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Tattoo fails abroad to become a thing of the past for Aussies with new translation app

With an alarming rise in ‘tattoo fails’ among Aussie travellers abroad, travel safety experts, Travel Insurance Direct, are launching an innovative new App, ahead of the peak holiday season.

With an alarming rise in ‘tattoo fails’ among Aussie travellers abroad, travel safety experts, Travel Insurance Direct, are launching an innovative new App, ahead of the peak holiday season.

The TID: We’ve Got Your Back’ App is a free tattoo spell checker. Ahead of the tatt-seeking traveller getting inked, the app simply scans the artist’s flash-sheet to reveal any pesky tattoo typos among English, Thai and Indonesian characters, ensuring they aren’t scarred for life.

“Getting a tattoo in Thailand or Bali is becoming increasingly popular among Aussie travellers, particularly after a night out.”

Phil Sylvester, TID Travel Safety Expert

“Unfortunately, whilst getting a name or quote in the local language, might seem like a magical memento from the trip at the time, increasingly the requests are getting lost in translation, resulting in some serious tatt trouble.”

the-hangover-2-tattoo

Research shows one in five of all Aussies now have tattoos, yet more than 1 in 4 (27%) regret getting them done. Furthermore, reports highlight that local tattoo removal businesses are booming thanks to Aussies with tattoo regrets. Travel Insurance Direct is launching the new app-based assistant in response to a growing number of customer service enquiries around tattoo fails in top Aussie travel destinations, such as Thailand and Indonesia.

Australian holidaymaker, Jack King, 26 from Perth says: “I had such an awesome time travelling in Thailand that I wanted to get my own name inked in the local language as a keepsake. But when I got home, my Thai mate told me that instead of saying ‘Jack’, the tat actually says ‘jerk’.  My mates think they misheard me because of my accent. They haven’t stopped laughing at me since.”

“Names get misspelt, designs get dubious, and sometimes people actively offend their host country by getting religious scripts tattooed on them, a la a certain Miss Jolie,” says Sylvester.

TID 2

“The TID: We’ve Got Your Back Tattoo Spell Checker app allows travellers to check that their tattoo is spelt correctly before it is permanently inked onto their skin. Forever.”

“Whilst we don’t cover stupidity or misspelling,” Sylvester continues, “we do cover other tattoo-related troubles, such as the treatment of any infections that are contracted during the tattoo process on holiday.   However, you need to take the same level of care, if not more so than if you were getting one at home. Do your research, ask around as to where is a reputable tattoo parlour, chat to the artist beforehand, and make sure you physically see them use new, sterilised needles from the packaging.”

Unfortunately the App will not be able to assist and detect when trendy will become tragic or a holiday romance rockets., resulting in a #tattoofail.

The TID ‘We’ve Got Your Back’ Tattoo Spell Checker App will be available to download from the Travel Insurance Direct website from 1 April.

* Important notice: This is an April’s Fools joke and should not be taken seriously – unless of course you want to.

Have you had a ‘tattoo incident’ overseas?