Sorry the link doesn't work, but the whole article does comes up if you search for it via Google news (at least it does for me; not a WSJ subscriber). Here's the article:
Will Orlando's Crime Surge Take Away Some Disney Magic?
Increase in Violence May Dissuade Tourists From Visiting, Spending
By RYAN CHITTUM
June 27, 2007; Page B6
Could the land of the Magic Kingdom and one of the top tourist destinations in the U.S. be getting a reputation for crime?
In recent months, a spree of violent incidents has shaken Orlando, Fla. Two weeks ago, two Connecticut tourists said they were kidnapped from a Downtown Disney parking lot, robbed and beaten. (The couple declined to press charges.) Several days before that, three bandits shot two sheriff's deputies outside a police convention at the Caribe Royal Resort. In May, a German tourist was raped and robbed in her room in the Howard Johnson on International Drive, the main tourist drag that is seemingly so safe that families often let kids roam unsupervised.
These alleged crimes could have unsettling repercussions for the tourism-dependent economy of Orlando, where nearly 20% of all jobs are related to the 50 million visitors a year who come to the area. Murders soared 123% last year to a high of 49 from 2005. While the number of murders is much lower than in most big cities, the per-capita number is high because Orlando has 221,000 residents.
A spokeswoman for Walt Disney Co. declined to comment, as did the general managers of the Caribe Royale Resort and the Howard Johnson.
Orlando was recently named one of the top-25 most-dangerous cities in the country by Morgan Quitno Press, a Lawrence, Kan., research and publishing firm that has been compiling the list from Federal Bureau of Investigation crime data for 13 years. The list ranks cities by measuring their crime rates in six categories, including murder, rape and robbery, against the national average. St. Louis was No. 1 and Orlando was No. 25.
Orange County has the highest per-capita crime rate of any county in the state, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
"This needs to be kept in perspective," said Danielle Courtenay, spokeswoman for the Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau. "We have 49 million visitors who come here, and the vast majority who come here have wonderful experiences."
Much of the crime that put Orlando on the Morgan Quitno list is concentrated in a few poor neighborhoods in city limits, but the perception that crime is spreading could depress tourism in the region. Many tourists don't know that most of the tourist destinations such as Disney World are located outside the city.
"The perception is that Orlando is one area and everyone is kind of mushed together," said Harris Rosen, president and chief operating officer of Rosen Hotels & Resorts, the largest independent hotel owner in Orlando. "The number of criminal events against tourists is minuscule. However, the crime in Orlando is going up."
In a recent Chamber of Commerce study, the top worry among Orlando citizens was violent crime. "Five or 10 years ago, you wouldn't see it in the top 10," said Jim Kitchens, president of Kitchens Group, an Orlando public-opinion research firm that has done surveys and focus groups on the subject.
Now, the Justice Department is sending Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and FBI special task forces into Orlando after requests from the local FBI office and the acting U.S. attorney. "I don't think there's any doubt that one of the concerns is that a high crime, especially violent-crime, rate will have a negative impact on tourism and adversely impact the economy," said acting U.S. Attorney Jim Klindt of the Middle District of Florida. In addition, the local police department is launching a program that will put more desk officers out on patrol.
All this comes at a time when construction of hotels, time shares and condo hotels is soaring in the area. Demand is driven in large part by the trend toward so-called vacation ownership, where consumers either own their hotel rooms or own the right to use them for a specified time. Orlando is also dependent on business travelers. It is the second-biggest convention market, behind Las Vegas, by number of visitors.
So far, there is little evidence that tourism has suffered because of the crime, and no tourist has been killed. Ms. Courtenay of the Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau, said visits were up this spring and hoteliers expect a strong summer.
Expectations could change with a single high-profile crime or a series of crimes against tourists, says Abe Pizam, dean of the Rosen School of Hospitality Management at the University of Central Florida in Orlando.
Tourism got hit severely when Orlando and Miami experienced a rash of crimes against visitors in the early 1990s. Visits from foreign tourists tumbled 25% from 1992 to 1994 and have never fully recovered, according to data from the Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau.
What is driving the sudden surge in murders and violent crimes isn't yet known. Jay Corzine, who runs UCF's sociology department and studies crime in the area, says two of last year's murders were gang-related, but the Parramore neighborhood and others seeing the spike have long had drug problems. "There's been a change in what we would call street culture," he says. "Where it exists in the Orlando area, it has become more violent and, in some cases, more lethal."
It has also gotten younger. About two-thirds of murder suspects are under 25, Mr. Corzine says, and many have lengthy criminal records and have been in and out of jail.
Sgt. Barbara Jones, a spokeswoman for the Orlando Police Department, says most of the crimes affecting tourists are burglaries. "People come here, the weather's beautiful, they have a great time going to Disney, and then they go to their room and leave the door open," she says. "It's all about being in that holiday vacation mode."
