Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority signs MoU with ADCCI to facilitate online renewal of tourism licenses

The unique facility of its kind is expected to become operational in a month's time and will eliminate the need of personal visits to both the offices by the license-holders or their representatives to get the work done.

The agreement was inked at the ADTA headquarters on March 24, 2008 by the ADTA Director General His Excellency Mubarak Hamad Al Muhairi and ADCCI Director General His Excellency Ahmed Hassan Al Mansouri.

HE Al Muhairi said the facility reflects the cooperation between various government organizations towards promoting tourism and enhancing the pace and transparency of conducting business transactions with the private sector organizations.

The e-government initiative is in line with the ADTA's mission of developing the tourism industry in the emirate in partnership with its stakeholders while ensuring the highest quality standards. It is also in line with the ADTA's values of innovation, customer focus and leadership.

His Excellency Ahmed Hassan Al Mansouri said the efforts of the private sector was crucial for the success of government services being improved and expanded in the emirate in line with the Abu Dhabi government's vision.

This agreement, he said, would save the time and energy of the license-holders and businessmen who are interested in tourism sector investments. The MoU strongly highlights the closer cooperation enjoyed by the ADCCI and ADTA in strengthening the local economy.

In the first stage, the facility will be utilized for the renewal of licenses, while the issuance of new licenses will be made possible in the second phase. There are plans to link the facility with the Ministry of Labour and Ministry of Economy to enlarge the scope of its benefits to the tourism businesses.

This facility will be of immense benefit to the existing license holders in 18 tourism-related activities licensed by the ADTA.

They don't have to visit ADTA and ADCCI to get their license renewed. This includes hotels, hotel apartments, spas and travel agencies.

Under the programme, all the existing license holders will be provided usernames and passwords. To complete the formalities, they have to visit the ADTA website and log on to their individual webpage using the individual username and password. Once logged in, they will be able to browse through all the details about their company and the fines, if any, they have to pay. The fines can be paid online through e-dirham or credit card. The following day, ADTA representatives will visit their offices to handover the renewed license.