- 11/15/2016
Opening of the registration period in the indicative list of travel agencies of the European Community for the reception of groups of Chinese tourists: from November 15 to December 2, 2016
In implementation of the Memorandum of Agreement between the National Tourism Administration of the People's Republic of China and the European Community on visas and related issues in relation to Chinese tourist groups, date February 12, 2004, which grants Member States Authorized Destination Status, known as ADS (“Approved Destination Status”), the Secretary of State for Tourism of the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism will proceed with the update from the list of Spanish receptive travel agencies interested in groups of Chinese tourists for subsequent communication to the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) and the Spanish Consulates in the People's Republic of China, in charge of issuing visas to tourists Chinese.
The CNTA includes this list in its database of inbound travel agencies in the European Community, with which Chinese AAVVs can contract inbound services in the EC. In addition, the final list will appear on the website of the Ministry of Energy, Tourism and Digital Agenda, in the Section dedicated to Tourism.
The list is legally indicative, not mandatory, according to the interpretation of the European Commission; However, AAVVs that are actually going to contract with Chinese AAVVs to provide inbound services in the EC are recommended to register on said list.
The reason for this registration is not only to enable recruitment by the Chinese AAVVs. The consular offices of the EC Member States, in the use of the powers conferred on them by the Common Consular Instruction of the EC, require from the Chinese AAVV, when applying for visas, a certification from the incoming European travel agency, with specification of all services contracted and reserved for the ADS group.
The indicative list of AAVV, once formed by the Delegation of the European Commission in China, is the only instrument available to the consular offices of the EC Member States in China strong>to verify that the European company declared by the issuing Chinese AV for the incoming destination is an authentic travel agency and not another type of company.
The Chinese Tourism Administration has expressed to the Delegation of the European Commission in Beijing its intention to update the list every six months so that travel agencies belonging to the European countries included in the Memorandum of Agreement can be included in the database to which the Chinese AAVVs authorized to send tourist groups abroad have access.
All travel agencies established in Spain that are interested in appearing on the indicative list of travel agencies of the European Community for the reception of groups of Chinese tourists, must notify the Secretary of State for Tourism, through the:
- General Subdirectorate of Tourism Cooperation and Competitiveness
- C/ Capitán Haya, 41 (28020 – Madrid)
- Phone 91.732.64.71
- Fax 91.732.64.74
- Email: sgcooperacionturistica@minetad.es
Registration deadline
From November 15 to December 2, 2016.
All requests, once reviewed, will be answered individually.
Two assumptions are distinguished:
- Renewal: for travel agencies that already appear on the May 2016 list
- New registration: for those agencies that do not appear in said list (including those that have appeared in previous lists).
Requirements
New registration
The interested Travel Agency must communicate the following information for registration:
- Full name of the travel agency (official or commercial name, whichever you want to appear in the list)
- Contact person - Postal address (Street, number and Postal Code)
- Phone number
- Fax (if any)
- Email address
- Certificate of registration or License issued by the competent administrative authority of the corresponding Autonomous Community, which demonstrates that the applicant company is authorized to operate as a travel agency and has the corresponding title-license or Certificate of registration.
- It is mandatory to send a scanned copy of your title-license or Registration Certificate to the email address sgcooperacionturistica@minetad.es or to fax : 91.732.64.74 (send by fax only in case for some reason they cannot send it scanned by e-mail).
Renewal
Spanish travel agencies that appear on the May 2016 list and wish to remain included in the list must also communicate this using the same procedure. If they do not do so, it will be understood that they wish to unsubscribe and they will be automatically excluded from the list.
To renew the registration and in order to keep the content of the list updated, the following data must be communicated:
Full name of the travel agency (official or commercial name, whichever you want to appear in the list)
- Contact person - Postal address (Street, number, and Postal Code)
- Phone number
- Fax (if any)
- Email address
- Registration or License Number issued by the competent administrative authority of your Autonomous Community (as it is renewed it is not necessary to send a scanned copy of the title-license or registration certificate upon having sent in the previous registration, but notify it for verification).