How to Check a Turkish Travel Agency Before You Pay a Deposit

Short answer: Before you pay a deposit to a Turkish travel agency, check that it holds a Ministry of Culture and Tourism operating certificate and is a registered member of TÜRSAB, and look up its license number on TÜRSAB’s website. Then confirm that it uses licensed guides, lets you pay by card, gives you written terms with a clear cancellation policy, and has a real address you can verify.

Most travelers book a Turkey trip months ahead and pay a deposit to a company they have never met. That is normal, but it is worth spending twenty minutes checking who you are paying. Turkey has a clear licensing system for travel agencies and tourist guides, and most of it can be checked online in English.

I studied tourism guidance and travel agency management at university and have run a TÜRSAB-registered Group A agency since 2018, so this is the checklist I would use myself. I will use our own company as the worked example, because you should be able to check us the same way.

Is the agency licensed in Turkey?

Every travel agency operating in Turkey must hold an operating certificate (işletme belgesi) issued by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and must be a member of TÜRSAB, the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies. Both requirements come from Law No. 1618 on Travel Agencies.

TÜRSAB is not a private club or a review site. Membership is mandatory by law, and each agency has a registration number. If a company selling tours in Turkey cannot give you that number, treat it as a serious warning sign.

What do Group A, B and C mean?

Turkish travel agencies are licensed in three groups. Only Group A agencies may offer the full range of travel agency services, including organizing tours for foreign visitors.

Group	What it may do under Law No. 1618	Relevant for a US traveler?
A	All travel agency services, including organizing tours for international visitors	Yes. This is the license an inbound tour operator should hold.
B	Sells tickets for international air, sea and land transport, and sells tours organized by Group A agencies	Only as a reseller
C	Organizes domestic tours for Turkish citizens only	No

In practice, almost every agency you will meet as a foreign visitor should be Group A. If an agency tells you it is Group B or C and is selling you a multi-day tour of its own, ask who the organizing Group A agency is.

How do you look up a license on TÜRSAB’s site?

Go to TÜRSAB’s website, tursab.org.tr, and use its agency search or its Digital Verification System. Enter the agency’s registration number or name, and check that the details shown match the company you are dealing with.

Many licensed agencies also show a TÜRSAB verification badge or QR code on their website that links to the same record. TÜRSAB itself advises consumers to buy from registered agencies that display this badge. Do not rely on the badge image alone, though: click through, or search on TÜRSAB’s site yourself, and compare the trade name and address.

As an example, our Turkish operating company, Travelpedia DMC Turizm, is a TÜRSAB Group A agency with license number 10807. You can search that number and see the record for yourself. Our bookings and card payments are handled by our UK company, Travelpedia Travel Ltd, registered in England and Wales with company number 17299925, which you can look up on the UK government’s Companies House register. Both are listed on our about page.

Will your tour use a licensed guide?

It should. Under Turkey’s Tourist Guiding Profession Law No. 6326, guiding services are provided only by licensed tourist guides, and guiding without a license is prohibited.

The licensing works in two steps. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism issues the guide’s license (ruhsatname) to people who meet the professional requirements. To work, a guide must also be a member of a guides’ chamber in the province where they live and hold a work card that is valid for one year. The law requires guides to carry that card visibly while working.

Since amendments in April 2024, guiding without a license can bring an administrative fine of 25,000 to 100,000 Turkish lira. Ask your agency in writing whether every guiding day will be led by a licensed guide, and on the day, look for the card. Our guides’ backgrounds are on our guides page.

One detail that surprises people: a driver, a hotel employee or a friendly local who “shows you around” a museum or archaeological site is not a substitute for a licensed guide.

How should you pay the deposit?

Pay by credit card if you can. Card payments give you dispute rights; a bank wire usually does not.

In the US, the Fair Credit Billing Act lets you dispute a credit card charge for services that were not delivered as agreed, as long as you write to your card issuer within 60 days of the statement that first showed the problem. The US Federal Trade Commission warns that wiring money is like sending cash: once it is sent, you usually cannot get it back.

That does not mean every agency asking for a bank transfer is dishonest. Some small agencies cannot accept cards easily, and large group bookings are sometimes paid by transfer. But if a company insists on a wire or cash for a deposit, has no card option at all, and offers no written contract, you are carrying all the risk.

Keep your receipt, the written itinerary and every email. If you ever need to dispute a charge, those documents are what your card issuer will ask for.

What should the written terms include?

Before you pay, you should have written booking terms and a written itinerary that lists exactly what is included. A message on WhatsApp saying “all included” is not enough.

Look for these points in the terms:

• The full legal name of the company you are paying, with its address and registration numbers.
• The deposit amount and when the balance is due.
• A cancellation policy with dates and refund amounts, not just “non-refundable”.
• What happens if the agency has to change or cancel, for example after a flight schedule change.
• What is included and excluded: hotels by name or category, meals, domestic flights, entrance fees, guide, vehicle and tips.
• Whether any shopping stops are part of the itinerary.

Ours, as an example, ask for a 30% deposit and allow free cancellation up to 30 days before travel. The details are in our how booking works page and our cancellation and refund policy. Whatever company you choose, read the policy before you pay rather than after.

What are the red flags?

Most problems show up before you pay. These are the signs I would take seriously.

• Cash only, or wire only: No card option and pressure to pay by transfer or in cash.
• No license number: The company cannot give you a TÜRSAB number, or the number does not match its name when you search it.
• No physical address: Only a mobile number, a social media page and a first name.
• Prices far below everyone else: Hotels, domestic flights, entrance fees and licensed guides all cost real money. A price far below other quotes for the same hotel standard often means hidden shopping stops, a different hotel or a shared tour presented as private.
• Pressure to decide today: “Only two spots left” for a private tour, or a discount that expires in an hour.
• Vague inclusions: No hotel names or categories, no list of entrance fees, no mention of who guides.
• No written terms: Or terms that say the deposit is never refundable under any circumstances.

One red flag on its own may have an innocent explanation. Two or three together are a reason to walk away.

A short checklist before you pay

Use this list for any Turkish agency, including ours.

1. Ask for the TÜRSAB registration number and agency group, and confirm it is Group A.
2. Look the number up on tursab.org.tr and check the name and address match.
3. If a foreign company takes your payment, look it up on that country’s company register.
4. Confirm in writing that licensed guides will lead every guiding day.
5. Get a written itinerary with hotels, meals, flights and entrance fees listed.
6. Read the booking terms and the cancellation policy, with dates and amounts.
7. Pay the deposit by credit card, and keep every document.
8. Search the company name with words like “complaint” or “scam” and read what comes up.

If you have questions about how we work, our about page has our company details, and you can send us your dates through build your trip when you are ready to see a written plan.

Sources

• TÜRSAB: Agency registration and agency groups
• Law No. 1618 on Travel Agencies and the Association of Travel Agencies (Lexpera, in Turkish)
• Tourist Guiding Profession Law No. 6326 (Lexpera, in Turkish)
• TRT Haber: TÜRSAB advice on checking agencies (in Turkish)
• FTC: What to know before you wire money
• FTC: Disputing charges for things you never got
• UK Companies House company search

FAQ

What is TÜRSAB?

TÜRSAB is the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies. Under Law No. 1618, every travel agency operating in Turkey must hold a Ministry of Culture and Tourism operating certificate and be a TÜRSAB member, with a registration number. You can check an agency's number and details on TÜRSAB's website before you pay a deposit.

What does a Group A travel agency mean in Turkey?

Turkish agencies are licensed in three groups. Group A agencies may provide all travel agency services, including organizing tours for foreign visitors. Group B agencies sell international transport tickets and resell Group A tours, and Group C agencies organize domestic tours for Turkish citizens only. An inbound tour operator for US travelers should be Group A.

How can I check if a Turkish tour guide is licensed?

Licensed guides in Turkey hold a Ministry license and a work card that must be renewed each year and carried visibly while working, under Law No. 6326. Ask your agency in writing that every guiding day will be led by a licensed guide, and look for the card on the day. Guiding without a license is prohibited.

Should I pay a Turkish travel agency by card or bank transfer?

Pay by credit card when you can. US law gives you the right to dispute a card charge for services not delivered as agreed if you write to your issuer within 60 days of the statement. The FTC warns that a wire transfer is like sending cash, so it is usually impossible to recover.

What are the warning signs of a fake Turkish travel agency?

Watch for cash-only or wire-only payment, no TÜRSAB registration number, a number that does not match the company name, no physical address, prices far below other quotes for similar hotels, vague inclusions, no written terms and pressure to decide quickly. Two or three of these together are a reason to book elsewhere.