Every evening, flights leave Addis Ababa for Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. Emirates, flydubai and Ethiopian Airlines all fly the Dubai route, a journey of about four hours, and since 2025 Ethiopian and Etihad have linked their networks through a codeshare. The Africa–Gulf air bridge is one of the busiest in the region, and it carries tourists, traders, pilgrims, students and families in both directions.
Dubai welcomed a record 19.59 million international overnight visitors in 2025, 897,000 of them from Africa (Dubai Media Office). 2026 has been harder. Regional conflict from February disrupted flights across the Gulf, and Dubai recorded 6.97 million visitors in the first eight months, 44 percent fewer than a year earlier. The recovery is under way: August was the strongest month since February, and hotel occupancy has climbed from 36 percent in March to 66 percent (Gulf News).
For a founder, that is the whole picture: a large, well-connected market that rewards businesses built to survive a bad quarter. This guide covers the licence activities, the approvals, free zone options, IATA accreditation and the Africa–Gulf opportunity, with one example from our own work.
Three activities, three different businesses
Travel is not one licence. The activity you choose decides who you may sell to, what you may sell and which approvals follow. Dubai's tourism licensing separates travel agents from tour operators, and tour operators by the direction of travel.
| Activity | What it does | Typical customer |
|---|---|---|
| Travel agency | Sells flights, hotels, packages, insurance and visa services, usually as an intermediary | Individual travellers, families and companies |
| Inbound tour operator | Arranges visits to the UAE: transfers, hotels, tours, and programmes for conference and event visitors | Foreign agencies, event organisers and visiting groups |
| Outbound tour operator | Designs and sells travel programmes from the UAE to destinations abroad | UAE residents, diaspora communities, corporate groups |
Many businesses combine activities, for example inbound and outbound tour operation under one company, or tour operation with events management. Combining is often sensible, but each activity must be justified by what you will actually do, because approvals and banking reviews follow the activity list.
DET approvals and guarantees
In Dubai, travel and tourism companies are licensed and supervised by the Department of Economy and Tourism (DET), under Dubai's Regulation No. 6 of 2006 on the licensing of tourist establishments and travel agencies. DET sets the conditions for each category, which typically cover the experience of the manager and the suitability of the premises. A mainland travel business in Dubai sits squarely under this regime.
Financial guarantees are a moving part and deserve care. In January 2019 Dubai scrapped the bank guarantee that tourism companies had to lodge before receiving a trade licence, releasing guarantees held for more than 2,000 travel and tour companies (The National). Guarantees still appear elsewhere in the business. IATA accreditation carries financial criteria of its own, and airlines, hotels and wholesalers may ask for deposits or guarantees before they extend credit. Confirm DET's current conditions for your category before you plan your capital.
Free zone options
A travel business does not have to start on the mainland. Several Dubai free zones license tourism activities with full foreign ownership. Meydan Free Zone, for example, licenses an inbound tour operator activity that covers local incentive tours and tours for foreign visitors attending conferences and events, including visa processing, transport and accommodation, and it states that this licence needs no external government approval to obtain. Permits for individual events and outdoor activities still apply, activity by activity. IFZA notes that travel agents working with partners and suppliers usually need extra approvals from DET.
The practical test is who your customers are. A free zone company suits a trade-facing business that designs itineraries, contracts hotels and transport, and sells to foreign agencies, event clients and travellers abroad. A business that wants a street-front office for walk-in customers, or runs tours on the ground across Dubai as its core activity, should look at the DET route early. Our guide to free zone and mainland sets out the wider trade-offs.
IATA accreditation: when you need it
IATA accreditation lets an agency issue tickets on behalf of IATA member airlines and settle them through the Billing and Settlement Plan, under a unique agency code that airlines and suppliers recognise. It is the difference between buying tickets through someone else and issuing your own.
- Accreditation models. In the UAE, IATA offers GoLite, GoStandard and GoGlobal. GoLite is aimed at new entrants and does not require a minimum financial guarantee to issue tickets. GoStandard gives access to IATA's standard payment solutions within the country.
- Documents. IATA's UAE checklist includes company registration, owners' passports or ID, a bank statement confirming the account, and financial statements for GoStandard.
- Controls. All models apply financial criteria and require PCI certification to protect card data.
Not every new agency needs accreditation on day one. An inbound tour operator selling land packages to foreign agencies may never issue a ticket. An outbound operator building its own flight inventory usually will.
The Africa–Gulf opportunity
The connections are dense and getting denser. Ethiopian Airlines flies from Addis Ababa to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, and Emirates and flydubai serve Addis Ababa from Dubai. In June 2025 Etihad and Ethiopian launched a codeshare as the first phase of a joint venture; Ethiopian began flying Addis Ababa–Abu Dhabi on 15 July 2025 and Etihad added a daily flight to Addis Ababa from 8 October 2025 (Gulf Business). Ethiopian suspended Gulf services during the 2026 conflict and resumed flights to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah by 1 April 2026.
The openings for a well-structured company include:
- Outbound programmes to Africa. Heritage, family, religious and leisure travel for the UAE's African communities, and business travel for companies trading on the corridor.
- Inbound groups from Africa. Trade show delegations, conference visitors, students and leisure groups coming to the UAE, with visas, hotels and transfers handled end to end.
- Events. Community, corporate and cultural events that bring the two sides together.
The Africa–Gulf air bridge is already built. The opportunity now is for travel companies that are licensed properly on the UAE end and trusted on both.
How And Again Advisory helps
In June 2026 we formed Senait Global L.L.C-FZ in Meydan Free Zone for a founder serving travellers between Ethiopia and the Gulf. The company holds three licensed activities: In-Bound Tour Operator, Out-Bound Tour Operator, and Events Organizing and Managing. It is 100 percent foreign owned and registered for corporate tax.
That is the way we work with every travel founder, in English and Amharic, from our offices in Meydan and Deira:
- Structure and pathway. We compare free zone and DET routes against your customers and suppliers, and choose the activities that fit.
- Formation and activation. We coordinate the licence, visas, Emirates ID, the corporate bank account and tax registrations. Most of our clients are registered in two to three weeks.
- Connections. We introduce clients to buyers and partners, and our UAE trade shows calendar shows where the travel trade meets.
- Clear costs. Government fees are passed through at cost, with our fee on its own line. For a figure, use our cost estimator.
We coordinate authorities and licensed partners. We do not issue licences or approvals, and we do not give legal advice.
Final thought: build for the bad quarter
Travel is a business of thin margins, other people's money and events beyond your control. 2026 has shown that even Dubai's record-breaking tourism market can lose months to a crisis. The companies that come through are the ones with the right activities, clean approvals, sensible cash buffers and suppliers who trust them.
The corridor between Africa and the Gulf will keep growing. If you want to build a travel business on it, start with a structure that can carry you through the difficult months as well as the busy ones.
