts, with 38 percent occurring in guest rooms. About 13 percent of the reports were the result of break-ins of cars in hotel parking lots. The majority of crimes occurred during the afternoons.

"Miami is an excellent example of the buildup of the hotel industry," Brown said. "The 64 Miami Beach hotels host about 35 percent of the area's annual 10 million visitors. The area attracts people from around the world."

The researchers said their data mirrors similar studies done at major resort destinations around the world.

"Hotels walk a tight rope because they want their guests to be safe, but they don't want to scare them away by overemphasizing safety," Brown said. "Hotels put up signs urging guests to be cautious, but too many uniformed security would be bad for business."

Ho points out that international tourists often are targeted, since about 40 percent of crime reports are filed by foreign visitors to American hot spots.

"We believe that crimes against foreign visitors may be underreported because many tourists may not even be aware that their luggage, cash or other items are missing until they've left the hotel," he said. "There also may be language problems between guests and hotel management and employees as well as police officers that inhibit the investigation."

The researchers indicate that thefts could be significantly minimized if hoteliers enhanced crime prevention measures such as increasing security in parking lots or installing more surveillance cameras inside and outside the hotels.

"In the end, hotel guests should be on guard at all times," Brown said. "Hotels can have all the cameras in the world, but since they are fairly open to the public, it is hard to be 100 percent secure."

By Marc Ransford, Media Relations Manager