MOTAC Travel Agency Licence for Foreign Companies 2026: What the New TOBTAB Guideline Lets a Foreign Shareholder Hold, the RM1.5 Million Capital Rule, the Outbound Ban, Malaysian Bank Signatories and the 2027 Bank Guarantee

Most of what circulates online about MOTAC licences for foreign companies — including earlier versions of this guide — says a foreign group can hold 100% of an outbound travel company if it puts in enough capital. Under the guideline MOTAC now applies, that is wrong. The TOBTAB licence application guideline in force from 1 January 2026 lists outbound tour operating for foreign companies, ASEAN or not, as not permitted. What a foreign shareholder can hold is a domestic (inbound) tour operating business, alone or combined with a ticketing agency, with paid-up capital of RM500,000 to RM1.5 million depending on nationality and equity share. This guide works from that guideline, the current text of the Tourism Industry Act 1992 and MOTAC's own statements: what each licence covers, what a foreign owner can and cannot hold, the conditions that catch foreign shareholders, the TOURLIST process step by step, the bank guarantee now due on 1 January 2027, and the structures that actually work for a Chinese travel group.

The legal basis: what the Tourism Industry Act 1992 actually requires

MOTAC licenses travel businesses under the Tourism Industry Act 1992 (Act 482), administered by the Commissioner of Tourism. The Act distinguishes two businesses that people often lump together:

• A tour operating business arranges transport, accommodation or tour services for tourists within or outside Malaysia for sale or commission, organises or conducts inbound or outbound tours, or provides conveyances for hire to tourists.
• A travel agency business sells or arranges, for commission, tickets for travel by land, sea or air, or accommodation within or outside Malaysia — in MOTAC's shorthand, "ticketing".

Section 5(2) is the core rule: no person may carry on either business, or hold itself out as doing so, unless it is a company and holds a valid licence. A sole proprietor, a partnership or a foreign company's branch cannot be licensed. The penalty in section 5(3) is heavy: a fine of up to RM500,000, imprisonment of up to ten years, or both, plus up to RM5,000 for every day a continuing offence goes on. Section 13 separately restricts unlicensed businesses from using words such as "tour" in their names, and section 16(3) empowers the Commissioner to require every outbound tour package to be covered by insurance or by a cash or bank-guarantee deposit — the legal root of the bank guarantee discussed below.

The four business scopes and their annual fees

The 2026 guideline prices each scope separately. The main licence covers the head office; each branch office needs a supplementary licence at a lower fee.

Add a RM100 online processing fee per application. The licence fees are trivial next to the capital requirement; the capital is where the real decision sits.

What a foreign shareholder can hold: Appendix A

Appendix A of the guideline sets the maximum foreign equity and minimum issued paid-up capital for each combination of business, shareholder type and premises location. "Urban" means the premises are in a city council or municipal council area; "rural" means a district council area.

A note to the table sets paid-up capital at RM50,000 for domestic tour operating licences in the Federal Territory of Labuan, Langkawi, Perlis and the resort islands of Pahang — but a company using that concession may not open branches anywhere else.

The conditions that catch foreign owners

Beyond the capital table, the guideline sets application conditions that a Malaysian applicant barely notices and a foreign group can trip over.

• Bank signatories must be Malaysian citizens. The company's bank account may be operated only by shareholders, directors or formally appointed individuals, and every appointed or authorised person — directors and shareholders included — must be a Malaysian citizen. A Chinese parent cannot run the Malaysian company's account from Guangzhou.
• Foreign shareholders need three years in tourism. A foreign company shareholder must have at least three years' experience in the tourism field.
• No cross-holdings. Shareholders may not hold equity in any other tourism enterprise licensed under Act 482.
• The name and the SSM record must say "travel". The company name must reflect the business (travel, tours, holiday, vacation, adventure and similar), and the nature of business in SSM's e-Info must state tour operating and/or travel agency business.
• Certified foreign documents. A foreign corporate shareholder's certificate of registration must be certified by Tourism Malaysia or by the Malaysian embassy or high commission in that country. Foreign directors must supply passport copies and, where relevant, a valid Employment Pass issued for the company.
• Clean record. No pending prosecution, no outstanding compound under Act 482 or the Tourism Vehicles Licensing Act 1999, no unpaid award from the Consumer Claims Tribunal, and no unsatisfied court order in a tourism-related civil case.
• Tourism vehicles in East Malaysia. A company with more than 51% foreign equity may not hold a tourism vehicle licence in Sabah, Sarawak or Labuan.
• Advertising. Every platform or brochure advertising inbound, outbound or ticketing services must show the licence number, the business name and address, and other identifying details.
• SOCSO. The company must be registered with PERKESO and contribute for all eligible employees.

Step by step: the TOURLIST application

Applications go through MOTAC's Tourism Licensing & Enforcement System at tourlist.gov.my. The sequence below follows the guideline; note that premises are prepared after conditional approval, not before.

1. Incorporate the Sdn. Bhd. with the right capital and objects. The company must be incorporated under the Companies Act 2016, with paid-up capital and equity matching the Appendix A row you are applying under. See our incorporation guide and our explainer on foreign equity and paid-up capital.
2. Open the bank account with Malaysian signatories and pass a director resolution naming the authorised persons.
3. Prepare the documents: colour copies of shareholders' and directors' identity documents or passports, the director's undertaking (Form BA/2, witnessed by the company secretary), bank statement front pages, SSM e-Info, the certified certificate of registration for any foreign corporate shareholder, and Employment Pass copies for foreign directors.
4. Submit on TOURLIST and pay RM100.
5. Receive the conditional decision. The customer charter targets notification within five working days after the licensing committee's documents are endorsed.
6. Prepare the premises within six months. At least 100 square feet, a structured head office with a fixed address, in a commercial area permitted by the local authority, with a local authority business licence (unless exempted), and not shared with any other business. The conditional letter lapses after six months; miss it and you start again.
7. Submit the inspection documents: a stamped tenancy agreement or proof of ownership, a floor plan sketch, colour photographs inside and out, and a permanent signboard outside the premises.
8. Attend TTMC. At least one company representative — a director or a member of management — must have attended the Travel and Tour Management Course run by a licensed tourism training institution. The certificate must still be within one year of the course date, or you can submit the course fee receipt.
9. Pass the inspection. The state MOTAC office inspects within 30 working days of complete documents.
10. Pay the licence fee and print the licence online. If refused, you may appeal once through TOURLIST within 14 days; the appeal decision is final.

Branch counters are treated more leniently: ticket or tour counters at airports, tourism jetties and bus terminals, tour desks in hotel lobbies and kiosks in shopping complexes are exempt from the minimum floor area.

The bank guarantee: now due on 1 January 2027

On 11 May 2026 MOTAC announced a new implementation date of 1 January 2027 for bank guarantees for travel agencies in the outbound and umrah sectors, citing the effect of geopolitical conflicts in Central Asia on the financial standing of the tourism sector, and restating its aims of consumer protection, curbing umrah fraud and professionalising the industry. Tourism Minister Tiong King Sing had said in January 2026 that umrah operators would need a minimum guarantee of RM250,000, with larger operators facing higher amounts, and that MOTAC was in talks with the Ministry of Finance about allowing an insurance guarantee instead — a change he described as not immediate.

For a foreign-owned company the direct effect is limited, because the guarantee attaches to outbound and umrah business that a foreign shareholder cannot hold anyway. The indirect effect is real: if your Malaysian go-to-market depends on a Malaysian-owned outbound partner, that partner's cost base changes in January 2027, and weaker agencies may exit.

Structures that work for a Chinese travel group

Two warnings. The shareholder conditions apply to real shareholders: the guideline requires shareholders' experience and forbids cross-holdings, and the Commissioner may revoke a licence or act under Act 482 where false or misleading information was given at application or at any time afterwards. And the capital must genuinely be paid up at application — it is issued share capital, visible in SSM records, not a letter from the parent.

A worked example. A Guangzhou tour group handling about 800 Chinese visitors a year through a local agent wants its own Kuala Lumpur entity. It incorporates a 100% owned Sdn. Bhd. named "… Travel & Tours Sdn. Bhd." with RM1.5 million paid up and a domestic tour operating object, appoints a Malaysian finance manager and a Malaysian director as bank signatories, confirms its corporate shareholder has more than three years in tourism, and has its Chinese business licence certified by the Malaysian embassy. After conditional approval it leases a 400 square foot office in a municipal council area, sends its country manager to TTMC, and passes inspection. What it cannot do is sell Malaysians a package to China — for that it signs a supply agreement with a Malaysian-owned outbound agency.

Enforcement: why "operate first, license later" fails

Between 14 July and 3 August 2025, MOTAC ran 35 enforcement operations with the Road Transport Department, the police, the National Registration Department and the Penang Port Commission, checking 200 tourism companies, 220 tourism vehicles, 4 accommodation premises and 67 tour guides, and issuing 24 notices — five for operating a tourism business without a valid licence and seven for carrying tourists in unlicensed vehicles. MOTAC said it would take action including prosecution, compounding and suspension or revocation of licences. Enforcement has continued through Visit Malaysia 2026, and the section 5 penalty is not a paperwork fine: it carries imprisonment.

Where foreign companies go wrong

• Planning an outbound business with foreign equity. The 2026 guideline does not permit it at any capital level.
• Assuming ticketing is open at 100%. For a non-ASEAN foreign company, domestic plus ticketing is capped at 30%.
• Leaving the bank mandate with the parent. Signatories must be Malaysian citizens; plan the finance function before incorporation.
• Signing a lease before conditional approval. The guideline sequences premises after the decision letter — but then gives only six months.
• Forgetting the name and the SSM nature of business. Both must state travel or tour business, and a later change needs the Commissioner's approval.
• Unlicensed advertising. Marketing tours before the licence is issued is itself holding out as a tour operator under section 5.
• Relying on outdated guides. Much of what is online predates the 1 January 2026 guideline.

What to do next

Decide first which Appendix A row you are applying under — that single choice fixes your capital, your equity and whether you need a Malaysian partner. Then incorporate with the matching capital and objects, set up Malaysian bank signatories, and prepare the foreign shareholder's certified documents before you file. If you also need a local business licence for the office, see our guide to the DBKL business licence in Kuala Lumpur; if you will bring in expatriate staff, see our Employment Pass guide.

ONEKEY BIZ sets up and maintains Malaysian companies for foreign travel groups, with the capital, objects and shareholder documents MOTAC checks built in from the start. Talk to us before you commit capital, so the structure matches the licence you actually need.

This article is general information only, not legal, tax or immigration advice. Policies, thresholds and official fees are set by the relevant Malaysian authorities and may change. Talk to our consultants about your specific situation.