Watch Out! Beware Of Pickpockets If Visiting The Eiffel Tower Of Paris Or Trevi's Fountain

Pickpockets were caught on camera while in action in Colmar, France. (Wikimedia Commons/A10A1A)

JAKARTA - Being a favorite tourist destination for tourists from various parts of the world, Europe offers a variety of destinations from mountains to beaches, from history to modern futuristics supported by various adequate accommodation and transportation facilities.

However, tourists in Europe are also facing a number of problems, with the threat of pickpockets being a common thing in various European countries.

Travel insurance comparison expert at Quotezone.co.uk in its latest report release ranked countries in Europe as a risk of pickpocketing.

The company uses tourist reviews to calculate the number of pickpocketing at the top five tourist attractions in each country.

As a result, the country with the highest probability of tourists experiencing pickpocketing is Italy, according to the European Pickpocketing Index Quotezone.

Visitors to the Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon in Rome, Duomo in Milano in Milan to Uffizi's Gallery degli in Florence said there were items stolen in 1,906 online travel reviews in 2022.

This amount is equivalent to 463 pickpockets for every one million visitors to the best tourist attractions in Italy, the highest proportion compared to any European country.

Next, France has the second highest number of pickpocketing, which is 283 cases per one million visitors. The five tourist attractions that Quotezone monitors are in the Paris capital.

Behind the two, there is the Netherlands which is ranked third in the pickpocketing index.

Interestingly, despite Barcelona's reputation for pickpocketing, Spain is only sixth on the list. A review says theft there is five times less than in Italy.

In contrast, the country with the least pickpocketing reports was Poland with 18 pickpockets per one million visitors and the Republic of Ireland with 30 pickpockets per million visitors.

"Stealing can happen anywhere. Tourist attractions are a comfortable place for criminals to target tourist wallets and wallets while they are busy visiting the place," said Greg Wilson, Founder and CEO of Quotezone.

"Iconic attractions such as the Eiffel Tower in Paris and Trevi Fountain in Rome are very popular among pickpockets, because they can move without being seen in crowds of people," he said.

Furthermore, he recommended visitors to leave valuables such as expensive jewelry in hotel safes. Wilson also recommends traveling in a bag that is safe and can be covered with a zipper, keeping cell phones and wallets safe, even using a money belt.

"Try not to leave personal items unsupervised, as travel insurance companies require tourists to make'standard storage' and can deny insurance claims for theft if the items are abandoned," he warned.

"It is also important to remember to get a police report on the loss or theft of an item if you have been pickpocketed, because this will support insurance claims," he ordered.

Added, it's also nice to have a copy of an important document and save it online. Download the 'find my phone' app and make sure all your data is backed up and your photo is automatically uploaded to online storage if your phone is stolen.