31-01-2024 10:35
On December 5th, the mobile application "Travel Informed" was officially presented, created by the Crisis Center at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with the support of the Fund for Bilateral Relations of the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area (EEA) and the Norwegian Financial Mechanism. The official event was attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Maria Gabriel, Minister of Culture Krаstyu Krаstev, and representatives of the diplomatic corps. "Accurate and timely information is a resource that allows everyone to travel informed," said Mrs. Gabriel, noting that Bulgaria is the only EU country to have created such an application.
The project "Upgrade and Equipment of the Crisis Management Center at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria" is implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Norway. An important part of the activities involved sharing Norwegian crisis management experience and joint training for consular crises.
The application is free and ad-free. It is compatible with Android and iOS operating systems. It provides information on the risk level in a given country, local legislative specifics, customs requirements, local currency, and practical advice for every country worldwide. In case of emergencies, there is an SOS button that sends a signal to the operator. Depending on the specific case, the operator directs it to the responsible embassy in the country or local services.
Registration is recommended as it allows for pre-filled personal data (names and phone numbers) to be directly sent to the operator in a crisis situation. There is also an option for precise user localization, activated upon receiving consent. For additional questions, "Travel Informed" also has its own chatbot, which answers queries by extracting information from a database.