DECISION OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA ON ESTABLISHING THE RULES AND REQUIREMENTS FOR PROVISION OF TOURISM SERVICES BY ENTITIES OF TOURISM ACTIVITY

GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA

No 76-N of 23 January 2025

ON ESTABLISHING THE RULES AND REQUIREMENTS FOR PROVISION OF TOURISM SERVICES BY ENTITIES OF TOURISM ACTIVITY

Guided by part 1 of Article 15 of the Law of the Republic of Armenia "On tourism", the Government of the Republic of Armenia hereby decides:

1. To prescribe:

(1) the requirements for the provision of tourism services by a tour operator, pursuant to Annex No 1;

(2) the requirements for the provision of tourism services by a travel agent, pursuant to Annex No 2;

(3) the rules for the provision of tourism services by entities of tourism activity, pursuant to Annex No 3.

2. This Decision shall enter into force on the tenth day following its official promulgation.

Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia	N. Pashinyan
Yerevan

29 January 2025 CERTIFIED BY ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE

Annex No 1 to Decision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia No 76-N of 23 January 2025

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE PROVISION OF TOURISM SERVICES BY A TOUR OPERATOR

1. GENERAL PROVISIONS

1. The following concept shall be used in this Annex No 1:

(1) head of a tour operator — the chairperson of the board of the tour operator, members of the board, head of the executive body, and deputies thereof.

2. The experience of performing the work (providing the service) or work experience of the head of the tour operator shall be attested by contracts, employment record book or statements of information received from competent authorities, including letters of recommendation issued by entities carrying out qualification, training, certification or other equivalent certification in the field of tourism, or submission of documents on performance of the functions of the head.

2. TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

3. In order to carry out activities of a tour operator under code 79.12 of group N of the "Classifier of Types of Economic Activity" (hereinafter referred to as "CTEA") approved by Order of the Minister of Economy of the Republic of Armenia No 874-N of 19 September 2013, tourism services shall be provided, sold or offered by a legal person notified as a tour operator as prescribed by the Laws "On notification of carrying out activities” and "On Tourism":

(1) if the head of the executive body of the notifying entity of tourism activity, and in case of a collegial executive body — the members of the collegial executive body or members of the body of the notifying entity of tourism activity having the competence to appoint the latter, and in case of a collegial executive body — the members of the body of the notifying entity of tourism activity having the competence to establish it, at the time of making registration in the State Register of Legal Entities regarding the members has (have) at least 3 years of work record or experience in performing the work (or providing the services) aimed at providing tourism services under an employment or civil law contract with or for the benefit of any entity of tourism activity, or has (have) higher or secondary vocational education in tourism or higher education in other field;

(2) when, while providing, selling and offering tourism services on-line, a constantly updated operating website is available that, at least, must:

a. be available in Armenian;

b. contain an indication on the year, month, and day of updating the page in a visible part on each page;

c. contain, in a separate section, information on the tour operator’s trade name, taxpayer registration address, taxpayer identification number, bank requisites, office address, management bodies and members thereof;

d. provide information on tour packages, tours, or other individual tourism services offered by the tour operator, by separating information by inbound, outbound, or domestic tourism services in subsections, as per relevance;

e. contain an indication on the telephone number of the tour operator or addresses (links) providing on-line communication with the tour operator via electronic applications configured and managed thereby, or other means of electronic communication;

f. contain an indication on the possibility of concluding a contract on tour package by submitting on-line applications and their subsequent approval by the tour operator or an official electronic signature (where available);

g. post, in a separate section, the standard contract on tour package related to outbound tourism (where available) to be concluded with a consumer;

h. the Armenian copy of the rules developed in accordance with Annex No 3 approved by this Decision, in combination with a translation in other languages ensuring access to the website;

i. have a link to the page of the website of the state authorised body in the field of tourism, through which complaints may be filed;

(3) when, in addition to the executive body, at least one employee with an employment contract concluded for an indefinite period is always present.

4. Where the information on tourism services is made available to the consumer through a website without the intention or possibility to provide or sell tourism services on-line, the tour operator's website must be constantly updated and meet the requirements prescribed by paragraphs "e"-"g" of sub-point 2 of point 3 of this Annex No 1.

5. The requirements prescribed by paragraphs "d" and "f"-"h" of sub-point 2 of point 3 of this Annex No 1 shall not extend to a tour operator carrying out inbound tourism activity under code 79.12 of group N of CTEA.

3. REQUIREMENTS FOR SUBMISSION OF DOCUMENTS ATTACHED TO THE NOTIFICATION OF CARRYING OUT ACTIVITIES

6. With a view to attesting the compliance with the requirements for provision of tourism services by a tour operator, in order to carry out activities of a tour operator under code 79.12 of group N of CTEA, the entity of tourism activity shall be obliged, in accordance with the conditions and requirements prescribed by the Law “On notification of carrying out activities”, as well as the secondary regulatory legal act provided for by part 2 of Article 7 of the Law "On tourism", to submit the information and documents prescribed by the same regulatory legal acts.

29 January 2025 CERTIFIED BY ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE PROVISION OF TOURIMS SERVICES BY A TRAVEL AGENT

1. GENERAL PROVISIONS

1. The following concept shall be used in this Annex No 2:

(1) head of a travel agent — the chairperson of the board of the travel agent that is a legal person, members of the board, head of the executive body, deputies thereof.

2. TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

2. With a view to attesting the compliance with the requirements for provision of tourism services by a travel agent, in order to carry out activities of a tour operator under code 79.11 of group N of CTEA, the applicant shall be obliged to meet the following requirements when notifying as a travel agent under the Laws “On notification of carrying out activities” and "On tourism",:

(1) the head of the executive body of the travel agent, and in case of a collegial executive body — the members of the collegial executive body or the members of the body of the notifying entity of tourism activity having the competence to appoint the latter, and in case of a collegial executive body — the members of the body of the notifying entity of tourism activity having the competence to establish it shall have higher or secondary vocational education in tourism or higher education in other field;

(2) while providing, selling and offering tourism services on-line, a constantly updated operating website shall be available that, at least, must:

a. be available in Armenian;

b. contain indication on the year, month, and day of updating the page in a visible part on each page;

c. contain, in a separate section, information on the travel agent’s trade name (in case of an individual entrepreneur — name and surname), taxpayer registration address, taxpayer identification number, bank requisites, office address, management bodies and the members thereof;

d. contain an indication on the telephone number of the travel agent or addresses (links) providing on-line communication with the travel agent via electronic applications configured and managed thereby, or other means of electronic communication.

e. have a link to the page of the website of the state authorised body in the field of tourism, through which complaints may be filed;

(3) in addition to the executive body, at least one employee with an employment contract concluded for an indefinite period is always present.

3. Where the information on tourism services is made available to the consumer through a website without the intention or possibility to provide or sell tourism services on-line, the travel agent's website must be constantly updated and meet the requirements prescribed by sub-point 2 of point 2 of this Annex No 2.

3. REQUIREMENTS FOR SUBMISSION OF DOCUMENTS ATTACHED TO THE NOTIFICATION OF CARRYING OUT ACTIVITIES

4. With a view to attesting the compliance with the requirements for provision of tourism service by a travel agent, in order to carry out activities of a travel agent under code 79.11 of group N of CTEA, the entity of tourism activity shall be obliged, in accordance with the conditions and requirements prescribed by the Law “On notification of carrying out activities”, as well as the secondary regulatory legal act provided for by part 2 of Article 7 of the Law "On tourism", to submit the information and documents prescribed by the same regulatory legal acts.

Annex No 3 to Decision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia No 76-N of 23 January 2025

RULES FOR PROVISION OF TOURISM SERVICES BY ENTITIES OF TOURISM ACTIVITY

1. The tour operator (code 79.12, group N of CTEA) must meet the following rules:

(1) when concluding a contract on tour package with consumers, it shall be obliged to keep electronically and constantly update a record-register of contracts on tour packages concluded thereby with the consumers, wherein the following shall be indicated in sequential order:

a. sequential record-keeping number of the contract;

b. year, month (in letters), day of conclusion of the contract;

c. name and surname of the consumer using the tour package, series and serial number of the identification document, telephone number and, where available, the e-mail address thereof or information on identification via other means of communication;

d. indication on the status of the provision of services under the contract (ongoing, provided or cancelled);

e. amendments to concluded contracts, chronologically;

(2) when concluding a contract on tour package or provision of tourism services with legal persons, it shall be obliged to keep electronically and constantly update a record-register of contracts on tour packages concluded thereby with the legal persons, wherein the following shall be indicated in sequential order:

a. trade name and location of the legal person acting as a party to the contract;

b. date of conclusion and sequential number of the contract;

(3) where possible, prior to concluding a contract on tour package with a consumer or accepting the conclusion of that contract (accepting the offer), the tour operator must provide the consumer, upon the request thereof, in writing or electronically with information on the main characteristics of the tourism service that the consumer is interested in, as per relevance, including:

a. place of arrival, route and visit schedule (by days), and where overnight stay services are included — the number of overnight stays;

b. type, category and characteristics of the vehicle, place of departure, date, times of departure and return, duration and places of intermediate stops, as well as transport connections. Where it is impossible to determine the exact times, rough information on the departure and arrival times shall be provided;

c. the place of overnight stay (address of location of the hotel industry facility), the main characteristics and the classification rate (where available);

d. frequency, conditions of organisation and serving food, classification rate of the public catering facility (where available);

e. visits, walks or other services included in the total cost of the tour package;

f. in case of group visits — the number of group members, and where it is impossible to determine it — the approximate number of group members;

g. the language of communication used during the provision of tourism services;

h. for persons with mobility problems, with disabilities or with special needs — precise information whether the visit is available or not;

i. taxes and duties, additional fees, charges and other expenses included in the total cost of the tour package. Where it is impossible to calculate these costs with reasonable accuracy prior to the conclusion of the contract, an indication on the nature of costs to be borne by the person using the tourism services shall be made;

j. payment conditions, including the amount of pre-payment (at least in percentage) where the payment is made in instalments, and the payment schedule for the remaining amount to be paid;

k. the time limit for notifying the client of the cancellation of the package due to insufficient number of persons, if the contract defines the availability of a minimum necessary number of persons for implementing the package. In this case, the entire amount paid shall be subject to refund without penalties if the tour operator is unable to fulfil its obligations assumed under the contract in extraordinary or unavoidable circumstances and shall notify the consumer on termination of the contract immediately, prior to the start of the tour package, or the number of persons included in the tour package is less than the number of persons indicated in the contract, and the tour operator notifies of the termination of the contract within the time limit defined under the contract, but no later than the time limits indicated in paragraph "l" of this sub-point;

l. in the case indicated in paragraph "k" of this sub-point, the tour operator shall notify the consumer of the termination of the contract 20 days prior to the start of the tour package, if the visit was to last more than 6 days, 7 days prior to the start of the tour package, if the visit was to last 2-6 days, or 48 hours prior to the start of the tour package, if the visit was to last less than 2 days, unless another time limit is provided for by the contract concluded with the consumer;

m. information on termination of the contract by the consumer any time, prior to the start of the tour package, in case of which the amount paid by the consumer in advance shall be subject to refund to the consumer, and where it is provided for under the contract — by paying the tour operator an equivalent and fair fee defined by the contract for termination of the contract;

n. the trade name, trademark, address, telephone number and e-mail address of the tour operator or a link to the website reflecting these data;

o. the Armenian dram exchange rate for payments in foreign currency, indicating the bank requisites taken as the base for determining the exchange rate and the date;

(4) where possible as per relevance, information shall be provided upon the request of the consumer on the following as well:

a. passports, requirements and formalities related to entry into and exit from destination or transit countries (visas, border crossing, customs and other formalities);

b. voluntary or compulsory insurance coverage and insurance incidents, including return to homeland in case of an accident, illness or death, if the entity of tourism activity is the one that has acquired insurance for the person;

c. on contagious diseases, health threats and their prevention in places or countries of arrival or transit, as well as health-related restrictions and requirements;

d. the bank account number of the entity of tourism activity, the state registration number (in case of a natural person — state record-registration number) thereof and the number of record-registration as a notified activity;

e. laws related to tourism and the lifestyle, customs of locals, public and religious rituals, rules of conduct, cultural, archaeological, architectural, historical values thereof, conditions for providing insurance and tourism services;

f. security threats in the place of temporary stay;

g. other information prescribed by the state authorised body in the field of tourism;

(5) provide the consumer with information on the need for preventive medical vaccinations and chemical prophylaxis;

(6) it shall be obliged to develop and adopt rules of ethics for heads and employees thereof, which must define the following:

a. submitting proper and complete information being provided to the consumer;

b. excluding provision of misleading information to the consumer;

c. providing information on current discounts on tourism services;

d. excluding collection of information on the private life of consumers, refraining from any expressions, jokes, behaviour that may offend the consumer's religious, national values or be perceived as sexual harassment while communicating with the consumer;

e. excluding any type of discrimination;

f. excluding provision, publication of negative information on competing organisations, including via social networks, or furnishing with or disseminating defamatory or slandering information thereon, or making it available to third parties in any way;

g. excluding speculative talks with consumers about other cultures or traditions without having sufficient knowledge of this information from reliable sources;

h. when providing information on the Republic of Armenia, the history thereof, or national minorities living in the Republic of Armenia, not distorting it, and providing information obtained only from reliable sources;

i. responsibility applied for violation of the rules of ethics;

(7) it shall be obliged to develop and adopt a procedure for examination of complaints, which must define, at least, the following:

a. form of accepting complaints received through travel agents on the services provided thereby or tour packages developed thereby;

b. maximum time limit for examination of complaints, the form of the response to the complaint and manner of sending it;

c. provisions on the responsibility for wrong bookings, including the cases precluding the responsibility of the operator;

d. where a website is available, indicate in a separate section the time limit for responding to letters and complaints, as well as ensure on-line feedback from the consumer to the tour operator via the website;

(8) in case of providing on-line, electronic or hard copy information on tour packages, tours or other individual tourism services offered, it shall be obliged to include at least the following in the information being provided:

a. geographical destinations of tour packages, tours or other individual services offered;

b. the base price of tour packages, tours or other individual services offered, and in case of additional services — also the prices of these services;

c. information on tourism services (transfer, hotel, excursion, rental of vehicles, etc.) included in packages, tours offered;

d. time limits defined for unilateral early withdrawal from the contract on tour package, as well as financial liability (costs) arising as a result of the withdrawal;

(9) when providing tourism services or developing, offering or selling a tour package, it shall be obliged to properly provide legal documents and co-operate only with such entities that have the right to engage in this type of activity;

(10) it shall be obliged to keep the fairness in the competitive field when co-operating with partners, including excluding the sale or provision of tour packages to agents at varying prices or making them available for sale within the scope of the regulations and restrictions prescribed by the Law "On protection of economic competition";

(11) it shall be obliged to provide the state authorised body with information prescribed by the legislation of the Republic of Armenia within the scope of activities aimed at ensuring awareness on contagious diseases, safety and other measures;

(12) it shall be obliged to develop and adopt rules for relations with travel agents, which must define the following:

a. impermissibility of granting any travel agent an advantage over another one on a discriminatory basis, unless the differentiation is conditioned by an objective justification or arises from the nature of the legal and contractual relationship with that travel agent;

b. in case of granting any travel agent an advantage over another one, define objective criteria or categories for a differentiated approach to travel agents, by defining the advantages provided for each category;

c. when selling or carrying out sale of travel packages through travel agents, provide the travel agent with clear and complete information on the availability of services within the scope of the booked services, as well as clear and complete information defined by sub-points 3-4 and 8 of point 1 of this Annex No 3;

(13) where necessary, ensure the training of employees at own expense.

2. The requirements defined by sub-point 1, paragraph "m" of sub-point 3, paragraphs "b" and "d" of sub-point 4, paragraphs "b"-"c" of sub-point 7 of point 1 of this Annex No 3 shall not extend to a tour operator carrying out inbound tourism activity under code 79.12 of group N of CTEA.

3. In order to carry out the activity of a travel agent (code 79.11 of group N of CTEA), a legal person or an individual entrepreneur must, at the time of concluding a contract on provision of tourism services, comply with the requirements defined by sub-points 1-12 of point 1 of this Annex No 3, except for the requirements defined by paragraphs "b" and "d" of sub-point 4, paragraphs "b"-"c" of sub-point 7 of point 1 of this Annex No 3.

4. In case a travel agent concludes a contract with a consumer on behalf of the principal, the travel agent must notify the consumer thereon and make a relevant indication in the contract.

5. The rules indicated in sub-points 6, 7 and 12 of point 1 of this Annex No 3 shall be adopted by adopting an internal (local) legal act meeting the requirements prescribed for an internal (local) legal act by the Law "On regulatory legal acts".

29 January 2025 CERTIFIED BY ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE

Date of official promulgation: 29 January 2025.

Translation published on a joint site 26 May 2026.