Registration of travel agency

The Bulgarian legislation have several requirement for register a travel agency in Bulgaria. In order to act as tour operator or travel agency (travel agent) in Bulgaria, the agency is necessary to cover certain conditions which are expressly and exhaustively listed in the new Tourism Act of 2013. First person must be a trader within the meaning of the Commerce Act or a legal person under another law have the right to carry on business. Secondly, these persons must be registered in a special public register of tour operators and travel agents, which is supported by the Ministry of Economy, Energy and Tourism.

Tour operator or travel agency activities could be registered under the Tourism Act and may perform the following :

• Persons entitled to carry out such activity on the Bulgarian legislation;
• Persons who are entitled to carry out such an activity under the law of another Member State of the European Union;
• The top category of persons, but only electronically.

To be able to function as tur operator or travel agency, persons entitled to carry out under Bulgarian law must implement a number of documents to its application for registration. Submit the following documents: a declaration form for registration in the Commercial Register, indicating the UIC or copy of a document certifying that the applicant has the right to conduct business under a special law, a declaration that the sole proprietor is not under guardianship reference a model number, location, suitability and equipment room for tour operator and / or tourist agency, a copy of the deed to the room for the activity or copy of a Contracting Second lease or other document from which derives the applicant’s right to use the premises for the activity, reference form for education, language skills and experience of staff who will be engaged in the implementation of tourism, a copy of the documents certifying their education, experience and language skills of person performing management functions of the tour operator and / or travel agents, a copy of the preliminary insurance contract, a statement by the applicant that is not associated with a merchant whose Registration for tour operator and / or tourist agent activity has been deleted or that was not a merchant declared bankrupt or has been denied registration, power of attorney in original, when the application is submitted by an attorney and a document for paid application fee documents.

Registration of travel agency

Persons who are entitled under EU law to perform in Bulgaria business as a tour operator or travel agency must submit a few documents compared to the first category of persons. The documents that are required to provide when submitting their application for registration, are connected with the right to develop this activity in the foreign country of domicile and address their management, and document representing insurance or any financial security that document guarantees the responsibility of the applicant for damages caused as a result of not paying its contractors, including insolvency and bankruptcy. Persons registered as tour operators or travel agents in an EU country

In the event that persons wishing to carry out a tour or tourist agency only electronically, then the application, which was submitted for the registration in the register of the Ministry, except those documents / except those related to room / should submit and a specific declaration declare that they will operate only electronically, and document certifying the ownership of Internet addresses in that domain.

A key requirement for companies who wish to be entered in the register of tour operators and travel agents is properly staffed – in terms of education, language skills and experience. The same goes for the person who will manage and represent the company.

Another essential requirement is the provision of suitable premises for the implementation of the action must be borne in mind that the law contains very specific requirements in terms of location, type of equipment and the workplace. Last but not least is required and signing the preliminary contract of insurance with a licensed insurer. Negative assumptions, which may not be available to implement the public register are the following: the person should not be in liquidation or bankruptcy in the 12 months

The entry in the register shall submit a written application to the Ministry, enclosing a number of documents certifying compliance with the requirements of the law – statements, reports and other documents. The deadline for a ruling for registration is two months from receipt of the application and if allowed registration of the person, the Minister shall issue a certificate of registration, which should be placed prominently on the premises of a tour company.

Control bodies, which ensure compliance with the above requirements are the Ministry of Economy, Energy and Tourism, the Commission for Consumer Protection. For offenses such as making a tour operator or travel agency activity without holding a registration certificate to contract with a registered tour operator or travel agent, a person carrying out tourist activity in categorized tourist site with an unlicensed carrier with personnel who do not have adequate professional qualifications and experience; non-issuance of travel voucher tourists under defined in the Law on Tourism, as well as a number of other offenses listed in the law, financial penalties, whose sizes range from 500 to 20,000 lev, depending on the type of offense committed. Registration of travel agency