Digital Detox – Strategic Tool For Tourism Development In Bulgaria

The tourism industry has a significant importance on the economy and up until 2020, it generated huge cash flows. In the last years, we have been witnessing a massive implementation of technology solutions into tourism. Despite the amazing importance of digitalization into tourism that can be partially viewed as a boosting engine, the practice of overuse is disturbing and getting our attention. Since the COVID-19 pandemic necessitates the accelerated use of digital tools, numerous studies highlighted the various psychological challenges that come along with digitalization and the overload associated with it. The idea of digital detox can help us eliminate all the exceeding stress and improve our wellness and well-being levels. This topic is highly attractive to Bulgaria as a potential wellness destination, so this publication has the intention to explore in depths the concepts of digital detox and its effect on users, to presents the negative aspects of digitalization, to examine the current state of digitalization in Bulgaria and to try to position the country as a digital detox destination. The methodology of the research is based on systematic and holistic approaches, and it covers: analysis and synthesis, deduction and induction, and descriptive methods. The main results of the article are related to the affirmation of the main thesis – identifying the potential of Bulgaria as a digital detox destination that can strengthen its positions on the global tourism market while boosting tourists’ wellbeing.