Reliability for consumers in the digitization of tourism businesses.

Although digitalization has always been preached as a business expansion tool, never more than in these times that we have had to live as a result of the pandemic, it has become an essential requirement for the survival of many travel agencies constituted as small and medium enterprises, and the rest of the companies in the sector with the same characteristics.

On numerous occasions, this need has been solved through the collaboration of the aforementioned tour operators in online sales distributor websites, which in the end have turned out to be real sharks for the benefits of the direct service providers, this in the specific case of hotels, whose dispute with booking.com has already been in the news through various specialized publications.

It is to avoid such dependencies on tour operators, and to adapt to the increasingly implemented way of contracting online by end consumers, that travel agencies and hotels should reinvent their relationship with consumers and bring online an image of updating, reliability and improvement of their customer experience.

Digitalization, in addition to giving visibility and offering unlimited access to non-face-to-face customers that would otherwise not be possible, also allows an improvement in productivity and customer relations, insofar as the fluidity in direct communications with customers increases their confidence, tasks can be carried out more quickly while providing a reduction in costs, being much lower the maintenance of a website than a physical store.

Precisely as a result of the current situation, and thanks to the aid and subsidies for the digitization of small and medium-sized companies, to which we can have access today, many companies will be able to keep their business standing, through the digitization plans published since January 27 for 2025 by the Government of Spain, so it is no longer an excuse to delay the adaptations or resort to third parties that subtract our control.

What are the issues that a user observes and offer reliability in their navigation?

Through various market studies, the primary issue that online users observe precisely when accessing a website is the announcement about the cookies that are used and that increases the credibility of the company offering the services, in which such messages contemplate possibilities to restrict and safeguard their rights as users in relation to their data.

Bearing this in mind, it is vital to be able to adapt to the new forms of acquisition of services by consumers and thus have a greater scope, to attend to external digitization, in this new showcase that is our website, understanding by it the basic compliance with the requirements demandable, of its regulatory regulations, these are, the regulations on data protection (Organic Law 3/2018, of December 5, on the Protection of Personal Data and guarantee of digital rights and Regulation 2016/679 , as well as the regulations on electronic commerce Law 34/2002, of July 11, on services of the information society and electronic commerce.

What are the minimum requirements for your website to meet?

In order for users to perceive the reliability of the services offered to them, and also to avoid being subject to enforcement by the control authorities, the website must be adapted and have the following points updated:

• Banner on cookies policy.
• Cookies Policy.
• Privacy policy.
• Legal Notice.
• General terms and conditions.

In TOURISM&LAW we put all our experience in improving the visibility of our clients and an advice adapted and oriented to the business as specific as that of travel agencies, tour operators and hotel companies that have understood the primordial character of this way to grow and stay.

Paloma Aguilar (Lawyer T&L)