Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority launches online renewal of tourism licenses

The launch ceremony, held on Thursday, May 15, 2008, was attended by the hoteliers, travel agents and tour operators.

Mr. Nasser S. Al Reyami, Director of Licensing and Classification Division at ADTA, said the e-governance project was the result of a fruitful cooperation with the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ADCCI) aimed at providing modern tools for completion of business transactions in a more transparent and time-saving manner.

ADTA and ADCCI had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for this project in March. In the second phase, ADTA plans to cover the online issuance of new licenses for all tourism-related businesses in line with the Abu Dhabi government's vision and ADTA strategic plan for the year 2008-2012.

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.

License holders or their authorized representatives will be provided usernames and passwords.

To complete the formalities, they have to visit ADTA website(www.abudhabitourism.ae ) and log on to their individual webpage. Once logged in, they will be able to browse through all the details about their organisation and the fees and penalties, if any.

Once the transaction is completed after the online payment through e-dirham or credit card, ADTA will update the authorized users.

The following day, ADTA representatives will visit their offices to handover the renewed license.

Mr. Al Reyami said new e-initiative reflects the deep cooperation among the government organizations towards enhancing the pace and transparency of conducting business transactions with the private sector organizations.

He said ADTA has been working towards developing tourism industry in the emirate in partnership with its stakeholders while ensuring the highest quality standards.

Mr. Al Reyami said the efforts to provide better services and facilities for the private sector was crucial for the success of government services which were being improved and expanded in the emirate.

Such a facility, he said, would save time and energy of the tourism license-holders and businessmen who are interested in tourism sector investments.