Recent development
The Law Amending the Law on the Incentivizing of Tourism and Certain Laws No. 7334 (“Law“), published in the Turkish Official Gazette on 28 July 2021, made significant changes to Law No. 2634 on Tourism Incentivizing. The Law stipulates that certain matters will be regulated under secondary legislation. You may find our legal alert dated 27 August 2021 on the Law here. In this context, the Regulation on the Certification of Simple Accommodation Facilities and Beach Establishments (“Regulation“) was published in the Official Gazette dated 25 September 2021 and entered into force on the same date.
What does the Regulation say?
Certificate content and the certification process
Under simple accommodation facility tourism establishment certificates and beach establishment tourism establishment certificates (“Certificates“) to be issued for simple accommodation facilities and beach establishments, the name of the establishment, address, name or title of the Certificate owner, the name or title of the sub-operator if an annotation is requested, the date of the document, the document number starting with the license plate code of the respective province and capacity information will be included.
Issuing Certificates will not constitute a right according to the provisions of Zoning Law No. 3194, Coastal Law No. 3621 and other relevant legislation. In this context, the following apply:
- On simple accommodation facility tourism establishment certificates: The following statement will be included, “This document is subject to the Second Sub-article of the Temporary Article 11 of the Tourism Incentivizing Law No. 2634; and does not constitute a right according to the Zoning Law No. 3194 and the Coastal Law No. 3621.”
- On beach establishment tourism establishment certificates: The following statement will be included, “This document is subject to the Eighth Sub-article of Article 5 of the Tourism Incentivizing Law No. 2634; and does not constitute a right according to the Zoning Law No. 3194 and the Coastal Law No. 3621.“
Application and issuance of Certificates
All applications for the Certificates should be made to the relevant Ministry of Culture and Tourism provincial directorate by hand or by mail.
The list of information and documents to be prepared in Certificate applications is regulated under Article 7 of the Regulation. Accordingly:
a. Simple accommodation facility tourism establishment certificates will be issued to the accommodation facilities whose application documents are approved and whose capacity is determined on-site.
b. The application documents for the beach establishments operating with workplace opening and operation licenses obtained after 28 July 2021 will be examined and the appropriate beach establishments will be included in the inspection program. The beach establishments that are found to meet the minimum qualifications of their type will be certified.
Beach establishments that are found to have deficiencies in meeting the qualifications of their type will be given 30 days to correct the deficiencies. During this period, establishments that have corrected their deficiencies will be certified. Establishments that cannot make up for their deficiencies will not be able to operate, and the workplace opening and operation license of these businesses will be canceled within one month by the authorized administration.
c. Beach establishments operating with a workplace opening and operation license obtained before 28 July 2021 whose application documents are approved will be provided with Certificates, and an audit will be conducted to determine whether the qualifications of the facility type are met.
The Certificates of beach establishments that are found to have deficiencies in meeting the qualifications of their type will be canceled, and the activities of these establishments will be terminated by the authorized administration within one month by canceling their workplace opening and operation licenses.
Minimum qualifications for beach establishments
The minimum qualifications to be sought by beach establishments are as follows:
- There should be an administrative unit.
- There should be changing cabins and showers for customers and separate toilets for male and female customers.
- An area for simple food and beverage services or buffet services should be provided.
- Personnel should wear clothes suitable for their jobs and duties.
- There must be at least two lifeguards with silver certification and a lifeguard watchtower.
- Materials such as clean canopies, mattresses and sunbeds should be offered for customers to use and their maintenance should be done regularly.
- The boundaries of the safe swimming area should be determined with buoys.
- First aid supplies must be available.
- A sufficient number of garbage cans should be placed in the beach area.
- The cleaning and maintenance of the beach area should be done regularly.
Audits
Pursuant to Article 10 of the Regulation, it is obligatory for beach establishments to maintain their qualifications, which are essential for certification, to ensure that these establishments and simple accommodation facilities are constantly cleaned and maintained, and to comply with health and hygiene rules.
Audits of the establishments will be carried out by the provincial directorate personnel authorized by the governorship. In case of insufficient personnel, other personnel appointed by the governorship will carry out the audits.
Administrative sanctions and suggestions specified in the reports to be prepared as a result of the audits will be implemented by the relevant governorship.
Conclusion
With the Regulation, the procedures and principles regarding the certification of simple accommodation facilities and beach establishments, and the determination of their minimum qualifications, are regulated.
With the Certificates to be issued and audits, it is intended that the tourism sector will be inspected from a single source to protect consumer rights and to prevent activities that negatively affect the country’s tourism. The Certificates to be issued will reflect whether the facilities meet the qualifications specified in the Regulation.
Companies and businesses operating in the tourism sector should take the necessary steps to fulfill their obligations under the Regulation, and they should especially make the necessary applications to obtain Certificates.
