Do I need a travel agency licence? A guide for OTAs, DMCs and TravelTech startups

It is the question we are asked most by companies starting to sell travel in Spain, and it almost never has a yes-or-no answer. It depends on three things: what you sell, how you sell it and where you are established.

Which activities require you to be a travel agency?

Organising or selling package travel. A package is a combination of at least two different types of travel service for the same trip (transport, accommodation, car rental or other tourist services) under certain conditions: a single contract, an all-inclusive price, a single booking or a sale presented as a package, among others. Regional tourism legislation reserves this activity to travel agencies.

Acting as an intermediary for individual services. Here it varies by region. Some reserve all intermediation in tourist services to travel agencies. For example, Asturias’s Decree 191/2019 includes intermediation in tourist services among the reserved activities and excludes only those who contract their own services directly.

Selling your own services. A hotel selling its rooms, an activity company selling its excursions or a carrier selling its journeys does not need to be a travel agency to do so.

Can I sell activities, accommodation or transfers without a travel agency licence?

If they are your own services, yes. If you sell them as an intermediary, it depends on the rules of the region where you are established. And if you combine them for the same trip, you may be creating a package, which does require you to be a travel agency.

This is the typical case of a DMC or an experiences platform that starts by selling activities and ends up adding transfers or hotels. The model changes without anyone having reviewed it.

If I charge the supplier commission rather than a margin, am I a travel agency?

How you get paid is not decisive on its own. There are two common models:

• Agency model (commission). You act on behalf of the supplier and earn a commission on each sale. The contract for the service is between the traveller and the supplier.
• Merchant model (margin). You buy the service and resell it in your own name with a margin. You take on more risk and, as far as the traveller is concerned, you are the contracting party.

The model affects your liability, your VAT position (and the possible application of the special VAT scheme for travel agencies) and your contracts. But if you organise or sell packages, or your region reserves tourist intermediation to travel agencies, you will need to be one under either model.

Can my booking website make me an organiser without my knowing?

Yes. If your website allows travel services to be combined for the same trip within a single booking process, you may be the organiser of a package, with all its obligations: pre-contractual information, liability for the performance of all the services and insolvency protection.

The new Directive (EU) 2026/1024 extends these cases from 29 March 2029: for example, when you pass the traveller’s details to another trader and the second contract is concluded within 24 hours. That is why it is worth reviewing your booking flow step by step, including checkout upsells and follow-up emails.

What do I need to operate as a travel agency?

The specific requirements are set by each autonomous community, but the framework is similar:

1. Statutory declaration filed with the tourism authority of the region where you are established, which generally allows you to start trading as soon as it is submitted.
2. Registration in that region’s register of tourism businesses.
3. Insolvency protection. Article 164 of the consolidated text of the General Law for the Protection of Consumers and Users requires organisers and retailers of packages established in Spain to put it in place. It can be a guarantee fund, insurance, a bank guarantee or another financial guarantee, and it must cover travellers’ payments and repatriation.
4. Civil liability insurance, with the cover required by regional legislation.

As a reference, in Asturias the individual guarantee is at least €100,000 in the first year and, thereafter, 5% of the previous financial year’s package travel turnover, subject to the same minimum. Other regions set different amounts and formulas.

Which licence do I need in each autonomous community?

The differences between regions lie in:

• Which activities are reserved to travel agencies (only packages or also intermediation in individual services).
• The content of the statutory declaration and the supporting documentation required.
• The amount and form of the guarantee and the insurance.
• The requirements for operating online only, without premises open to the public.

If you are going to sell throughout Spain or from abroad, choosing carefully where you are established makes compliance much simpler.

Self-assessment in six questions

1. Do you sell your own services or third-party services?
2. Do you combine two or more types of service for the same trip?
3. Do you contract with the traveller in your own name or on behalf of the supplier?
4. Do you earn commission, a margin or both?
5. In which autonomous community are you, or will you be, established?
6. Does your website offer additional services after the first booking?

If any of your answers raises doubts, review your model before you launch or scale.