Publication date: 30.05.2024
I am studying in the third year of the State University of Economics and Technology.I specialize in contractual, economic and corporate law, in particular, I provide consultations and write articles.
A license for tour operator activity is a permit issued by the competent authorities of the state, which allows a certain company or person to carry out tour operator activity. Tour operator activity includes the organization and sale of tours, trips and other tourist services.
Licensing can be of great importance to a business for several reasons:
Legality and credibility: Having a license confirms that your business operates within the law and meets established requirements and standards. This creates trust both among customers and among partners and counterparties.
Protection from competition: In some business sectors, licensing can create barriers for competitors as they must also obtain a license to enter the market.
Quality Assurance: The licensing process may include an audit and assessment of your processes, quality and safety standards. This helps to maintain a high level of quality of products or services.
Licensing requirements for tour operator activities:
1. Financial stability: The tour operator must have sufficient financial stability to ensure reimbursement of costs and refunds to tourists in case of cancellation or non-delivery of services.
2. Professional qualifications: Managers of tour operator companies and their staff must have appropriate professional qualifications and experience in the field of tourism.
3. Compliance with standards: The tour operator must comply with the standards and requirements established by the legislation of Ukraine for tour operator activities, including the rules for the sale of tours, the organization of travel and the provision of other tourist services.
4. Documents: the licensee (a person or a company that received a license) is usually required to keep documents that confirm the authenticity of the data specified when applying for a license for the duration of the license.
5. Technological support: The use of modern management and booking technologies, such as online booking systems, CRM systems and others, can greatly facilitate the work of the tour operator and improve customer service.
6. Ensuring liability: the tour operator is usually obliged to ensure compliance with the minimum amount of financial security of its civil liability to tourists. This is one of the main requirements for obtaining a tour operator license and aims to protect the interests of tourists in case of unforeseen circumstances or incomplete fulfillment of the tour conditions.
The procedure for obtaining a license:
Documentation: Collect the necessary documents to apply for a license. This may include the company's statutory documents, financial statements, passport data of owners and other information.
Preparation of the application: Fill out the application for obtaining a tour operator license, specifying all the necessary information about the company and its owners.
Submitting an application: Submit an application together with the necessary documents to the competent body, which is the State Tourism Development Agency of Ukraine.
Payment of the license fee: Pay the license fee, which may depend on the size of the business and the requirements of the licensing authority.
Issuance of license: After successful completion of all stages of the process, the competent authority will issue a license for tour operator activities.
Lawyer services in obtaining a license:
The legal services may be needed at the stage of preparation of documents and their submission to the licensing authority, because this is one of the most important stages. The correctness of the application, collection of the necessary documents and consideration of all the above-mentioned features, legal analysis of the situation are results that can be guaranteed by a lawyer. Also, the lawyer consultation will be extremely necessary in the event of an unjustified refusal to issue a license.
