Establishing a tourism agency in Turkey requires understanding the dynamics of the tourism sector as well as being familiar with legal processes. The rules and procedures set forth by the Law No. 1618 on "Travel Agencies and the Union of Travel Agencies" are fundamental to making a successful start. In this article, we discuss in detail the legal steps to take when opening a tourism agency, the process of becoming a member of TÜRSAB, and acquiring an operating license. If you want to draw a correct roadmap for bringing your business idea to life, definitely check out this guide-like article.
What is the First Step?
We have generated our business idea, studied the laws. Now we are ready. What steps should we take at this point?
At this stage, like every company, you also need to determine a commercial title and the type of company. Will the company be limited, joint-stock, or a sole proprietorship? After deciding on this, it is necessary to register with the Trade Registry Office.
Then, to sustain your existence as a travel agency, you need to become a member of the Union of Travel Agencies of Turkey (TÜRSAB). You can finalize your membership by providing the rental agreement or title deed of the workplace, the trade registry gazette of the company, and the tax plate.
After this process, we need to obtain a license from the Ministry of Tourism. The type of license varies according to the services we will offer. There are 3 legal types of tourism agencies categorized as A, B, and C groups.
Types of Tourism Travel Agencies
Group A: They provide all travel agency services mentioned in Article 1 of the Law on Travel Agencies and the Union of Travel Agencies. Agencies in this group are authorized to perform all agency activities and exhibit the most comprehensive activities. According to Law No. 1618, the role of tour operating is undertaken by group A travel agencies, and this practice is only valid in our country. The general qualifications and conditions are as follows:
- [x] They can perform all activities specified in the law and included in the definition of a Travel Agency.
- [x] They may organize tours abroad, provided that they do not exceed 40% of the foreign currency amount obtained from the tours and trips organized abroad in the previous year.
- [x] They start operations after obtaining a temporary operating license (Ag) from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The duration of this license is two years. If the agencies in this group generate a foreign currency income of 80,000 dollars within two years, their operation licenses convert to Group A Operating License. Otherwise, the (Ag) operating license will also be canceled.
- [x] Group A agencies are required to document that they have brought the aforementioned amount of foreign currency every two years.
- [x] The responsible managers of the agencies must be at least high school graduates and must know at least one foreign language.
- [x] It is mandatory to maintain at least two information officers in the agency's headquarters and other branches, and there must also be a translator guide on the domestic and international tours organized.
- [x] They must deposit a guarantee with the Ministry.
- [x] They must send a sample of the organized tours abroad to the ministry.
- [x] Group A agencies are required to pay the entrance and membership fees to TÜRSAB.
Group B: They sell tickets for tours organized by international ground, sea, and air transport vehicles and Group A travel agencies. Group B agencies are mostly limited-function agencies operating incoming. The general qualifications and conditions are as follows:
- [x] They sell tickets for international land, air, and sea transport vehicles and tickets for the tours organized by Group A agents.
- [x] They may start operations by obtaining a direct operating license if they fulfill the necessary legal requirements.
- [x] There is no minimum foreign currency requirement to obtain an operating license.
- [x] Their responsible managers must have at least a high school diploma and know one foreign language.
- [x] It is required to have at least two information officers speaking one foreign language in the agencies' headquarters and branches and a translator guide for the domestic tours they will organize.
- [x] They must deposit a specified amount of money to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism as a guarantee each year.
- [x] They must pay the entrance and membership fees to TÜRSAB as specified for Group A agencies.
Group C: They organize and market domestic tours for Turkish citizens. They also provide the services offered by Group A travel agencies and market their products. Group B and C travel agencies cannot provide other travel agency services outside their own services. However, they can benefit from the services offered by Group A travel agencies. In short, if you want to establish a travel agency, it is mandatory to obtain an A, B, or C Group operating license from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
When creating the business plan, you need to have already determined the type of the agency. You should identify which group the agency falls into according to the idea and capital. Afterwards, you need to get professional liability insurance for the agency. Professional liability insurance aims to protect the insured's assets from obligations arising from liabilities to third parties. This insurance provides coverage for the insured's legal liabilities arising from the professional activity specified in the insurance policy.
Professional liability insurance serves functions such as fulfilling compensation obligations, providing legal protection, safeguarding economic assets, and ensuring liquidity. This insurance also prevents damage to the insured's professional reputation.
What is Mandatory Insurance?
Travel agencies are required to insure their responsibilities in packaged tours sold in Turkey:
a) Within the scope of the packaged tour they organize; they are required to insure their responsibilities towards the services promised to the customer, which might not be fulfilled for any reason, including the agency's bankruptcy. In this case, the insurer's liability must be at least equal to the cost of the packaged tour. The customer can directly claim damages covered by the insurance from the insurance company.
Travel agencies and insurance companies are obliged to send a copy of the contract to the Ministry within five working days from the moment they conclude the insurance contracts. In case the contract ends before its term, this must be reported to the Ministry by travel agencies and insurance companies during the same period.
Insurance companies that have a license in the relevant branch are required to provide packaged tour insurance. The Treasury Undersecretariat is authorized to determine insurance premiums in necessary cases.
b) While organizing the packaged tour contract, they are required to inform the customer that:
1- They can insure the costs of returning to the departure point in case of accident and illness,
2- They can insure against losses and treatment costs arising from any accident up to the policy limit.
WHAT IS A TRAVEL AGENCY OPERATING LICENSE?
Article 4 of Law No. 1618 states that it is mandatory to obtain an operating license from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey to engage in travel agency activities in Turkey, and that the procedures and principles regarding applications for an operating license are determined by regulation.
1. How to Apply for an Operating License?
According to Law No. 1618, operating licenses are issued to legal entities exclusively for a business.
1.1. The application for the operating license is made in two stages:
1- Request for Travel Agency Title
To obtain a Travel Agency Operating License, it is necessary to first acquire the travel agency designation from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey.
A petition to be addressed to the General Directorate of Investments and Enterprises of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey (Travel Agencies Department) should list the requested titles for the proposed travel agency in an orderly manner. The application petition shall be responded to within a maximum of 15 business days. The applicant can check the application result on the title application inquiry screen available on the ministry’s website.
If the title requests are not approved as a result of the examination conducted by the Ministry under the relevant legislative provisions, a new title request can be made.
2- Request for Travel Agency Operating License:
After the title request is approved by the Ministry, applications are made to the Turkey Travel Agency Union (TÜRSAB) with the required information and documents.
Within 30 days of being notified that the title request is approved by the Ministry, it is necessary to apply to the Turkey Travel Agency Union (TÜRSAB) with the postal notification document and the documents listed below.
Application petition (in the petition: the nature of the request should be clearly stated along with the name-surname, signature, address, phone number, and fax number of the company official applying for the document, and the application date),
A statement indicating the date and number of the commercial register gazette in which the company's articles of association, including tourism or travel agency activities as the trade subject, was published,
The most recent certificate of incorporation indicating the person or persons authorized to represent,
An undertaking regarding the Agency Title,
The identity number and criminal record statement of the members of the board of directors and the representatives authorized to represent the company for joint-stock companies, and for other companies, the identity number and criminal record statement of all partners and representatives authorized to represent the company,
The original or copy of the signature circular of the person or persons authorized to represent the legal entity,
A statement with documents of the travel agency personnel, including the Social Security Institution workplace code and the identity numbers of the employees,
Valid documents for travel agency personnel:
a) To document completion of vocational high school, associate degree or bachelor's degree in hospitality and tourism,
b) To document holding a foreign language competency certificate as an information officer,
c) To document holding a guiding license issued by the Ministry,
Agency owners will be considered agency personnel if they possess any of the aforementioned documents and actively work in the agency.
The original foreign language certificate for the information officer and original or approved copies of other documents,
– In a Group C travel agency, the information officer certificate is sufficient, and no foreign language proficiency is required.
Based on the values specified in Article 34 of Law No. 4734;
a) The original unconditional and indefinite letter of guarantee stating the agency and the company title or a document proving that it has been deposited in the account of the Central Accounting Office of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey, Ankara Branch must be presented to TÜRSAB,
b) Cash guarantees must be deposited from the company’s account,
c) Cash guarantees deposited from personal accounts will not be accepted.
d) The company title must be correctly written in the guarantee.
• The necessary conditions and founding principles for the travel agency center are also applicable for each branch that will be established.
1.2. Member Registration Process
Travel agency candidates identified as meeting the conditions stipulated in the regulations after inspections by TÜRSAB will be registered as TÜRSAB members upon payment of the membership registration fee.
II.3. Membership Cancellation
Memberships of travel agencies that have not received an operating license due to lack of approval from the Ministry after TÜRSAB's endorsement will be canceled, and the membership registration fee will be refunded by TÜRSAB.
II.4. Examination and Conclusion of the Request
After TÜRSAB examines the petition and its annexes regarding the license application, it conducts audits and evaluations at the address provided to determine whether the travel agency meets the qualifications specified in Article 17 of the Travel Agencies Regulation and whether records regarding personnel are kept.
Following its findings, TÜRSAB sends its opinion on the application result in writing to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey and to the applicant. The reason for any disapproved application will be stated. For applications deemed suitable, the file regarding the operating license application will be forwarded to the Ministry by TÜRSAB. If deficiencies are found upon examining the submitted application file by the Ministry and, if necessary, following an inspection at the cited address, TÜRSAB will be informed of the need to complete the deficiencies.
If the request is deemed suitable, an Approval from the Authority will be prepared for the issuance of the document. After the Approval, the travel agency operating license concerning the request will be arranged. The issued travel agency operating license will be sent to the relevant Provincial Culture and Tourism Directorate for delivery to the applicant, and TÜRSAB will be informed of the situation.
The license will be obtained from the Provincial Culture and Tourism Directorate once documents showing that all related fees have been paid into the accounts determined by the Ministry are submitted.
In this article, we have compiled the legal responsibilities you need to know when opening a tourism travel agency. For compiled information about the business plan and agency operation, you can check our previous article.
