The Ministry of Hotels and Tourism only received six proposals for outbound tour license even after the ministry warned 69 non-compliant outbound tour companies to apply for the license.
“We have already warned unlicensed travel and tour companies, but they still have not applied for the license. We have not seen those unlicensed companies operating tours after the notice was sent. If they do run an unlicensed business, we will take action,” Director of Ministry of Hotels and Tourism, U Myint Htwe, said.
The ministry called the outbound tour companies to remind them to register in May.
“We have warned the companies to register as outbound tour companies before the end of June. The companies requested to extend the registration period for a month so we had waited until end of July. Starting from August 1, we began taking action on unlicensed companies,” Director U Myint Htwe said.
After instances of money fraud by tour service companies advertised on Facebook, the ministry launched an investigation on outbound tour companies and found 69 out of 300 companies in the industry are unregistered.
Tourism law dictates that tourism-related businesses cannot operate without a license. If the unlicensed companies advertise in newspapers, social media or other media, legal action will be taken against them, according to a news release from the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism.
“The ministry has been widely struggling to increase license awareness. We have also seen unlicensed companies. Last month, an unlicensed outbound company cheated money from customers. The company is still avoiding us. That is why, the license must be mandatory,” Chairman of SKAL International Company, U Khin Aung Tun, said.
U Khin Aung Tun suggested customers should verify a prospective tour company’s registration as outbound tour before they buy a travel package by visiting the DICA or Ministry of Hotels and Tourism websites to view a list of registered companies.
Applicants for outbound tour licenses must have at least two years’ worth of experience in the tourism industry and employ skillful staff. As for documentation, they need an unexpired travel and tour license, an unexpired company registration document from Directorate of Investment and Company Administration as well as plans and estimates of travel operations to apply for the outbound tour license, according the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism.
Source: Myanmar Business Today
