For many tourism businesses, yes. A commercial registration (CR) is not enough on its own. The Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority (BTEA) says you must get the tourism licence before you start operating.
Activities that need a tourism licence include
- Short-term accommodation (hotels, hotel apartments and other short stays).
- Restaurants for tourist services.
- Sea and diving tours, including pearl diving trips.
- Amusement and theme parks.
- Travel agencies and tour organisers, and tourism consultancy.
- Festival organisers, theatre and stage productions, and hospitality management offices.
How to apply: through Sijilat, attaching the documents listed for your activity. The application is passed to the BTEA automatically. An inspection visit follows, and hotels and restaurants must also be linked to the BTEA statistics system and pay the licence fee. Renewals are done on the BTEA portal.
Ongoing duties: the licence is renewed every year. Licensed hotels, restaurants and apartments report revenue monthly and pay the 5% tourism levy (plus BD 3 per room-night for hotels).
The catch: opening on the CR alone, before the inspection and licence, is not allowed. A hotel's trial (soft) opening also needs the inspection and a Civil Defence certificate and can last no more than 3 months.
Steps
- Get your CR with the right tourism activity.
- Apply for the tourism licence on Sijilat with the listed documents.
- Pass the BTEA inspection visit and pay the licence fee.
- Open, report revenue monthly and renew the licence each year.