The Law of 18 July 2016 No. 410-Z "On Amendments and Additions to the Law of the Republic of Belarus "On Tourism" comes into force today, BELTA reports.
The Law of 18 July 2016 No. 410-Z "On Amendments and Additions to the Law of the Republic of Belarus "On Tourism" comes into force today, BELTA reports.
According to the document, a unified register of travel agents and tour operators will be maintained in Belarus. It is needed for accounting and systematisation of data on legal entities and individual entrepreneurs who are tour operators and travel agents. Its purpose is to provide consumers with reliable information about travel companies and to make the tourism services market more transparent.
The register will be maintained by the Department for Tourism of the Ministry of Sport. It will be available on the official website of the Ministry of Sport, thus making information about companies accessible to all interested parties.
To be included in the register, companies will have to submit an application to the Ministry of Sport indicating the name of the tourism activity entity, its location, contact details, voluntary certification status, and other information. Information can be provided in writing or in the form of an electronic document signed with an electronic digital signature. Exclusion from this register occurs if the tourism activity entity is excluded from the unified register of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs or ceases tourism activities.
The law includes a new article "Liability for violation of tourism legislation". It is stipulated that violation of tourism legislation entails responsibility in accordance with the legislation.
The entry into force of the law will help to streamline the work of tourist information centres. The conditions for their establishment and operation are defined by the Ministry of Sport and Tourism in a separate instruction, which also comes into force today.
In addition, some concepts have been clarified, including "tourist" and "tourism purpose".