Vetting a DMC comes down to verifying four things: that they are licensed to operate where they say they are, that they run trips on the ground rather than reselling someone else's, that their guides are properly licensed, and that they can show a real track record. Everything else, the slick website, the fast reply, the confident pitch, is easy to fake; these four are not. A genuine ground operator can produce a licence number, name the suppliers they contract directly, show licensed guides, and point to recent groups they have actually run, while a reseller or a shell operator goes vague at exactly those questions. This is a buyer's checklist for trade partners and operators sourcing a ground partner in Thailand and Vietnam, written as the destination management company on the other side of those questions. Read it with our guides on what a DMC is and how to read a DMC quote.
Start with the operating licence
The first check is also the most concrete: is the company licensed to operate tours where it says it is? In Thailand, a tour operator must hold a licence under the Tourism Business and Guide Act, registered with the Tourism Authority of Thailand, and carry a tour operator licence number; companies are also registered with the Department of Business Development. In Vietnam, an operator serving foreign visitors needs an international travel service business licence issued through the national tourism authority, which requires a bonded deposit and is not granted casually. Ask for the licence number directly and verify it against the official register rather than taking a logo on a website at face value. A legitimate DMC gives you the number without hesitation, because it is a point of pride and a legal necessity; a company that deflects, delays, or cannot produce one is the clearest red flag in the whole process.
Check that they operate, not resell
A real DMC runs trips on the ground; a reseller passes your booking to someone who does, adding a layer of cost and a layer of distance from any problem. The test is a single direct question: who actually operates the trip on the ground, and do you contract the hotels, guides, and transport yourselves? A genuine ground operator answers plainly, names the kind of suppliers they hold direct contracts with, and can describe their own in-country team, office, and operating setup. A reseller becomes vague, talks in generalities, or cannot say whose guides and vehicles will actually show up. Direct supplier relationships are not a nicety; they are what gives a DMC the rates, the control, and the ability to fix things mid-trip when a supplier relationship is on first-name terms rather than routed through a middleman. If you cannot get a clear answer to who runs the trip, you have your answer.
Verify the guides are licensed
Guiding is regulated in both countries, and for good reason: a licensed guide has the training, the legal standing, and often the language certification that an unlicensed one does not. In Thailand, professional tour guides must hold a guide licence issued by the Department of Tourism, the familiar guide card. In Vietnam, tour guides must hold a guide licence card as well, issued for domestic or international guiding. Using unlicensed guides is not just a quality risk; it is illegal, and it can expose a group to fines or disruption mid-trip. A serious DMC assigns licensed guides as a matter of course and can confirm the language and specialism of the guide on your program. It is a fair and revealing question to ask outright: are the guides on this trip licensed, and what languages do they guide in? The answer separates an operator who takes the rules seriously from one who cuts corners where a client will not immediately notice.
Look for the right credentials and memberships
Beyond the legal minimum, credentials and trade memberships are useful signals, though they are signals rather than guarantees. A sustainability credential such as Travelife is increasingly important because European operators face their own sustainability reporting obligations and pass them down to their ground partners, so a DMC that is engaged with such a programme is one that can answer those requirements. Trade memberships such as PATA, ETOA for European inbound, or SITE for the incentive market indicate a company that operates inside the professional ecosystem rather than at its edge. None of these alone proves quality, and their absence does not prove the opposite, but together with a licence and a track record they build a picture. Ask which credentials a DMC holds, and for sustainability claims, ask for the certificate or the registration rather than accepting a badge on a homepage.
Ask for a real track record
The final check is evidence that the company has actually done the thing you are hiring it to do. Ask for recent groups it has operated in your segment, whether that is luxury couples, multi-generation families, or incentive groups, and for references from other trade partners who have worked with it. A revealing question is how the DMC handled something going wrong: a lost passport, a flight cancellation, a weather day that forced a re-route, because the answer shows both real operating experience and the temperament you want in a partner when a trip is moving. Case studies, named operated programs, and a willingness to put you in touch with an existing partner are all strong signals. A company that can write a beautiful itinerary but cannot point to trips it has run, or references it will share, is asking you to take its delivery on faith, which is exactly what this checklist exists to avoid.
The vetting checklist
Run these checks before you contract a DMC. Each is a question with a good answer and a warning sign, and together they sort genuine ground operators from resellers and shells.
| Check | What to ask for | Red flag |
|---|---|---|
| Operating licence | The licence number, verified on the official register | No number, deflection, or delay |
| Operates vs resells | A plain answer to who runs the trip on the ground | Vague on operations; cannot name who delivers |
| Direct suppliers | The kind of hotels and services they contract directly | Everything routed through a third party |
| Licensed guides | Confirmation guides are licensed, and their languages | Unclear on licensing; cannot confirm the guide |
| Credentials | Travelife or trade memberships, with proof | Badges on the site that cannot be evidenced |
| Track record | Recent operated groups and trade references | Itineraries only; no operated trips or references |
| Communication | Clear, fast replies in your working language | Slow, unclear, or evasive on specifics |
How we would want to be vetted
We say this as the operator on the other side of the checklist: vet us against it. We hold our operating credentials in Thailand and our travel business licence in Vietnam, run one team across both countries, assign licensed guides, and are Travelife Engaged and working toward Partner recognition, and we are glad to give a partner the licence numbers, the references, and a sense of how we have handled trips when something went wrong. A DMC that resists these checks is telling you something; a DMC that welcomes them is showing you how it will work once you are partners. If you would like to put us through it, start a conversation through our partners page, and see a program we have actually operated in our Northern Thailand case study.