TOURISM ACTIVITY NIGHT-TIME EXPOSURE AND SPATIALLY CLUSTERED CRIME IN CALABAR NIGERIA

The study examines temporal and spatial patterns of crime associated with tourism activity in Calabar, Nigeria. 423 returned questionnaires, police and tourism records for 2009–2023, Global Positioning System observations and ArcGIS hotspot analysis. Descriptive results and inferential outputs were used for the study. Records contained 7,502 offences, with theft and other stealing accounting for 34.7% and assault for 31%. Recorded offences were most frequent between midnight and 5:59 a.m. (35%) and between 6:01 p.m. and midnight (30.5%). Respondents identified poor street lighting as the leading hotspot characteristic (60.3%), while 60% of women and 48% of men reported crime experience. The nearest-neighbour index of 0.5 indicated clustered incident locations. A correlation table reported a modest positive association between tourist arrivals and crime, r = .31, p = .05, rather than proving tourism caused crime. Implications: Event security should use place- and time-specific lighting, transport, reporting and hotspot policing. Contribution: The study integrates visitor, temporal and spatial evidence while maintaining the distinction between correlation, exposure and causation in destination risk management.