Information for applicants

Licence certificate and logo

Day tour provider licences are only issued electronically. 

Day tour providers must use a graphically-numbered ID provided by the Icelandic Tourist Board in all advertisements about their activities and on their website.

The Icelandic Tourist Board may grant an exemption from this, in special cases, upon application by the licensee.

Legal name and market name

It is prohibited to operate or promote the activities of day tour providers under any other name than those stated on the license issued by the Icelandic Tourist Board. When applying for a license, a company should include the legal name of the licensee, together with all the trade and brand names i.e. market names that are to be used in the business. Additional names can be added to the license at any time, by submitting an application to the Icelandic Tourist Board which issues a new license free of charge.

"Trade and brand names" include names that can be an business identifiers or domain names.

Worth to note, is that the Icelandic Tourist Board is not responsible for the names registered on the license holder's license. If licensees want to ensure that other parties do not use the trade- or brand names or any IDs registered on their licenses, they must register these names with the Icelandic Trade Directory  and/or register all IDs at the Icelandic Intellectual Property Office.

Fixed Premises

Day tour provider licence holders shall conduct their operations at fixed premises open to the public. However, this requirement may be waived if the service is operated solely on an electronic basis, in which case the licence holder must meet the requirements of Article 6 of Act No. 30/2002 with respect to the information that must appear on the licence holder's website.

A day tour provider shall provide accessible and continuous access to the following information:

1. name,
2. premises address,
3. identification number,
4. postal- and e-mail addresses along with all other relevant contact information,
5. service provider's VAT number,
6. the official register in which the service provider is registered,
7. permits and licences and the issuer and regulators of these permits.

Liability insurance

A day tour provider must present a confirmation of insurance which must be submitted when applying for a license. A liability insurance issued by an insurance company licensed to operate in the European Economic Area is sufficient.

The liability insurance is intended to insure the licensee's customers, during a day tour, if they suffer physical or property damage attributable to the day tour provider. 

The insurance must be valid for the duration of the license. 

Safety plans

Anyone intending to perform organised tours within Icelandic territory shall prepare a written safety plan for each type of tour, regardless of whether the entity concerned sells the tour directly to a traveler or through a third party. The safety plan shall be available in writing in Icelandic and English at all times. Such tours may not be offered for sale, promoted or marketed in any way whatsoever in the absence of a safety plan. A safety plan is composed of a risk assessment, procedures, contingency plan and incident report. 

It is not required to send these safety plans in, when applying for a license, however the Icelandic Tourist Board can request them at any time. 

License conditions

The applicant, or his representative if the applicant is a legal person, must meet the following requirements in order to obtain a licence:

1. he must reside in a Member State of the European Economic Area or a state which is party to the Convention establishing the European Free Trade Association or in the Faroe Islands;
2. he must be of legal majority and be competent to manage his own finances, and may not, during the preceding four years in connection with a commercial activity, have been convicted of any offence punishable under this Act, the General Penal Code or the Acts on limited liability companies, private limited liability companies, accounting practices, annual accounts, bankruptcy etc. or government taxes;
3. he must have registered the operations with the Directorate of Internal Revenue;
4. he must present confirmation that he is covered by liability insurance issued by an insurance company licensed to operate in the European Economic Area.

The Icelandic Tourist Board may request such further information as it considers necessary to decide whether a licence should be granted.

Required documents with an application

It is of the utmost importance that all certificates, confirmations and other documents are available before filling out an application. The documents that the applicant himself must obtain or prepare and attach to the application are:

Individuals

• Confirmation of registration in the Icelandic Tax Office payroll register.
• Confirmation of a liability insurance from an insurance company.
• If an individual runs a business under a name other than his or her own, the name must be registered with the Icelandic Trade Directory and a confirmation of this must accompany the application.
• Debit or credit card for payment.

Legal entities

• Verified business certificate from the Icelandic Trade Directory.
• Confirmation of registration in the Icelandic Tax Office payroll register.
• Confirmation of a liability insurance from an insurance company.
• Debit or credit card for payment.
• Please note that when applying for an legal entity, a registered authorised signatory must apply on behalf of the company.

Application process

Individual or legal entity? - Permission to act on behalf of the legal entity 

The licensee is the person identified as the applicant in the application and can either be an individual or a legal entity. So if the licensee is a legal entity, the name and ID number of the legal entity must be registered in the appropriate area of the application form.

The online application is accessed using electronic ID. When applying on behalf of a company (legal person), a company representative who is registered as authorised signatory, logs in to island.is and selects the respective company. 

Please note that the company representative must be a member of the board of directors or an authorised signatory.

License fee:

Payment for a license is a part of the application process. The fee for a day tour provider license is ISK 20,000.

If other legal documents need to be procured, additional costs might be levied. 

To open up an application: 

• Day tour providers, individuals
• Day tour providers, legal entities

Will I need any other licenses?

The applicant must verify whether other permits are necessary in connection to the activity that the provider intends to offer.

The Icelandic Transport Authority issues permits for transport of people, whether by land, air or sea, including rivers and lakes.

District Commissioners are responsible for issuing permits for restaurants and accommodation.

The Health Inspectorate issues operating licenses for horse riding and such activities must be notified to the Food Administration (MAST), For further info click here. The Health Inspectorate also grants operating licenses for accommodation, restaurants and public toilets.

The Environment Agency grants permits for off-road driving, construction work in nature reserves, photography and cinematography in areas covered by The Environment Agency and issues permits for both reindeer and bird hunting.

Chiefs of Police provide firearms license and a license for skydiving.

The Directorate of Fisheries issues licenses for recreational fishing.