Tour Booking Terms & Conditions

 

Taste of Southern Africa Ltd arranges all the tours sold on this website. These booking terms and conditions show the commitment that you and we enter into as part of your booking. These conditions, along with all the other information listed on each tour, form the basis of the contract between us. 

Payment

You may pay for your holiday by bank transfer or credit card. A deposit of £450 is to be paid to secure your reservation. Deposits are non-refundable. The outstanding balance is payable 60 days prior to departure.

Failure to pay the balance by the specified time can result in the cancellation of your holiday, and we may charge you the relevant cancellation charge as set out in Clause 3 below.

A contract will come into force between us at the time we send out our confirmation invoice, and until then, we shall be under no liability to you whatsoever. If we are unable to accept your booking, we shall return your deposit within seven working days. Taste of Southern Africa Ltd reserves the right to not carry any person who, in its opinion, is unfit to travel.

Alterations and cancellations by you

If you wish to make any change to your tour arrangements, we will do our best to accommodate you. Any change is subject to availability, and there may be an additional cost imposed by our suppliers. You should note that airlines in particular may treat a change to a booking as a cancellation and new booking, and can therefore charge a 100% cancellation fee. Please note that, particularly after payment of the final balance, it may be difficult to amend your booking.

Should you wish to cancel your place on a tour, you may do so by writing to us, but no cancellation will be effective until such written notice is received by us. Written notice will include notice by letter or email. If you cancel, you will be liable to pay the following cancellation charges:

  • More than 60 days: Deposit only

  • 59 - 31 days inclusive: 50%

  • Less than 30 days inclusive: 100%

Transfer of bookings

You may change your booking up to 60 days before departure by transferring it to another person if you are unavoidably prevented from travelling, and the transferee meets any conditions which may apply to the booking. There may be an administration fee for transferring a booking depending upon the circumstances e.g. issuing a new visa.

Changes by us

We reserve the right to make changes to your tour arrangements after we have confirmed your booking. This will only happen in instances where we are forced to do so by factors out of our control. Where we have to make changes, we will inform you before the start of the tour. Wherever possible, we will offer you alternative arrangements as close as possible to your original choice. In the unlikely event that they are of inferior value (e.g. if only a lower grade hotel is available) we will refund the difference in the holiday price. You will have the choice of accepting, taking another available holiday of similar price or cancelling. Should you choose to cancel, no compensation will be payable and you will be reimbursed all the monies paid to us.

Such refunds do not apply to changes caused by reason of civil strife, riots, war, threat of war, natural disaster, tour manager illness, industrial action, technical problems affecting transport, terrorist activity, closure of airports or similar events beyond our control.

There is a required minimum of participants travelling on our tours. Should the number of participants fall below this number, Taste of Southern Africa Ltd may be forced into the cancellation of the tour and notification will be made 28 days prior to the date the tour is due to commence.

Price variation

The costs of the tour are based on known costs and exchange rates prevailing at the time. We reserve the right to vary the price of your holiday in relation to changes in exchange rates, transportation costs, including the cost of fuel, dues, taxes or fees. We will not vary the price of your holiday less than 30 days before your departure date, but if variations occur before that time, we will absorb or retain an amount up to the first 2% of your invoiced holiday cost. For variations greater than 2%, we will forward an amended invoice detailing the changes.

If we impose a surcharge which means paying more than 10% of your holiday price, you will be entitled to cancel your holiday with a full refund of all monies paid to us. Should you decide to cancel because of this, you must exercise your right to do so within 14 days of the date of our surcharge invoice.

Our responsibilities

  1. Our obligations, and those of our suppliers providing any service or facility included in your holiday, are to take reasonable skill and care to arrange for the provision of such services and facilities. You must show that reasonable skill and care has not been used if you wish to make any claim. Sometimes these standards will be lower than those which would be expected to be found in the UK. The services and facilities included in your holiday will be deemed to be provided with reasonable skill and care if they comply with any local regulations which apply (such as, for example, those of the Civil Aviation Authority), or, if there are no applicable local regulations, if they are reasonable when compared to the local standards and customs.

  2. Any flights forming part of the tour arrangements will be subject to the conditions of carriage of the airline concerned. These conditions in most cases limit the airline’s liability to the customer in accordance with international law.

  3. We do not accept responsibility for death or bodily injury to our clients unless proven by the negligent acts or omissions of our Employees, Agents, Suppliers, or subcontractors while acting within the scope of, or in the course of, their employment other than any services performed by air and sea carriers. Any such negligence must be proven under English Law in an English Court for any part of the arrangements for your tour as described in the brochure or any excursions arranged by us. It is a condition of the above that you inform us immediately on your return from the tour of any claim for Personal Injury.

  4. If any part of the arrangements booked with us is not provided in the advertised manner, we will pay you appropriate compensation if this has affected your travel arrangements. We cannot accept responsibility for war, riots, terrorist activity, government intervention, civil strife, tour leader illness, industrial disputes, natural disasters, disease, mechanical or constructional difficulties or technical transport problems and changes due to reasons beyond our control.

  5. Other than as set out above, and as is detailed elsewhere in these booking conditions, we shall have no legal liability whatsoever to you for any loss, damage, personal injury or death which you suffer arising directly or indirectly from any aspect of your holiday.

  6. Tour members must have valid passports and visas. In the unlikely event that a tour member is refused entry into a country, Taste of Southern Africa Ltd will not accept any liability for any losses incurred and our normal scale of cancellation charges will apply. Cancellation will be deemed to have taken place on the date on which we learn of the refusal of visa or permission to enter. Taste of Southern Africa Ltd accepts no responsibility whatsoever for difficulties arising from incorrect personal documentation e.g. passports.

  7. We cannot be liable for any medical expenses incurred by you or any loss or additional costs incurred as a result of sickness and injury. You may be covered against such circumstances on your insurance policy.

  8. We cannot be held responsible for any loss or damage to baggage, personal effects, money or documents.

Special requests

If you have any special requests, you should inform us of such requests. We will advise the relevant supplier of any such requests but we cannot guarantee that they will be met. Furthermore, we have no liability to you if such requests are not met.

Health

We also strongly recommend all travellers on our tours consult their local travel clinic ahead of their departure for advice on immunisation and other health related concerns.

Complaints

If you are in any way dissatisfied with any aspect of your holiday, you must notify our local representative or tour manager as soon as possible and subsequently in writing within 30 days of your return. If you do not give us such notice of complaints we cannot accept any responsibility for that matter.

Behaviour

We reserve the right at our absolute discretion to terminate your holiday if, in our opinion or that of our employees or suppliers, your behaviour is deemed likely to cause distress, damage, annoyance or danger to our employees or to any third party, or their property. If you are prevented from travelling on an aeroplane because, in the opinion of any person in authority at the airport, you appear for whatever reason unfit to travel, we have no further responsibility for your journey or your holiday, including any return flight. We will impose full cancellation charges and will not give any refunds. Furthermore, we will be under no obligation whatsoever to pay you compensation or cover any costs you may incur as a result of having to make alternative arrangements.

Insurance

You are required to have travel insurance to travel on a tour with Taste of Southern Africa Ltd. Although we do not issue travel insurance, we can offer advice.

Personal Information

We will provide your personal information, as well as any personal information you provide in relation to the persons whose travel arrangements have been requested by you, to suppliers and carriers that might be located outside the UK to enable the operation of the services requested by you. If you make special requests, which include, but are not limited to, special dietary, religious, or disability related requirements which constitute sensitive information, the relevant data will also be passed to the relevant suppliers and carriers to enable provision of the services requested by you.

Law and jurisdiction

Contracts are governed by English Law and the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.