Tour operator

About these terms and conditions for a tour operator

This document template provides model terms and conditions for a tour operator or travel company. It is suitable for a large range of tour operators, from those that organise single day tours to those that offer holiday packages or personalised multi-country or multi-activity itineraries incorporating an activity, travel and accommodation.

Your business might specialise in a particular type of holiday such as archaeological tours or skiing holidays, or it might be a generalist offering package tours to popular beach locations.

We provide comprehensive cover of all the legal provisions you will need whether or not your holiday tour operation is covered by the Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018. Of course, we have provided for the Data Protection Act 2018 (which incorporates the requirements of the GDPR).

A separate section of the template provides commonly required provisions for simple, specialist tours, for example where the parties meet at the tour destination rather than at a UK airport.

The terms are written to protect you but are fair to your clients as well.

Customising the document for your business

Your terms and conditions reflect how your business works and therefore are unique to your company. The way that most holiday and tour companies work is similar (for example, in having a cancellation policy), but the detail will vary between companies (such as how many days’ notice is required before a deposit is lost).

This template reflects standard practices within the travel industry and it should give you a very good basis for your own terms. However, you will need to spend a little time customising it to reflect how your business works.

Presentation

In the travel industry many contractual terms are also part of the explanation of what is provided and how and where and when. For this reason, we have followed the industry practice of presenting the terms in a layout that does not look like a legal document. The legal effect, however, is not diminished in any way.

We prefer this less formal format because your customers are more likely to feel happy buying from you if they understand your terms and don't feel overwhelmed by legal jargon. We also feel that the format is more suitable for brochures and web sites, where you are likely to display them.

It is extremely important that contract terms are drawn to the attention of your clients and not hidden away.

We discuss what information needs to be discussed in this article on the Package Travel Regulations.

Features and contents

The T&C cover the following:

• Booking procedure and formation of a contract
• Authority to book for others
• Payment details: dates, deposit, late bookings, surcharges, penalties, refunds, payment type, payment protection
• Changes and cancellation by either side
• Payment protection
• Tour or holiday information and what is not included
• Accommodation
• Changes to the itinerary
• Insurance
• Passport, visa and health requirements
• Travel insurance
• Baggage restrictions
• Limitation of liability, including explanations of international conventions
• Local standards
• Client behaviour
• Complaints procedure
• Compliance with the Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 and data protection law
• Other miscellaneous matters to protect you