The Tuscan Region law regulating tourist services and enterprises is the n. 42/2000. It is very important to make sure that the operators are legitimate and reliable. Apt Firenze often receives complaints from people that booked tourist services through the internet and the enterprises might not exist at all or do not respect contracts. In case of problems it is very difficult to find them and sometimes for example tour operators may not have the compulsory insurance to cover expenses or problems occurring to their clients, as they should. It is now possible to check in the following official list whether the tour operators, accommodation facilities, tour managers or city (and environmental) guides are licenced and legitimate.

The Tuscan Region law regulating tourist services and enterprises is the n. 42/2000. It is very important to make sure that the operators are legitimate and reliable. Apt Firenze often receives complaints from people that booked tourist services through the internet and the enterprises might not exist at all or do not respect contracts. In case of problems it is very difficult to find them and sometimes for example tour operators may not have the compulsory insurance to cover expenses or problems occurring to their clients, as they should. It is now possible to check in the following official list whether the tour operators, accommodation facilities, tour managers or city (and environmental) guides are licenced and legitimate.

Accommodation facilities
The “where to stay” database of the website www.firenzeturismo.it is continuously updated by the offices of APT Firenze and it is easy to look for legitimate accommodation facilities through the search engine that you can find at this link.
Many accommodation facilities are promoted in many other web portals but unfortunately not all the accomodation facilities are authorized. The competence of APT Firenze is limited to the province area.
For further information: Ufficio Strutture Ricettive, e-mail: uff.turismo@provincia.fi.it

Travel agencies and tour operators
The list of travel agencies can be found at this link, where you can also find a more restricted list of incoming tour operators. The travel agencies that started their activity before 2000 must have an authorisation, those that started after 2000 only must have a DIA (denuncia inizio attività – declaration of operating commencement).
All of them must have an insurance for civil responsability as a guarantee, to cover risks and possible damages occurring to clients.
It is very important, before booking a tour, to check that the tour operator is included in the official list, if it is located in the Florentine area. If not, it should have anyhow a document confirming its reliability (authorization or DIA) and an insurance. All the Tuscan Provinces (province) have the lists of their own travel agencies.
For information about travel agencies and tour operator in Florence and its area: Ufficio Agenzie di Viaggi, e-mail:info@firenzeturismo.it

City guides, environmental guides and tour leaders
These professionals must have a licence issued by their respective municipality, where their name and surname is written, as well as the languages they can work in, and the areas where they are authorised (for city guides only). The guides (city and environmental) are in the official regional list that you can find at this link, for an easier check. For further information: e-mail:info@firenzeturismo.it

For general information: apt@firenzeturismo.it or: info@firenzeturismo.it - info1@firenzeturismo.it