TWO SUNDAYS AGO, two British cruise ship passengers, Philip and Ann Prior, 72 and 59 years old respectively, took an afternoon stroll around Bridgetown in Barbados. A few minutes’ walk from the duty-free shops of Broad Street, they were held up and shot. Philip Prior got a bullet close to his pelvis, and his wife one in her thigh. The thieves snatched Ann Prior’s handbag.
By Monday, the Priors were big world news. British Couple On Caribbean Cruise Shot By Armed Robber led the website of the Sun, the largest-selling English tabloid. The story took second spot in the Daily Mail online. The Mail `has reach; it’s a British tabloid, but also the `tenth-listed news site in the United States, `ahead of Reuters, ABC News and USA Today.
Sun and Mail carried an on-the-spot picture, `a blurry shot supplied by celebrity photo site, Splash News. It showed Mrs Prior on the `ground, being comforted by onlookers, one `of them squeezing her hand.
At the sober end of the market, the BBC, Guardian, Telegraph and Independent `all carried the tale. The Washington Post, `Miami Herald and Montreal Star picked `up the story from the Associated Press.
And Barbados? The online Nation used 28 words about the Priors the following Monday story about `a murder and a hit-and-run.
The following Wednesday a draft statement on the shooting was “awaiting the approval” of the tourism minister. A release appeared later. By then it didn’t matter what it said – he was three days too late for the international media. “This is a sensitive matter,” said an unnamed official. When cellphone photos can flash round the world in seconds, a measured response to bad news does not cut it.
It could all have been worse. The Priors were badly shaken; their dream cruise was wrecked. `But they were alive. The island’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital is nearby. Both were out of the wards `the following Wednesday.
Bridgetown is well sprinkled with police and CCTV cameras; two suspects were in custody `by last Monday. This was not a Tivoli gun-battle or a Haiti earthquake. So why the fuss?
Tabloids love stories which play to readers’ anxieties – cancer risks, bad food. On the Mail `site as I write: Married Female Teacher, 26, `Had Sex In Car With 17-year-old Dyslexic Pupil and Perfect Bride, 22, Died Just Five Months After Wedding From Undiagnosed Heart Condition.
Tourists in trouble hit the right buttons. `More so in safe, familiar Barbados.
In Barbados, the story hit a raw nerve. `The economy is shaky. Arrivals from Britain, the main tourist market, are down again this year. Those who do come are careful with their cash.
I called a Barbadian friend last Monday to check his thoughts. He was strengthening his burglar bars after a break-in. Barbados is safer than Trinidad `or Jamaica, but no paradise.
Police are jumpy about the thriving cash-for-gold business. After four shootings in 18 days, Barbadians were warned in January not to wear `too much jewellery in public. A Precious Metals And Second-Hand Metals Act passed that `month requires ID for those offering gold `for sale, and bans hard-to-trace cash payments.
Two days before the Priors were attacked, `police seized close to TT$3 million (BDS$9 million) `in bling from Barbados Gold Buyers – around `100 metres from the site of the shooting. Another jeweller was arrested not long after.
Will stories like this hit tourist arrivals? It is hard to say. The Mail carried 342 online reader comments. From Canada: “My brother and his wife were attacked savagely in Tobago, changing their lives for ever.” From New Zealand: “I would not `go to one of those countries if you paid me.” From `a London suburb: “I feel safer in Barbados than `I do in England.”
Most visits to the Caribbean are trouble-free. `And yes, Barbados does feel safe. But worries are not entirely irrational. Another British couple, Professor James Bridges and his wife Olga, `aged 72 and 62, were stabbed and robbed soon `after arriving at a luxury villa in January.
There are few statistics on crime and tourism `– and they don’t tell the full story. Harassment `by would-be drug dealers goes unreported. `So does much petty crime. Tourists want to shake off a nasty incident and forget, not spend hours `in a police station. For the authorities in any country, there is a temptation to under-record. Conversely, it’s not unknown for a dishonest `visitor to report a “stolen” camera or BlackBerry `for insurance purposes.
Tobago has had its share of crime-related Press. Remember Peter and Murium Green? That case dragged on for years, with no closure. A 2010 rape `of two British women in Barbados remains unresolved. Natalee Holloway disappeared `on Aruba in 2005, a pretty 18-year-old on a high school trip. No body, no closure; the story was `every mother’s nightmare.
The Priors’ case reached closure quickly. `So, a nine-day wonder? Perhaps not even `that. The Mail had soon moved on to British Tourist Leaps From Indian Hotel Balcony `To Escape Sex Attack. (Trinidad Guardian)