Tourist Convenience Facility Business Designation Procedure

Procedure

Procedure

1. 01

   1. Confirm the business type and where to apply — First determine which type under Article 2(1)6 of the Enforcement Decree your business falls into. Tourist restaurants, tourist photography and passenger terminal facility businesses are designated by the regional tourism association, while tourist entertainment restaurants, tourist theater entertainment, foreigner-only entertainment restaurants, tourist circulation buses, tourist pensions, tourist tramways, tourist duty-free shops and tourism support services are designated by the mayor of a special self-governing city, governor of a special self-governing province, or the mayor, county head or district head. The tourist pension provision does not apply in Jeju Special Self-Governing Province.

2. 02

   2. Check the prerequisite licenses — Designation as a tourist convenience facility business assumes the operator already holds the license for the underlying business. A tourist restaurant is applied for by a general restaurant operator under the food sanitation laws, a tourist pension by a person operating lodging facilities, a tourist circulation bus by a person holding a passenger transport business license or registration, and a tourist duty-free shop by a person holding a bonded store patent or duty-free store designation. A copy of that license is attached to the designation application.

3. 03

   3. Check the designation standards for your type — Compare each item against Annex 2 of the Enforcement Rule. A tourist restaurant needs qualified cooking staff, a menu with at least one foreign language, and separate men's and women's restrooms with separate entrances, while a tourist pension needs a building of 4 floors or fewer, 30 rooms or fewer, cooking and lodging equipment, at least 1 type of amenity such as a barbecue area, and foreign-language signage. A tourism support service must meet one of the following: at least 50% of sales from transactions with tourists or tourism operators, a business site in a designated tourist destination or tourism complex, Korea Quality tourism certification, or selection as an outstanding tourism business, and it must also ensure tourist safety.

4. 04

   4. Submit the designation application — Submit the tourist convenience facility business designation application (Form No. 21) with documents on the applicant's identity, a copy of the license for the business type, and a facility layout or photos with a floor plan. City, county and district offices check the corporate registration certificate and business registration certificate through shared administrative information, but for types delegated to tourism associations the applicant attaches these documents directly. The fee is 20,000 won.

5. 05

   5. Receive the designation certificate and post the signs — If the application meets the designation standards, a tourist convenience facility business designation certificate (Form No. 22) is issued and the trade name, representative and location are entered in the designation register. After designation, the business may post the tourism business sign and the certificate, and a tourist restaurant may also post the tourist restaurant sign. If designated matters such as the trade name or location change, the change procedure must be followed.

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 one ordinary supplement.

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

Designation as a tourist convenience facility business does not replace the license for the underlying business, such as a general restaurant, lodging business or passenger transport business, so obtain the prerequisite license before applying. Tourism businesses that must be registered, permitted, designated or reported under other laws are excluded from tourism support services, so first check whether the business is already registered as another tourism business.