TERMS AND CONDITIONS / PAYMENT POLICY
The booking terms and conditions (T&C) of VISIT IN LANKA (VIL) are detailed AS FOLLOWS. All bookings with (VIL) are subject to the below T&C which are governed by Sri Lankan Law and both parties agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the Sri Lankan Court at all times. By making a booking with (VIL), you are agreeing to those T&C. In the event of a contradiction between the T&C mentioned here, on (VIL) itineraries and travel documents or those posted on the websites of (VIL), the latter shall prevail.
1 – BOOKING AND PAYMENT
1.1. All bookings are handled by the VIL team of Travel Advisors (by email or telephone) or via our websites. Bookings are finalized only upon full payment and receipt of the travelers’ details.
1.2. Booking Confirmation, Down payments and payment form:
◦ VIL will provide the Booking Confirmation document along with bank details.
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◦ A deposit of 80% of the total amount of the package must be paid by bank transfer.
Policy: Please note we require 80% of the payment on confirmation and the balance 02 weeks prior to arrival. Or the full payment can be settled on confirmation.
Payment method – Bank transfer.
Caution: In Sri Lanka, a hotel reservation is confirmed only by making an advance payment to the hotel. We can pre-book your hotel in each destination while you make the payment (subject to availability); these pre-reservations are generally valid for 3 days. We kindly request you to pay half of the package value at the earliest so that you stand a higher chance of securing your booking.
• The balance invoice is to be paid to VIL at least 14 days prior to your arrival in Sri Lanka. In some cases, such as group, conference or incentive trips, the balance will have to be paid 1 month prior to the arrival in Sri Lanka.
• There will be no binding contract for your holiday until VIL has received payment of the deposit/sum required.
• If you are booking within 14 days of the tour start date, then full payment is required at the time of booking
2 – TRAVEL INFORMATION
2.1. Passports and Visas
All travelers listed on the Participant Information form must be in possession of a valid passport and relevant visas. It is your responsibility to ensure that you have valid travel documentation, including but not limited to passports and visas, which meet the requirements of immigration and other government authorities at every destination. Please refer to your nearest Sri Lankan Consulate for more information regarding visa requirements. If your itinerary includes travel to any other country besides Sri Lanka, please check on visa requirements for each country that you will visit. All passports require at least 6 months validity. Any fines, penalties, payments or expenditures incurred as a result of such documents not meeting the requirements of the authorities will be your sole responsibility.
2.2. Non Transferable / Non refundable.
Exceptionally, and provided you have given sufficient notice to VIL, if you find yourself unable to travel, transfer of your booking to another person and full payment of additional costs arising from that transfer by the client, if any, will be considered.
Generally, it should be noted that all travel documents issued are non- transferable. Such documents may include but are not limited to, airline tickets, hotel vouchers, tour vouchers, or any other document used to confirm an arrangement with a service provider. Such documents may also be subject to conditions such as, but not limited to, being non-refundable, non-date- changeable and subject to cancellation or amendment fees.
2.3. Health and Safety Information.
VIL advises you to regularly consult your country of residence’s department of foreign affairs website. Here you will find any information pertaining to safe travel in Sri Lanka and its surrounding countries. It is your responsibility to ensure that you are aware of any health requirements for your travel destinations and to ensure that you carry all necessary vaccination documentation. Please consult your doctor for more information in that regard.
3 – CHANGES TO BOOKINGS PRIOR TO DEPARTURE AND CANCELLATION POLICY
All changes to bookings will incur charges. These charges can be up to 100% of the cost of the booking, regardless of whether your trip has commenced. VIL will return all recoverable costs for cancellations whenever possible.
3.1. Cancellation procedure
To cancel your booking with VIL, please notify your travel insurance company and VIL in writing, explaining the reason for the cancellation. Any cancellation fees will be calculated according to the date of receipt of the written advice of the cancellation of your booking. Please read your travel insurance policy carefully and contact your insurance to find out about the conditions and level of coverage you are entitled to as well as documentation required to obtain full reimbursement of your trip by the insurance. VIL will provide all relevant documents whenever required by your insurance.
Change fees for all confirmed bookings where a Booking Confirmation has been issued and a deposit received by VIL are detailed below:
Cancellation fee
• [30 to 21 days prior to arrival]: 25% of the Trip value will be retained by VIL
• [20 to 10 Days prior to arrival]: 50% of the Trip value will be retained by VIL
• [9 to 6 days prior to arrival]: 75% of the Trip value will be retained by VIL
• Less than 6 days prior to arrival: 90% of the Trip value will be retained by VIL
• No show : 100% of the Trip value will be retained by VIL
During peak season (December 15th till April 15th and from July 15th till August 15th) cancellation one month before tour start may incur cost of up to 100% of the package.
Please notify VIL of any changes regarding your travel plans in writing as early as possible. Most hotels, airlines and suppliers charge a 100% cancellation fee for changes.
3.2
Cancellation fees for partial cancellation (valid for fixed departure group itineraries). If one or more participant registered on the same trip cancel their participation in a tour that will still be maintained for the remaining participants, the cancellation fees mentioned above will be calculated on prorate basis and subject to point 3.1 of the T&C.
3.3. Complaints and refunds
All refunds will be processed within 12 weeks from the date of cancellation.
All complaints are to be sent via by registered post and addressed to VISIT IN LANKA, NO 30, Centeral Garden, Ekala, Ja-Ela Colombo, Sri Lanka
Please do not delay in contacting us in the event of a complaint. Do contact us while you’re on tour which would be the easiest way to settle your claim as early as possible. In the event where we are unable to solve your problem before your return, then you should contact VIL within the next 28 days maximum following your trip to Sri Lanka. Disputes, if any, are subject to the local courts in Colombo and Sri Lankan law.
4 – INSURANCE & LIABILITY
VIL and its Directors are insured against professional and civil liability & Chartis Tour operator liability contract # P/030104/2011/7
Travel Insurance:
VIL strongly recommends that you subscribe a personal travel insurance policy including repatriation cover for the above mentioned risks. VIL does not constitute a substitute for travel insurance. You are required to provide your travel insurance details and mention it in Participant Information form at the time of booking. VIL also requests that you provide emergency contact details. Please make sure you have a copy of your travel insurance policy with you at all times. You are responsible for lodging any claims to your travel insurance policy (our guides and local staff will assist you if required). VIL will assist you by contacting your Travel Insurance if you find yourself unable to do so.
Quite often, Visa and Master card offer cancellation and repatriation insurance policy*. (*conditions apply, please check with your credit card service provider)
Liability:
Under circumstances where liability cannot be excluded, liability is limited to the value of the purchased travel arrangements. We do not accept any liability in contract, tort or otherwise for any injury, damage, loss, delay, additional expense or inconvenience caused directly or indirectly by force majeure or any other event which is beyond our control or which is not preventable by reasonable diligence on our part. In particular, but without limitation to these conditions, we accept no responsibility for any loss, damage or injury you suffer as a result of terrorism, war (including civil-war), coup, riot, civil disturbance or any type of criminal act. It is your responsibility to inform yourself about the safety and security situation in the places you are travelling to.
VIL does not accept any liability of whatever nature, whether in contract, tort or otherwise in the following circumstances:
• Loss or flight tickets or other vouchers or travel documents by the traveler,
• For the acts, omissions or default, whether negligent or otherwise, of any service provider, over whom we have no direct control
• Invalid or inadequate Travel Insurance, identification, passport, visa or vaccinations.
• Any loss, damage or injury you suffer as a result of unforeseeable and insurmountable incidents or events including but not limited to: terrorism, war (including civil-war), coup, riot, civil disturbance or any type of criminal act, strikes external to VIL (VIL), technical or administrative failures external to VIL , obstruction of airspace, bankruptcy of a supplier or partner of VIL , bad weather, natural disaster, delays, including delays in postal services in the case of sending replacement plane tickets, passports etc, breakdowns, loss of luggage or other personal effects or misconnection of flights or other modes of transport. Any delays or necessary changes to an itinerary due to the above mentioned causes will be at the expense of the traveler. VIL will not provide any compensation or refunds in such situations. Possible additional expenses related to any of the situations mentioned above including but not limited to taxes, hotel, car park fees or replacement and /or reissue of travel documents will remain the responsibility of the traveler.
• VIL reserves the right to change the dates, schedules or routes of itineraries, or cancel bookings to ensure the safety of the travelers and/or at the injunction of an administrative authority, as necessitated by unforeseeable and insurmountable incidents or events as mentioned above. In this case VIL will calculate the unused portion of travel and deduct cancellation fees. The remaining amount will be held in credit for future use by the participant. If the credit is not enough to cover any new travel bookings, the difference will be paid by the participant.
Your refusal to pay any reasonable adjustments to the price of your itinerary will be regarded as a cancellation of your booking.
5 – PRICE REVISION
The price of your holiday will not be subject to surcharges except in the following cases:
• Variations in transportation costs
• Exchange rates fluctuation.
• Government tax and entry ticket increase
VIL will absorb any increase equal to up to 5% of your holiday price without price modification or surcharge for the client. If the increase exceeds 5% a surcharge will be applied to your holiday package and a revised invoice will be sent to you. You may decide to cancel your booking within 14 days of the date of receipt of the revised Invoice and obtain a refund in accordance with section 3.1 of the T&C.
6 – INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS DETAILS
6.1.
Sometimes at the time of creating and quoting your travel itinerary, we do not know the exact details of your international flights. If you fail to provide your flight details and agree to the itinerary, the subsequent changes which will be required will be at your full expense. your flight details have to be communicated at the earliest in order for VIL to confirm the transfer (Seaplane or Speed Boat) to the atoll of your choice and the booking. If the flight details are not communicated properly and transfer cannot happen the charges incurred will be borne by the client.
7 – AGENT
VIL acts as a travel agent only and is a mere intermediary between you and the service providers. We sell various travel related products on behalf of numerous transport and accommodation service providers, such as airlines, coach/rail and cruise line operators. We have no responsibility for these services, nor do we have authority to make any warranty or representation regarding their standard. All bookings are subject to the T&C and limitations of liability imposed by these service providers. Where a third party or other Tour Operator is used, their Terms and Conditions supersede the ones set out in this contract and the client is bound by those.
Your legal recourse is against the specific provider not VIL.
certain details regarding the conditions of registration:
1 A registration confirmation (indicating the amount of the deposit and our bank account details), will be sent to you by email upon receipt of your written agreement for the trip.
2 The payment of deposit (80% of the total amount of the trip) are necessary to confirm your registration and start the hotel bookings. You can pay by bank transfer . The booking is considered as confirmed once we receive the deposit (in Sri Lanka hotels require the payment in order to confirm a reservation).
3 A new bill (balance invoice) – with the remaining amount to pay will be sent to you minimum 18 days before your arrival.
4 The balance must be settled 14 days before your arrival in Sri Lanka, by bank transfer.
Responsibility
We will only accept liability for incidents that arise as a direct result of our proven negligence, or that of our suppliers, in respect of arrangements forming part of your holiday itinerary, in cases where all your holiday accommodation and transfers are arranged by us for the entire extent of your stay. This applies to illness, injury and/or death.
NOTE: WE DO NOT ACCEPT LIABILITY FOR THE NEGLIGENCE OF OUR SUPPLIERS IN ACCOMMODATION-ONLY BOOKINGS. IN ALL SUCH CASES WE ACT SOLELY AS A BOOKING AGENT AND ACCOMMODATION IS CHOSEN AT YOUR OWN RISK.
We act only as a co-coordinator in instances where only part of the holiday itinerary is arranged by us for all passengers (including You) with respect to services provided by certain underlying operators, including hotels, lodges, restaurants, road transport providers, professional guides, air charter services, boating, rafting, kayaking, bush walking, trekking and climbing activities. All bookings with Us are therefore subject to the limitations of liability imposed by the underlying operators/suppliers involved in Your Travel Arrangements and VIL cannot be held responsible for the failure of any component of the holiday for which We do not have direct responsibility. This includes any difficulty in finding hotels if customers choose to book accommodation-only deals and arrange their own transport.
There are circumstances where it is impossible to fulfill the contract as a result of war, the threat of war, riot, civil strife, industrial dispute, terrorist activity, natural or nuclear disasters, fire or adverse weather conditions and all similar events outside our control. In these circumstances we shall not be liable for compensation where we are forced to cancel, delay, curtail or change your holiday in any way or where our performance of the contract is affected or prevented. We assume no responsibility for any loss, damage to baggage, property or for injury illness or death or for any damages or claims however so caused arising directly or indirectly from accidents, loss or damage to person or property, delays, transport failures, strikes, war, force majeure, Acts of God etc. or any other loss arising from or pursuant to Your Travel Arrangements.
We accept responsibility for ensuring the holidays which you book with us are supplied as described and that the services we are contractually obliged to provide are to a reasonable standard.
We work with different operators and service providers for accommodation or other services and facilities which you will be using and changes may occur. On occasion especially during low season, certain facilities may not be open or available due to maintenance, weather conditions, power cuts, and lack of demand or for other reasons. In such circumstances we cannot be held responsible for advertised facilities being unavailable. There may be instances where alternative accommodation or services may need to be provided, in such instances we will ensure this is of a similar or superior standard.
Breakages and Damages
You will be responsible for any breakages, losses or damage caused by you or a member of your party during your stay in the accommodation. It is your responsibility to put right the damage or to make full payment to the supplier before departure and to indemnify us against any losses, damages or claims made against us.
Behavior
You are responsible for compliance with all relevant regulations governing carriage by air or any other mode of transport and your stay during your holiday. If in the opinion of our suppliers/service providers and/or guide representative your behavior is disruptive or causing distress, injury or danger to other clients, our staff or any other third party, your holiday may be terminated and we shall not be responsible for any costs or claims that are incurred.
Severability
If any of these Booking Conditions are invalid or unenforceable then subject to law, all other provisions of these Booking Conditions shall be and continue to be valid and enforceable.
Arbitration
When your booking is confirmed with us, a contract between VIL and / or you is constituted. That contract and these Booking Terms and Conditions shall be governed in all respects by the laws of Sri Lanka.
Complaints
We would wish to resolve amicably any reasonable complaint that we receive relating to the standard of your travel or accommodation arrangements. However, you must try to resolve any complaint immediately that you have with the strategic alliance of the service direct (i.e. the accommodation owner, airline or individual service provider) while also at the same time keeping the VIL representative and travel counselor who handled your booking informed of all such complaints as and when they arise.
If your complaint cannot be resolved locally you must follow this up by writing a formal complaint letter to us within 28 days of your return home incorporating all other relevant information. It is a condition of this agreement that you communicate any problem to the supplier of the service/s in question and inform the relevant VIL representative and travel counselor who handled your booking and if still not resolved then follow this up with a written complaint. If you fail to follow this simple procedure we cannot accept responsibility as we have been deprived of the opportunity to investigate and rectify the matter.
We are always looking for ways to improve our service and our products and as your feedback can help us to do this we will provide a Customer Survey for your completion.
Exclusion of Liability
VIL does not guarantee that all information available is free from errors or omissions but we will use all reasonable endeavors to correct any errors or omissions once notified of them. Our opinions are our own. Whilst we rigorously strive for accuracy, these opinions are necessarily subjective to some degree. All recommendations, opinions expressed and prices regarding properties and/or destinations displayed are provided for guidance only. You agree as the user that the use of, or reliance upon, any of the content of the VIL website, and in particular any content recommending any hotel, product or service, is done entirely at your risk. (Including content in subsequent itinerary documents sent to you) Our website contains links to websites operated by parties other than the VIL. Those links are provided to you for your reference and convenience only. We do not own or control the content of those websites and are not responsible for their content or your use of them.
We have endeavored to portray and describe each hotel and/or service as best we can and also to provide the most up to date information through our website and other communications with you to the best of our knowledge.
We cannot be held liable for any discrepancies or differences that might arise between the content of our website (text, images etc), any communication sent to you (via email, fax etc) and the actual property you are accommodated at or the service you are extended.
Information Provided by You
All information provided by you should be true and accurate. We will treat it confidentially and not forward it to any third party. We have a strict anti-fraud policy and take responsible steps to protect personal information such as credit card details.
SHOPPING
VIL, under no circumstances, recommends or guarantees the value or the quality of any additional product not clearly itemized on the Travel itinerary which may be purchased during an itinerary arranged in part or whole by US, even in the case where the product may have been discussed between a client and an employee or representative of VIL. Determining the value of a product is entirely the client’s responsibility. VIL has no duty to intervene in such circumstances and cannot be held responsible for subsequent complaints.
Indemnification
You agree to defend and indemnify VIL, its affiliates, and/or their respective suppliers and any of their officers, directors, employees and agents from and against any claims, causes of action, demands, recoveries, losses, damages, fines, penalties or other costs or expenses of any kind or nature including but not limited to reasonable legal and accounting fees, brought by: (i) you or on your behalf in excess of the liability described above; or (ii) by third parties as a result of (a) your breach of this agreement or the documents referenced herein, (b) your violation of any law or the rights of a third party, or (c) your use of this website.
Electronic Communications
You communicate with us electronically whenever you visit our website or send emails to us. You consent to receive communications from us electronically and by fax. You agree that all notices, disclosures, agreements and other communications that we provide to you electronically or by fax satisfy any legal requirements that communications be in writing.
VISIT IN LANKA (VIL) makes no representations or warranties, and hereby excludes all warranties, express or implied, as to the quality, accuracy, feasibility or credibility of the content of the VIL website or of any goods or services offered on the site.
Moreover VIL accepts no liability for any virus or any other type of electronic infection that may be transferred through the site. Under no circumstance will we be liable for any loss or damage caused by a user’s reliance on information obtained through this site.
We do not take responsibility for consumer comments made in interactive areas of the website, but we do reserve the right to moderate them to comply with Sri Lankan law.
Copyright
The copyright and all other Intellectual Property rights in all of the material on this website are owned by VISIT IN LANKA . Copying of any part for commercial or business use is strictly prohibited.
GOVERNING LAW AND JURISDICTION
These terms and conditions are subject to the Laws of Sri Lanka