On 12.06.2018, The 5th Annual Meeting of the National Board of Tourism was held at the InterContinental Sofia, which was organized with the assistance of the Ministry of Tourism. In the presence of more than 150 people, representatives of tourist associations, NGOs, investors in Bulgaria, legislative, executive and local authorities, were discussed the challenges, opportunities and potential for sustainable development of the tourism in Bulgaria.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Daniela Ilieva-Koleva, Executive Director of Law and Internet Foundation and Atty. Desislava Krusteva, Senior Legal Expert in the organization were invited to participate in the panel "GO DIGITAL! Digital and cloud services in tourism and GDPR”. During the panel the experts discussed whether we all take advantage of the modern technologies that help sectors overcome many challenges in the new digital era, and whether we are prepared for the new business models of online tourism.

The General Data Protection Regulation as a hot topic was also discussed taking in mind that tourism is one of the strongly affected sectors as it involves continuous communication between the parties, and the processing of personal data is an integral part of the whole process.

Atty. Krusteva pointed out that the companies must ensure the protection of personal data processed within the organization, regardless of whether they are stored (in a hard copy or electronically) and regardless of the technology that is used, in all cases personal data is subject to the data protection rules defined in GDPR. She advised the attendees to pay special attention to the new requirements and to prepare their business to the changes already in force. Assoc. Prof. Koleva provide practical guidance on the steps for adapting to the requirements, that will facilitate the process and will give enough time to react in case of unforeseen situations.