APPLICATION OF LICENSE TRANSFER

TRAVEL AGENCY BUSINESS LICENSE TRANSFER

 

PROCESS OF TRANSFER

An application is submitted to the Ministry via a single petition jointly prepared by the legal entity transferring the operating license and the legal entity acquiring it, along with the following attachments. The signature circulars of the transferring and acquiring legal entities, and a “list of preferred names” regarding the new name the acquirer will use in its travel agency operations.

If the Ministry approves the transfer of the business license in question, a letter titled “preliminary transfer approval” is served to the transferee and the transferring party and notified to Association of Turkish Travel Agencies.

Within thirty days from the date of notification of the preliminary approval letter regarding the transfer to the transferring and acquiring legal entities, the transferring and acquiring legal entities must submit an application to TÜRSAB. If the application is not submitted to TÜRSAB within this period or within any fifteen-day extension granted, the “preliminary approval for transfer” shall be deemed automatically canceled.

In applications for license transfers, TÜRSAB conducts an examination and evaluation in the following order: whether there are any obstacles to the transfer regarding the travel agency subject to the transfer in relation to the Association and the profession; the compliance of the information and documents in the application file with relevant legislation; the suitability of the address where operations will be conducted for travel agency activities; and whether the services provided to the transferor have been properly terminated. Finally, applicants whose applications are deemed suitable in these evaluations are requested to attend the Information Meeting for Acquiring Travel Agencies, where the authorized representative(s) with the power to represent and bind the agency are introduced by the relevant managers of our Association, based on the application dates.

Applications deemed unsuitable in the evaluations are withdrawn from the process by notifying the applicant of the reason and forwarding the application file to the Ministry with the same justification.

Application files deemed eligible are forwarded to the Ministry by TÜRSAB. The file regarding the license transfer application forwarded to the Ministry is reviewed by the Ministry. If any deficiencies are identified during the Ministry’s review, TÜRSAB is notified of the need to rectify them.

If the request is deemed appropriate by the Ministry, an Authorization for Issuance is prepared. Following the Authorization for Issuance, an operating license is issued under the appropriate agency title within the acquiring legal entity. The issued operating license is sent to the relevant Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism for collection.

The procedures for the transfer of the operating license are typically completed within 4 to 6 weeks following the submission of the transfer application to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Türkiye.

 

REQUIRED DOCUMENTS

1. Application letter to be prepared by the acquiring legal entity
2. Notarized copies of the decisions of the governing bodies of the transferring and acquiring legal entities regarding the transfer (Notarized copies of the decisions of the authorized bodies of the legal entities referring to the transferor, the transferee, the date and number of the transfer permit, the operating license number of the travel agency subject to the transfer, the approved agency title, and, if any, the address information of the branch operating licenses)
3. Annex - 4 (Trade Registry Gazette Declaration)
Trade registry records showing the articles of association and partners and directors if the acquiring legal entity is a limited company, or the articles of association and partnership structure and board of directors information if it is a joint-stock company
4. Trade Registry Certificate
A current Trade Registry Certificate obtained from the relevant Trade Registry Directorate, containing the addresses and authorized representatives of the acquiring legal entity's headquarters and branches involved in the transfer
5. Annex - 2 (Criminal Record Declaration)
For joint stock companies, the Turkish ID numbers and Judicial Record Declarations of the board members and persons authorized to represent the company, as listed in Appendix 2; for limited companies, the Turkish ID numbers and Judicial Record Declarations of the managers and persons authorized to represent the company
6. Signature Circular (Original or notarized copies of the signature circular belonging to the acquiring legal entity)
7. Travel Agency Establishment Guarantee
Guarantee to be arranged in accordance with Article 29 and in the amount specified in Article 30 of the Travel Agencies and Travel Agencies Association Regulation
8. Annex - 1 (Agency Title Undertaking) This is an undertaking that the agency title may be changed if deemed necessary by the Ministry.
9. Transfer Commitment Statement (Original commitment to be jointly completed by the authorized representative(s) of the transferring legal entity and the acquiring legal entity)
10. Travel agency mandatory personnel certificate
Travel agencies must employ at least one person with one of the following qualifications at their headquarters and branches.

• Original or certified copy of a document proving graduation from vocational high school, associate's degree, or bachelor's degree in hospitality and tourism
• Original foreign language proficiency certificate for information officers
• Original or certified copy of a guide certificate issued by the Ministry

(In Group C travel agencies, individuals who possess an information officer proficiency certificate may be employed in place of personnel possessing the qualifications specified in the first paragraph.)

11. SGK Employment Notification or SGK Insured Service List for the most recent period, indicating that the personnel whose documents are presented are employed by the company
12. Annex - 3 Declaration (SGK Workplace Code Declaration)
13. Travel Agency Information Update Form
14. Original transaction receipt showing that the business license fee has been paid from the account of the legal entity that acquired the Travel Agency.
Travel Agency operating license fee paid by the legal entity taking over the license into the relevant account of the Ministry (Account Name: Ministry of Culture and Tourism Revolving Fund Operations Central Directorate Travel Agencies Operating License Fees Bank: Ziraat Bank Ankara Public Corporate Branch Branch Code: 1745 Account No: 3483170 IBAN: TR 1200 0100 1745 0348 3170 5759) with the company name/agency name specified.

 

REQUIRED FORMS AND APPLICATIONS

1. Annex - 1
2. Annex - 2
3. Annex - 3
4. Annex - 4
5. Document Transfer Application Example
6. Transfer Receiving Company Decision Example
7. Transferring Company Decision Example
8. Travel Agency Information Update Form
9. Sample Guarantee Letter
10. Transfer Commitment Statement
11. Signature Circular
The original document or a notarized copy of the document containing the signature samples of the representative of an institution or organization.
12. Guarantee

• If provided as a letter of guarantee, the letter of guarantee must be definitive and indefinite and must include the agency's title and trade name.
• Guarantees other than letters of guarantee: The receipt deposited into the account of the Central Accounting Directorate of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey, “Collection Account TR89 0000 1001 0000 0350 1540 21 IBAN” account, or deposited to the Ministry's Central Accounting Unit or to the Ministry's Central Accounting Unit via the accounting units of the provincial or district general budget departments. (The receipt must be stamped and signed, and the sender's commercial name must be indicated on the sender section of the receipt (no personal names are allowed), and the agency title obtained from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey must be indicated in the description section.)

• For Group A: 7,000.00 TL  (Seven thousand Turkish Lira)
• For Group B: 6,000.00 TL (Six thousand Turkish Lira)
• For Group C: 5,000.00 TL (Five thousand Turkish Lira)

and 25% of these amounts must be paid for each branch.

13. Trade Registry Certificate
Trade Registry Certificate issued in accordance with Article 16 of the Trade Registry Regulation;
MERSIS number, trade name, in the case of real person commercial enterprises, the name and surname of the business owner, place of residence and identity number, the center of the enterprise, the address of the enterprise's center along with the address of the branch in the case of branches, the field of activity of the enterprise, the capital allocated to the enterprise, and the persons authorized to represent the enterprise at the time the document is issued.
14. Sample Authorized Decision
A notarized copy of the decision of the authorized body regarding the relevant change in matters that do not require registration or cannot be registered at the Trade Registry Directorates.
15. Transaction Receipt for the Payment of the Business Certificate Fee

 

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

1. How is the “Transfer Pre-Approval” for the Business Certificate obtained?

The transfer pre-approval is granted by the Ministry. You can access information and documents related to the transfer pre-approval from the Ministry's website below.
Click to Apply.

2. Can a legal entity that transfers a certificate transfer it again or apply for a business certificate?

A legal entity that transfers a license cannot apply for or acquire a business license for 3 years.

3. Can the acquiring legal entity transfer the business license?

There are no sanctions preventing the transfer of the license by the acquiring party, in accordance with the procedures and principles for license transfer determined by the Ministry.

4. Can a business license with branches be transferred?

Travel Agency branch business licenses are transferred with the headquarters. Branch business licenses cannot be transferred externally.

5. Can a Travel Agency business license within a sole proprietorship be transferred, or can a sole proprietorship acquire a business license?

According to the relevant legislation and the procedures and principles determined by the Ministry on this matter, the transfer of the license can only take place between legal entities.

6. Can the acquiring legal entity engage in travel agency activities after the preliminary approval for the transfer of the license?

The acquiring legal entity cannot engage in travel agency activities until the transfer procedures are completed.

7. Who is responsible for fulfilling obligations to our Association in the transfer of the license?

The license transfer file is subject to legal and financial scrutiny during the preliminary review. In this context, the transferring and acquiring parties are jointly and severally liable for all matters that may constitute an obstacle to the transfer. TÜRSAB is not a party here.

8. Is the establishment guarantee held by the Ministry during the transfer of the document valid for the acquiring legal entity?

The establishment guarantee held by the Ministry for the legal entity transferring the operating license is not valid for the acquiring entity. The guarantee belonging to the transferor is returned by the Ministry following the completion of the document transfer. If the guarantee is in the form of a letter, it will be returned to the issuing bank. For information on the return of cash guarantees, please visit the Ministry's website.
https://yigm.ktb.gov.tr/TR-233489/nakit-teminat-iade-islemleri.html

9. When will the procedures for the transfer of the operating license, carried out by the Ministry and TÜRSAB, be completed?

The transfer procedures are completed 4 to 6 weeks after the application for the transfer of the operating license is submitted to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Türkiye.