New rules on tourist data submission takes effect
Beginning this year, licensed accommodation service providers, both companies and individuals, will be required to submit data about their guests via E. Tourist – a subsystem of the National Tourism Information System (NTIS). The new rules, which took effect on January 1, are set to contribute to the data-based development of Lithuania’s tourism sector and increase public safety.
Already in 2011, accommodation service providers were required to collect such data about their guests as name and surname, date of birth, personal identification document number and issuing country, and residential address. Admittedly, this only applied to a single member of a family or group. From now on, however, the process will be digitised, registering all adult tourists and automatically anonymizing the data, which will be used for statistical purposes, thereby complying with the GDPR. These changes will simplify the tracking and analysing of tourist flows, and make tourism safer, as all guests will be registered.
According to Olga Gončarova, General Manager of the National Tourism Promotion Agency Lithuania Travel, the digitisation of data on the guests of Lithuania’s accommodation establishments will make the agency’s efforts in promoting tourism far more effective.
“The current model of tourism statistics provides generalised quarterly data, which makes it impossible to analyse travel habits, weekday and weekend flows or the exact impact of big events on the local tourism sector. It’s even hard to get an exact guest number, as any given tourist travelling around Lithuania and staying the night in different places is counted as several people. For this reason, the digitisation of statistical data will contribute to a more precise and effective promotion of tourism in Lithuania and abroad, allow us to analyse data in real time, and base our decision on it. The digitisation of tourist data is taking place across Europe – although information always was, and remains, a precious commodity, in the age of AI it is more important than ever. To develop technologies and innovations in a rapidly changing world, we need accurate and timely statistical, as well as other tourism-related, data. I believe that being able to analyse different types of internally linked data makes for a more exact appraisal of the significance and value of tourism, allows regions to track unfolding trends and consider improvements or expansion of their infrastructures, and enables businesses to identify growth opportunities. The UN World Tourism Organisation and the European Commission both see the digitisation of the tourism sector and the availability of open data as their key priorities until 2030,” said O. Gončarova.
When developing the system, much attention was also given to its user-friendliness, in order to provide accommodation service providers with as many opportunities for submitting data automatically as possible. The head of Lithuania Travel noted that accommodation establishments having registration systems will be able to link them with the E. Tourist system and transmit data automatically. It’s also possible to import data from Excel spreadsheets by clicking a few buttons or provide tourists with links, allowing them to submit the data themselves.
Statistical information will be collected and processed according to all data protection requirements, which means that institutions using it – Lithuania Travel and the State Data Agency – won’t be able to see tourists’ personal data (e.g., names and surnames).
Another institution that will also be able to use this information in the future is the Criminal Police Bureau. Accessing this data, permitted only according to the procedure stipulated in legislation, will allow officers to reduce their response time when looking for missing persons and investigating criminal offences. While the aforesaid legislation isn’t new, as law enforcement officials are already entitled to using personal data, this system will help them work faster and improve safety for everyone, both the accommodation service providers themselves and the public.
What should tourists know?
Up until now, the decision whether to register all guests or only the person specified in the booking form was left up to the accommodation providers themselves, who would make it on the basis of their internal policies. Amendments to the Law on Tourism harmonised these rules, stipulating the requirement to register all adult persons buying accommodation services.
Guest names, surnames, dates of birth, and document numbers (identity numbers won’t be collected) will be submitted to NTIS. Additional required information: country and city of departure, number of accompanying children, aim of the trip (recreation, work, health, etc.) and mode of travel (via a travel agency, etc.). This data will be collected for statistical purposes. Guests will also be able, but not required, to specify their residential addresses.
One way of gathering this information directly into the system will be to allow tourists to submit it themselves via a link sent by the service provider. Therefore, upon booking a stay, travellers may expect to receive such requests from their service providers. Data will be submitted to a secure state information system that features advanced safeguards against cyber-intrusions. In addition to the data being totally anonymized, concealing names and surnames, neither adult travel companions nor room numbers will be recorded anywhere, thereby guaranteeing the safety of personal data and anonymity.
The Law on Tourism specifies the duty to screen and register all guests, for which reason tourists are encouraged to travel responsibly, bring along their identity documents and produce them during registration, helping us transform the tourism sector and improve data accuracy and safety.