October 2020

The procedure for licensing tour operator activities in Kazakhstan

The tourism business in Kazakhstan is developing at a fast pace, since this type of activity brings good profits. Today, almost everyone can visit abroad, or even several times a year.

In this article, we will look at the main points regarding this activity.  Before engaging in tour operator activities, you need to develop a business plan, establish external relations and contacts with your clients, find an office, think over the interior, and especially important points is obtaining a license for the right to engage in tour operator activities.

The licensing procedure for this activity consists of three important stages: filing documents, making a decision and granting or refusing to issue a license by the relevant authority.

Submission of documents to the licensing authority

An important step in obtaining licenses is the submission of documents.  This is in fact the provision of evidence that the tourism activity will be carried out in accordance with the qualification requirements.  The list of documents includes an application from a legal entity or an individual for obtaining a license, an electronic copy of the document confirming the payment of the license fee, as well as the form of information on compliance with qualification requirements and a list of documents confirming compliance with them for the implementation of tour operator activities.

Decision making and licensing

The licensing authority checks the accuracy of the data and evaluates the applicant's ability to carry out tour operator activities.  If a full package of documents is provided, an order for issuing a license is prepared, endorsed/signed.

Grounds for refusal to issue a license

If the applicant submits an incomplete package of documents or documents that have expired, the licensing authority prepares a reasoned refusal to further consider the application.  In addition, the grounds for refusal are:

• engaging in tour operator activities is prohibited by the laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan for this category of the applicant;

• license fee has not been paid;

• the applicant does not meet the qualification requirements for tour operator activities;

• in relation to the applicant there is a court decision (verdict) that has entered into legal force on the suspension or prohibition of tour operator activities;

• the court, on the basis of the enforcement agent’s submission, is temporarily prohibited from issuing licenses to the debtor applicant.

• non-compliance of the applicant with the qualification requirements (on the basis of the reorganization of a legal entity in the forms of division and separation);

• if the license was previously reissued to another legal entity from among the newly emerged as a result of the division of legal entities-licensees (on the basis of the reorganization of the legal entity in the form of separation).

According to the latest statistics, tourist demand is growing annually not only in Kazakhstan, this trend is observed throughout the world.  Tourism has a great future and if you decide to open a business in the field of tourism, then we advise you to entrust the process of obtaining a license to professionals.