New Procedures for Licensing Tourism and Travel Offices in Damascus

Director of Damascus Tourism, Majed Ezz Al-Din, confirmed that licensing tourism and travel offices involves several procedures and stages to ensure compliance with the required conditions, indicating that the process begins by submitting an application to the relevant directorate and examining the necessary legal documents.

Ezz Al-Din stated in a statement to SANA news agency that among the essential requirements is obtaining a real estate registration showing the property as a commercial establishment with an area of not less than 30 square meters, in addition to submitting a lease contract for five years or an investment contract, accepting a one-year lease contract with a commitment from a notary to extend it to five years.

After completing and verifying the documents, the applicant submits a request for designation for approval from the Ministry of Tourism, with the necessity of providing a document proving the absence of a judicial ruling or government employment.

He added that the next stage includes providing a bank guarantee and the initial budget for the office, along with paying a financial fee of 200,000 Syrian pounds, explaining that licensing travel and ticket reservation agencies requires appointing three employees, two of whom must be tourism specialists and the third in tickets or vice versa.

On the other hand, Ezz Al-Din pointed out that the Ministry of Tourism is working to facilitate procedures to support investment in the tourism sector, which faces significant challenges due to the deterioration of infrastructure following previous policies.

It is worth mentioning that the ministry announced on June 26th its intention to launch programs in cooperation with investors to rehabilitate stalled and non-operational tourism facilities.