Trip cancellation due to force majeure

Dear Diving Friends,

The Corona crisis has confronted us, as well as the entire travel industry, and of course each individual personally, with unprecedented consequences and challenges. Now that travel is slowly but surely possible again, we believe it is important to counteract some dysfunctional weaknesses in previous booking practices that came to light during the crisis, some with serious consequences.

When virtually all travel was canceled in the months following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, there was initially plenty of confusion and uncertainty. Voucher solutions, government bailouts, free rebooking, and at times even the partial suspension of the EU Package Travel Directive with all its consumer-friendly clauses, which has been in effect since 2015, were discussed. With ample delay, as we find, the German government was finally able to agree on a government-backed voucher solution, which was certainly also an important help to the travel industry and its customers. At the same time, however, it was also confirmed that the EU Package Travel Directive would apply without restrictions. Thus, in the case of trip cancellations due to "force majeure", it remained at the discretion of the affected customers whether they preferred a rebooking, a government-backed voucher or a full refund of monies already transferred (deposits, final payments).

As an organizer, we have accepted this responsibility and refunded all monies to customers for whom ultimately a rebooking or voucher was not an option. And this is precisely the result of the dysfunctional weakness mentioned at the beginning. Deposits and final payments from customers are forwarded by us, in accordance with our contractual obligations, to the local partners (hotels, dive centers, liveaboards, transfer companies, etc.). In the course of the Corona-related cancellations (a classic case of "force majeure"), they largely refused to refund the transferred customer funds to us and usually only offered free rebookings or vouchers. The consequence was that we made demanded, legitimate refunds to our customers from our own funds, and thus paid twice. This practice has already cost numerous tour operators their existence. Our company is in a solid position, and we will definitely survive the Corona crisis. But this must not happen to us a second time.

We have therefore decided to make the contractual conditions with our partners a central aspect of our customer advisory service. We are herewith exclusively concerned with the conditions in the event of cancellations due to "force majeure" (pandemics, wars, natural disasters, etc.). Our goal here is to ensure maximum clarity for potential customer bookings, to secure the solid finances of our company in the long term, and ultimately to act in the best interest of our customers.

We distinguish 3 categories of booking conditions with our partners with regard to travel cancellations caused by "force majeure":

Partners who refund monies paid in advance and are governed by European travel law. Here we continue to act as a tour operator with full liability.

Partners who have adjusted their payment and cancellation conditions in such a way that we are willing to bear the tour operator risk.

Partners who do not offer refunds, but only rebookings. Here we act (similar to the relevant booking portals on the Internet) only as a travel agent. The general terms and conditions of the respective partner that is booked apply.

We understand this classification as part of a competent consultation, because the Corona crisis has shown that besides factors such as diving experience, quality of accommodation, service and price-performance ratio, the booking conditions also play a central role. With our approach, we want to offer our customers maximum transparency. We will be happy to answer your questions and advise you.

Your Beluga Travel Team