China group-tour designated travel agency approval and renewal

Procedure

Procedure

1. 01

   1. Confirm general travel agency registration and eligibility — Only operators registered as a general travel agency under Article 4 of the Tourism Promotion Act may apply. If the business is registered as an overseas-and-domestic or domestic travel agency, it must first complete a change of registration to a general travel agency (capital of 50,000,000 won or more). If a previous designation was revoked, 2 years must pass from the date of revocation before applying again.

2. 02

   2. Check the new designation and renewal evaluation notices — To designate agencies, the Minister must post the application period and method on the Ministry website (Enforcement Rule Article 21-2(2)). In 2026, the new designation notice was posted in January and the renewal evaluation notice in August. Evaluation items, scores and the submission method are confirmed in that year's notice.

3. 03

   3. Prepare attachments and plans — Collect objective documents such as standard financial statement certificates for the last 4 years, the employment insurance roster issued within 1 month, and a copy of the guarantee insurance policy. Both a new designation and renewal require 5 plans: 3 plans for different group tour products, 1 marketing and tourist attraction plan, and 1 plan for responding to tourist absconding and safety accidents. Submit these with the record of foreign tourists attracted (Annex Form 24-3), following the applicable notice. We prepare the plans using the product itineraries, costs, selling prices, and marketing and safety-management information you provide. For renewal, we distinguish updating 5 completed existing plans from drafting all 5 plans anew.

4. 04

   4. Submit the designation application and review — Submit the designated travel agency application (Annex Form 24-2) with the attachments to the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism. The processing period on the form is 60 days, and violations of the Tourism Promotion Act in the last 3 years are considered. Once designated, a designation certificate (Annex Form 24-5) is issued.

5. 05

   5. Apply for renewal every 2 years — The designation is valid for 2 years. To continue, submit the same form (renewal box checked) with the same attachments as a new application no later than 90 days before the validity period ends. Renewal also requires all 3 product plans, 1 marketing and tourist attraction plan, and 1 absconding and safety response plan. If completed existing plans are provided, we update them to reflect current operations, prices, itineraries and performance records. If no existing plans are available or complete redrafting is needed, we quote separately for drafting all 5 required plans anew. If the requirements are met, a new designation certificate is issued no later than 30 days before the validity period ends.

Filing route

Filing route

Deadlines & processing notes

Deadlines & processing notes

Fees & official charges

Fees & official charges

Included in the basic fee — Initial document review, required-document guidance, basic form preparation, one filing support and responses to up to two supplement requests.

Conditional success fee — For this service, any conditional success fee may be separately agreed within the lawful service scope and stated in a written engagement agreement. No outcome is guaranteed.

Displayed amounts are starting estimates, not statutory or standard rates. The final fee is confirmed after consultation and document review in the engagement agreement. Government fees and actual expenses may change.

Basic documents

Basic documents

The employment insurance roster is accepted only if issued within 1 month of the application deadline, and standard financial statement certificates only if issued through the national tax information network, so time their issuance to the notice deadline. A designation may be revoked if tourists abscond intentionally or through collusion (Tourism Promotion Act Article 12-3(3)3), so the management measures written in the response plan must also be followed in actual operations.