How GDPR Affects Your Tour Business? [eBook]

In this blog post, we’re going to discuss how GDPR affects your tour business. The new EU data privacy regulation will soon be enforced on May 25th, 2018 and tour operators and activity providers must be GDPR compliant.

If you run a tour business, here’s what you need to know about keeping your tour business GDPR compliant.

Since GDPR leaves much to interpretation, we’ve prepared a detailed eBook that will clarify any misconceptions and the exact scope of the new EU regulation regarding data privacy within the travel industry.

The purpose of this eBook is to outline how GDPR affects tour businesses and tour operators, and tourism in general. The team here at Orioly will also name best practices which will help with the details how to become GDPR compliant in the travel sector.

As you may have noticed, everyone is discussing GDPR—it’s in almost every news headline and the drama surrounding its enforcement is due to lack of clear guidelines. Namely, the issue that’s rather confusing is that the GDPR takes a wide view of what constitutes as personal identification information.

Health, financial, tourism, and other sectors will have to meet the new regulatory requirements. This is something that isn’t new to the US. With the introduction of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) that outlines how protected health information within the healthcare system should be processed, monitored, stored, audited, and shared.

How GDPR Affects Your Tour Business

The European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a legal framework that sets guidelines for the collecting and processing of personal information of individuals within the European Union.

Basically, GDPR is about regulating the way personal data is being used. The goal is to offer individuals more control over their personal data and how it’s used. It’s about consumer rights and it boils down to preventing data breaches, identity thefts, and avoiding any misuse and exploitation of consumer data.

Note that you will probably have to hire an attorney or a GDPR consultant to go over the details and make sure you stay GDPR compliant and cover any loopholes. Because, as you know, there’s only so much you can do it yourself as someone who doesn’t specialize in legal lingo.

How To Become GDPR Compliant

Why is GDPR important for tour businesses, tour operators, and activity providers?

Tour operators, travel companies, and activity providers share customer information with suppliers on daily basis—it’s part of the booking process. As you already know, booking engines are connected to and use multiple APIs, databases, and third-party suppliers. The problem is how to manage this data.

What changes with GDPR is that tour businesses will have to review all contracts they have with third-party suppliers.

That’s where the terms collector and processor come into play. If you own tour business, in your company the controller is the person who collects information.

In most cases, the controller is the agent. The processor is someone who uses gathered data to fulfill a service. In most cases, that would be companies which provide transportation and accommodation.

Best Practices for GDPR for Tour Businesses:

• Keep a record of all existing personal data.
• Check how and when your client provided consent.
• Make sure you know how that data is stored and used.
• Manage how data protected and secured.

For a step-by-step guide to becoming GDPR compliant, download our latest eBook titled HOW GDPR AFFECTS YOUR TOUR BUSINESS: How to Become GDPR Compliant. Download the 30-page eBook for free! 

ORIOLY
on April 18, 2018

by Lidija Šomodi