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12 September 2013 Taylor & Francis

With an increase in tourists being arrested and detained, and recent documentaries on TV such as ‘Locked up Abroad’, an article in Current Issues in Tourism: Get out of jail! Locked up and detained abroad – when tourists become prisoners, takes a look at what can be done to prevent a trip that might start out as leisure or business travel but becomes a traumatic and incomprehensible experience.

Whilst the possibility of imprisonment is an unwanted product when travelling and a taboo subject for front line sales channels, should they do more to market this, or should tourists research and understand local laws fully themselves?

This article investigates the reasons behind detention and imprisonment, how tourists are helped in foreign countries, which marketing communications already exist and suggestions on further progression and research areas.

The article concludes with a discussion about the greater need for tourism and hospitality service sectors to get more involved, such as staff training for those working in this area, clear signage, information packs, online platforms and smartphone apps.

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13683500.2013.829026