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Why Dubai Works for a Travel Agency
The Four Tourism Licence Categories and Who Each One Suits
Bank Guarantee: AED 100,000 or AED 200,000?
Office Space and Manager Qualification Rules
What It Costs to Open a Travel Agency in Dubai
The Setup Process, Step by Step
IATA Accreditation and Ticket Issuance
Taxation: 9% Corporate Tax and 5% VAT
According to figures published by the Dubai Media Office on 9 February 2026, the emirate closed 2025 with 19.59 million international overnight visitors, a 5% increase on the previous year. Hotel occupancy reached 80.7%, the average daily rate stood at AED 579, and the average length of stay was 3.7 nights. For an agency, the operative point is not the headline number but its shape: demand here is a year-round flow rather than a short season.
December 2025 became the first single month above two million visitors, at 2.04 million. European winter demand and Gulf and Asian summer demand offset each other, which for an inbound operator means a revenue calendar that is not compressed into a handful of months.
The UAE levies no personal income tax. Corporate tax is 0% on taxable profit up to AED 375,000 and 9% above that threshold. In ticketing and tour packaging, where margins are measured in a few percentage points, that difference lands directly in working capital.
Dubai International Airport and the route networks of Emirates and flydubai make transit passengers, MICE groups and connected tour packages straightforward to build across Europe, Asia and Africa. A licensed agency can also support long-term residency routes; see our Dubai Golden Visa service for the detail.
Most guides describe three licence types. Article 2 of Regulation No. 6 of 2006 actually sets out four. The choice is not administrative housekeeping: it fixes your bank guarantee, your insurance obligation and the services you are permitted to sell.
Air ticketing, hotel reservations, transfers and visa support fall here. This is the starting point for a classic retail agency selling directly to travellers.
City tours, desert safaris, guiding and event delivery for visitors arriving in Dubai. For teams able to build a local supplier network, this is usually where the margin sits.
Selling international tour packages and tickets to UAE residents. Because customer money is collected before the service is delivered, the regulatory guarantee is highest in this category.
The GSA structure, selling on behalf of one or more carriers. It is the least discussed category in the market yet it has its own heading in the regulation.
| Licence Category | What You May Sell | Bank Guarantee |
|---|---|---|
| Travel and Tourism Agent | Tickets, hotels, transfers, visa support | AED 100,000 |
| Inbound Tour Operator | Tours, guiding and events inside Dubai | AED 100,000 |
| Outbound Tour Operator | International packages and tickets | AED 200,000 |
| Appointed General Agent | Sales on behalf of airlines (GSA) | AED 200,000 |
Competing guides contradict each other on this point, and a large share of them are simply wrong. Article 5(9) of Regulation No. 1 of 2009 sets two separate amounts: AED 200,000 for an appointed agent of one or more airlines and for an overseas tour organiser, and AED 100,000 for a tourism and travel agent and for a local tour organiser. The guarantee must remain valid unless the licence is revoked.
The same regulation obliges inbound and outbound operators to insure tourists and travellers against all risks and damage. No fixed sum is stated in the text, so treat any article quoting a precise professional indemnity figure with caution.
Budget note: the guarantee is blocked capital rather than a fee, but banks generally require cash cover or charge a commission to issue the letter. Building an outbound budget around the licence fee alone is the most common planning error in this sector.
Regulation No. 6 of 2006 requires independent office space of not less than 40 square metres for each licensed activity. In practice this rules out virtual offices and shared desks for a mainland tourism licence. The lease is evidenced through a registered tenancy contract (Ejari) and forms a mandatory part of the file.
Regulation No. 1 of 2009 sets a concrete threshold for the appointed manager: three years of tourism experience with a university degree or certificate majoring in tourism and travel, or five years with a general secondary school certificate. Qualifications must be duly attested. A meaningful share of rejected applications trace back to this clause being addressed only at the end of the process.
The decision reduces to one question: who is your customer? Selling directly to end users inside Dubai points to a mainland structure. A B2B model, an export-facing operation or a purely online platform makes a free zone worth considering.
One 2025 change matters here. Executive Council Resolution No. 11 of 2025 requires free zone establishments to hold a DET licence or permit in order to conduct activities inside mainland Dubai, with a free zone branch licence set at AED 10,000 per year and a temporary permit of up to six months at AED 5,000. The idea that a flexi-desk in a free zone lets you sell tours across Dubai does not survive contact with this rule. Our Dubai mainland company formation page covers the alternative in detail.
| Criterion | Mainland | Free Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Retail sales inside Dubai | Permitted directly | Requires a DET licence or permit |
| Office | Minimum 40 m² independent space | Flexible office options |
| Foreign ownership | 100% across many activities | 100% |
| Typical use | Agency, inbound and outbound operators | B2B, DMC, online platforms |
The reason nobody publishes a clean answer is that two very different sets of numbers get merged into one. Official fees are fixed in legislation and are low. Market items — office, guarantee, visas, advisory — are not fixed at all. Separating them is the only way to build a usable budget.
| Item | Official Amount | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Initial approval | AED 120 | DED service schedule |
| Trade name reservation | AED 200 | Resolution No. 13 of 2011 |
| Tourism licence issuance | AED 300 | Regulation No. 6 of 2006 |
| Renewal or adding an activity | AED 500 | Regulation No. 6 of 2006 |
| Item | Indicative Amount (AED) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Office rent (annual) | From 15,000 | Driven by the 40 m² rule and location |
| Bank guarantee | 100,000 – 200,000 | Blocked, set by licence category |
| Employee visa (per person) | Variable | MOHRE work permit AED 250 – 3,450 and GDRFA residence fee AED 740, plus medical, Emirates ID and typing centre charges |
| Insurance and extras | Variable | Traveller insurance, notarisation, translation, attestation |
The official fees above rest on the 2006 and 2011 schedules and can be revised. Market items are observed ranges only. Confirm current amounts with DET and the Federal Tax Authority before committing a budget.
No official end-to-end timeline is published by DET, so promises of a fixed two-week completion deserve scepticism. What actually determines the calendar is document attestation and the bank account stage.
The tourism licence and IATA accreditation are routinely conflated. The DET licence is what permits you to trade; IATA accreditation is a separate, optional status that lets you issue airline tickets in your own name. Many new agencies spend their first years issuing through a consolidator or a GDS partner instead, because the financial security requirements of accreditation are heavy at launch. The trade-off is a slightly thinner margin per transaction in exchange for materially less cash locked up.
Corporate tax applies at 0% on taxable profit up to AED 375,000 and 9% above it. Businesses with revenue at or below AED 3,000,000 may elect Small Business Relief, but that relief only applies to tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2026. Building a second-year budget on the assumption that it continues is a real risk for a newly licensed agency.
VAT is charged at the standard 5% rate, with mandatory registration at AED 375,000 and voluntary registration at AED 187,500. Travel and tourism services are standard-rated; international passenger transport is zero-rated. Our Dubai tax consultancy team can structure the reporting side.
Certain tourism activities attract additional authority approvals; our Dubai sectoral permits page sets out the scope. The wider framework for tourism companies is covered in our guide on how to start a tourism company in Dubai.
What stretches a tourism licence application is rarely the regulation itself. It is usually preparation: unattested manager credentials, a guarantee letter requested too late, and an office that does not meet the 40 m² threshold. World Company Setup runs the whole file — category selection, guarantee letter, DET approval and corporate account opening — as a single workstream.
For the wider company structure see setting up a company in Dubai, or request pricing for your specific model through our free quotation form.
Settle five things before you file: licence category, guarantee amount, office square metreage, the manager's attested experience record, and the scope of traveller insurance. With those in place, the DET approval stage shortens noticeably.
Costs split into two groups. Official fees fixed in legislation are low: AED 120 initial approval, AED 200 trade name reservation, AED 300 tourism licence issuance and AED 500 for renewal. The weight sits in market items: office rent from AED 15,000 a year, a bank guarantee of AED 100,000 or AED 200,000 depending on category, visa costs and insurance. The guarantee is the single largest variable in the budget.
Most guides say three. Regulation No. 6 of 2006 defines four: Travel and Tourism Agent, Inbound Tour Operator, Outbound Tour Operator and Appointed General Agent for airlines. Your category determines both the guarantee you must post and the services you may sell.
Regulation No. 1 of 2009 sets two amounts: AED 100,000 for a tourism and travel agent and for a local (inbound) tour organiser, and AED 200,000 for an overseas (outbound) tour organiser and for an appointed airline agent. The guarantee must remain valid unless the licence is revoked.
For a mainland tourism licence, yes. The regulation requires independent office space of not less than 40 square metres per licensed activity, evidenced by a registered tenancy contract (Ejari). Virtual offices and shared desks do not satisfy it. Free zones offer flexible options, but operating inside mainland Dubai still requires a DET licence or permit.
The appointed manager must show three years of tourism experience if holding a university degree or certificate majoring in tourism and travel, or five years with a general secondary school certificate. Qualifications must be duly attested, and this clause is a frequent cause of rejected applications.
Corporate tax is 0% on taxable profit up to AED 375,000 and 9% above. Businesses with revenue up to AED 3,000,000 may elect Small Business Relief, which applies only to tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2026. VAT is 5%, with mandatory registration at AED 375,000 and voluntary registration at AED 187,500. There is no personal income tax.
DET publishes no official end-to-end timeline. Some steps are very fast — initial approval can complete within minutes on the DED portal. What actually sets the calendar is attestation of degrees and experience letters, issuance of the guarantee letter, and opening the corporate bank account.
Federal Decree-Law No. 26 of 2020 opened 100% foreign ownership on the mainland across more than a thousand commercial and industrial activities. Because eligibility is set activity by activity, confirm that your specific tourism activity code sits on the current list before filing. In free zones, 100% ownership is standard.
No. The DET tourism licence is what permits you to trade. IATA accreditation is a separate, optional status allowing you to issue airline tickets in your own name. Most new agencies work through a consolidator or GDS partner in the early years to avoid the financial security requirements.
Not directly. Executive Council Resolution No. 11 of 2025 requires free zone establishments to obtain a DET licence or permit before conducting activities inside mainland Dubai. A free zone branch licence is set at AED 10,000 per year and a temporary permit of up to six months at AED 5,000.
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