TURSAB — Türkiye Seyahat Acentaları Birliği in Turkish, or the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies in English — is the official statutory body that registers, licenses, and regulates all travel agencies operating in Turkey. It was established under Law No. 1618 (the Tourism Agencies and Tourism Agencies Association Law) and operates under the supervision of the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Any company legally selling tours, cruises, or travel packages to tourists in Turkey must hold a TURSAB licence.
TURSAB is not a voluntary trade association. Membership and compliance are mandatory for every licensed operator. The association maintains a public registry of all active licences — searchable at tursab.org.tr — and it runs a formal arbitration board that handles disputes between agencies and their customers. This makes it meaningfully different from a TripAdvisor badge or a self-declared "certified" label.
For international tourists visiting Istanbul, the TURSAB registry is the single most reliable way to distinguish legitimate operators from unlicensed boat owners. The licence number on our booking confirmation (14316) links directly to our legal entity in that registry.
MerrySails operates exclusively under the A Group tier, which is the highest classification TURSAB issues. A Group agencies can organise international packages, handle foreign-currency payments, and serve tourists from any country — which is exactly the service model we have run since 2001.