Turystyka penitencjarna

The aim of the article is the attempt to establish and distinguish a new type of cultural tourism which is prison tourism. Moreover, the article leads to defining its scope and to indicating potential tourist attractions, both in the world and in Poland. From the cognitive point of view, the study was based on two American facilities, i.e. Yuma and Alcatraz prisons. Because of the scope, however, this type of tourism cannot always be the basis for mass tourism. On the national scale, the limited access to historical prison facilities, which are still used for penitentiary or corrective purposes, does not allow it to become mass tourism.