NAIS hosting this year's Travel Net Plenary

On October 6, 2023, was held the annual plenary meeting of the European organization Travel Net.

Travel Net is a network that unites European bodies for out-of-court settlement of trade-consumer disputes in the field of transport services, whose members are from Germany, France, Belgium, Greece, Poland, Latvia, Spain, Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Great Britain, etc. The organization was established 6 years ago, with the aim of cooperation, sharing of good practices and cooperation in solving consumer disputes, especially those of an international nature.

What was different about this meeting was that the National Association for Out-of-court Settlements- NAIS hosted the meeting. The event is co-financed by the EU under the Single Market Program.

During the meeting, good practices from different members of the organization were shared, decisions were made to address issues regarding air transport as a single organization. It was also decided to focus the main communication online in a specially created EU digital cloud space, which would be a data bank for information on case studies,  any other supporting material that could help to improve the efficiency in the individual members work.

The development of the organization necessitated the creation of new responsibilities and roles, and people were assigned to fulfill them.

The need to strengthen Travel Net's digital presence and current progress on this matter was discussed.

It was reported that for the 6 years of Travel-Net existence it has developed as an organization that creates prerequisites for faster and optimized reaching of decisions and recommendations on repeated and similar dispute cases. The members shared that the usefulness of the organization is undeniable and that in the future it could have more influence on the processes of creating adequate rules and regulations in the search for solutions related to the improvement of ADR, in terms of increasing the awareness of traders and increasing the quality of their customer service.

A large part of the members of the organization visited Bulgaria for the first time. The hosts, Mrs. Svilena Nasalevska and Mrs. Eliza Nikolova, demonstrated Bulgarian hospitality and made the guests feel as much cared for and satisfied as possible from their first contact with Bulgarian culture, history, cuisine, wine production and active urban life in Sofia.

Here is what Mrs. Svilena Nasalevska said about NAIS as host:

"Welcoming 26 people from different European countries to Bulgaria, most of whom have never been here, is a responsible task, because the next two or three visits, whether again in Bulgaria or another country, will inevitably be compared to it. It's just the way our brain is structured that in order to remember and assimilate, it compares.

So far, these meetings have been hosted by Vienna, Brussels, Paris, Berlin, Prague - all favorite European cities that captivate with their cultural and historical heritage. In order to impress our guests, we decided to do what we Bulgarians have done best for centuries - to be hospitable. And it didn't mean spending more money to impress them with expensive experiences because we don't have such big budgets. Rather, we invested a lot of ourselves, our personal attitude, attention, desire to make them feel good, cozy, comfortable in our home town, as if we were welcoming close friends and relatives.

Before they came, we sent them all the useful information for a better experience in Sofia. We informed them about everything they need to know in order to quickly navigate the unfamiliar environment and to be able to indulge more quickly and confidently in pleasant walks and tours of Sofia sights of interest, before and after the plenary session.

In our presentation during the meeting I used modern digital tools, making it more lively, interesting, and even fun, demonstrating  how  artificial intelligence can assist us in our daily work.

During our evening gathering in a restaurant with traditional Bulgarian cuisine, I told them details about Bulgarian rakia, wine, the food that is typical for the Bulgarian table, and also how we prepare it at home. For each of the participants with a different food diet, we catered individually so to be properly included in the overall pleasant culinary experience.

I think we bet on the right concept, because the colleagues were satisfied and showered us with thanks and compliments for the good organization."

The next plenary session is planned for spring 2024 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or SMP. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.