Tour Operator Revising Your Terms and Conditions? Get Insights To Help

Revisiting your terms and conditions is always a good idea when you’re a tour operator, especially when it comes to keeping up with the latest trends and happenings in the tourism industry.

One of the first things travelers do when booking a trip is skimming through the T&Cs to check the common potential mishaps (cancelation policies, hygiene protocols, etc). Brushing up on yours is an effective way to cover yourself and ensure that you effectively communicate with your prospective clients before they commence with their travels to avoid awkwardness in the event of a said mishap.

Nobody wants to have to deal with credit card disputes or chargebacks that negatively impact income and client relationships.

Let’s take a look at why terms and conditions are important and the best practices to follow.

What Should Tour Operators Focus On For Terms and Conditions?

First up, note that the information in this article is intended as general guidance only and should not replace professional legal advice. Consult your professional legal team for expert counsel when making any changes to your company’s terms and conditions. 

Ready to review your policies? 

Updating your T&C documents can help you actively safeguard your business and income. You can welcome guest bookings and host trips knowing that you are protected and clients are aware of the conditions should something unexpected occur. 

Considerations for tour operators to address in their policies could include:

• how cancellations will be dealt with
• how rescheduling will be dealt with
• refunds, fees, and payment forfeitures
• voucher validity
• payment schedule timelines
• hygiene, safety, and social distancing requirements

Whatever you do, keep the document as simple and straightforward as possible.

Complicated conditions can make it difficult or unclear for travelers to understand what their potential liabilities will be. In terms of landing a booking, this can be a deterrent.

Banks and financial institutions also look for a clear set of terms when dealing with disputes. Long-winded documents that aren’t explicit about the terms can work against you and result in the process being taken further for investigation. 

eSignature Feature - How Can WeTravel Help You? 

A nifty tool to assist with this process is an eSignature feature. ​​We have partnered with eversign to incorporate legally-binding eSignatures into the booking & payment process on WeTravel. 

To access it, go into the trip builder, and go to the last tab called “eSignature”. Here you can upload the documents that require an e-signature. Now you can even select one or multiple documents - they will be combined into one template.

Interested to see who has or hasn’t signed the documents? Simply go to "My Trips" - "Manage Trip" and navigate to the Bookings tab. Here you will find the eSignature column which will display “Signed” if all the documents were e-signed and “Not signed” if one or more orders under the same booking are missing the signature.

In terms of security, every transaction happening on the eversign platform is processed by a closely monitored server infrastructure and encrypted using industry-standard 256-bit HTTPS Encryption.

Effective Terms And Conditions Clauses Your Tour Operator Business Needs 

1. Allow For More Flexibility In Booking Policies

Travelers may be wary when it comes to paying for trips too far in advance. It’s difficult to know in a day or a few months whether they will be able to go on the tour.

You can remedy this uncertainty by giving them greater flexibility on your booking policies. Updating your terms and conditions to allow clients to change their reservation within reason when it’s due to specific uncontrollable circumstances can give them peace of mind.

You could allow them to:

• reschedule the group for a future date
• book an alternate tour as a replacement
• claim a credit to put towards a future booking
• make final payments closer to the date of departure
• keep a lifetime deposit on the books for future use

Doing this doesn’t have to cost your travel business anything. Ensure to communicate effectively about the fees, timelines, and conditions attached to any requested changes. Take the time to make sure that these work for you equally as well as they do for your clients.

2. Be Clear About Cancellations

Cancellations are less than ideal, and sometimes, no matter how hard you try, clients just aren’t willing to reschedule.

As much as this adds to the uncertainty of the situation, you can be better prepared for these instances by making sure that your cancellation and refund terms are very clear. Travelers are generally aware that there will be policies around this, it’s simply a case of making these known and clear going into the booking.

State whether the client will be charged a fee for canceling, and even set a cut-off date for giving cancellation notice.

Importantly, all communication and cancellation requests should take place in writing.

3. Have A Trip Safety Policy In Place

Heath and safety should always be at the forefront of your planning when it comes to running tours.

This webinar on how to instill confidence and teach your team best practices for running group tours, speaker Jon Peahl, Founder of Sansee Systems, mentions how travel businesses need to have a readiness plan on display.

Your plan should outline the measures you will take to ensure guests’ safety when they’re on the trip. For example, let them that you now offer contactless payments and mobile check-ins. Or highlight the interactions guests will have in their entirety with people other than your team, and so on.

These guidelines can form part of your terms and conditions to do two beneficial things.

Firstly, it will boost travelers’ confidence in your business if they know you are being proactive and have an accurate idea of what to expect.

Secondly, it will also help to set the expectations for when they are on the trip. For example, everyone will know in advance that they are required to sanitize their hands and listen to instructions from the tour guide.

4. Acquire Travel Insurance 

WeTravel recommends that you acquire travel insurance in case something goes wrong.

5. How To Distribute Your T&Cs  

An effective way to distribute your policies is to post the documents on your website, and also send them out via email to your customers upon receipt of their deposit.

This will ensure that the information is readily available if need be.

Final Thoughts

Conducting an annual or regular review of your terms and conditions can greatly assist in adequately protecting your business and clients during their travels.

It is the perfect way to outline all the agreed-upon policies and hopefully avoid unnecessary tension.

This will allow you, as a tour operator, to navigate future trips with confidence and foresight.