Terms & Conditions

When you’re ready to book, please read the following conditions carefully. They will form part of your contract with Shona Travel Ltd, UK. 

SHONA TRAVEL LTD BOOKING TERMS AND CONDITIONS 

Shona Travel Ltd is an independent travel agent, based at 19 Jacobs Piece Fairford, GL7 4FH.  The company registration number is 14559562.

Shona Travel is fully bonded by the Civil Aviation Authority under Air Travel Organisers Licence number 12437 to protect your holiday payments and repatriation. ATOL protection primarily extends to customers booking and paying in the UK for flight-inclusive holidays. Other holidays are covered through our PTS – Protect Trust Service.

Shona Travel Ltd acts as a Travel Agent. We will arrange for you to enter contracts with the airline consolidators, hotel, excursion or car hire companies providing the service(s) detailed on your confirmation (in these terms we call them the ‘Supplier/Principal’). We act as an agent for those suppliers/principals; their terms and conditions will apply to your booking, and we advise you to read these carefully as they contain important information about your booking. Please ask us for copies of these if you do not have them.

1. BOOKING YOUR HOLIDAY

1(a) Your booking is considered confirmed when you have:
(i) Completed and returned the booking form
(ii) Paid a deposit of 30% as well as any upfront payments that may be required e.g. gorilla permits and/or domestic flight tickets
(iii) Received an invoice from Shona Travel showing the price of your holiday and the deposit paid

1(b) All special requirements should be stated in the booking form e.g. dietary requirements, physical impairments etc.

1(c) By making the booking, the lead passenger agrees to the booking conditions on behalf of the rest of the group.

1(d) Shona Travel will send a confirmed itinerary to accompany the confirmation invoice.  It is your responsibility to check the details and let us know if there are any changes that need to be made within seven days. This includes but is not limited to ensuring passenger details match those on their passports. Shona Travel cannot be held liable for any costs incurred if details included in the confirmation itinerary or invoice later need amending.

2. YOUR HOLIDAY PAYMENT

Full payment must be made to Shona Travel at least 12 weeks prior to departure. If you book less than 12 weeks prior to departure you must pay the full price of the holiday when you book. Please note your holiday may be cancelled if you fail to make payment on time and if it is, cancellation charges as set out in paragraph 3 will be payable by you.

3. IF YOU CANCEL YOUR HOLIDAY

Should you or another passenger wish to cancel your confirmed booking, the lead passenger should notify Shona Travel in writing as soon as possible. The following charges will apply from the date on which written notification is received by Shona Travel:

Confirmation to 140 days prior to departure – deposit only (to include any costs for items already purchased e.g. flights or gorillas permits)
139 to 84 days prior to departure – 50% of the holiday price
83 days or less prior to departure – 100% of the holiday price

Please note that any services that require full payment upon confirmation, such as flights or gorilla permits, will incur 100% charges unless otherwise specified. These amounts will be in addition to the above cancellation charges. The above excludes insurance premiums and administration charges which are forfeited in full. If the reason for cancellation is covered by your insurance policy please follow the procedure laid down by the insurers. 

If you alter any of your holiday arrangements after we have confirmed all services. You must write to us with the changes. Any alterations will be subject to availability and there will be an administration charge of £50.  All additional costs arising from the alteration will be required to be paid by you. 

If you wish to make a change to your arrangement whilst on holiday, this is your sole responsibility, and any additional cost must be paid by you. It is not possible to make refunds for any services or accommodation booked but not used. All these changes must be made in writing to Shona Travel.

4. YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES 

4(a) It is your responsibility to make sure you have the correct travel insurance in place for your holiday. Your travel insurance scheme should cover cancellation, evacuation, repatriation and medical costs together with other usual travel risks. Global health insurance alone is not sufficient and you should purchase additional coverage.

4(b) It is your responsibility to ensure that your passport, visas, vaccination certificates and any other health, travel or legal documents are in order. Details for entry requirements for British citizens can be found on this website: https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice. Other nationalities should check with their own government or contact the relevant consulate. We also recommend that you visit your GP for health advice.

4(c) Shona Travel is not responsible for any failure to take the correct documentation and will not be liable for any costs this incurs. If you miss your flights or other travel arrangements due to a delay not caused by a service booked by Shona Travel, you will be liable for the costs incurred.

5. OUR RESPONSIBILITIES

When you make a booking with us, you acknowledge that there is an element of risk in any adventure, sport or activity in the outdoors. These risks include the risk of injury or illness in remote places without medical facilities; the ever-present risk posed by the forces of nature, including wild animals and the risk of accidents during travel. You must be fit enough to undertake the holiday and you must exercise reasonable care for your own safety and the safety of other members of your party.

Subject to these Booking Terms & Conditions, if we or our suppliers perform or arrange your contracted holiday arrangements negligently, we will pay you reasonable compensation. Please note that it is your responsibility to show that we or our supplier(s) have been negligent if you wish to make a claim against us.

We will not be responsible or pay you compensation for any injury, illness, death, loss, damage, expense, cost or other claim of any description if it results from:
(i) the act(s) and/or omission(s) of the person(s) affected;
(ii) the act(s) and/or omission(s) of a third party unconnected with the provision of the services contracted for and which were unforeseeable or unavoidable; or
(iii) unusual or unforeseeable circumstances beyond ours or our supplier(s) control, the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all due care had been exercised; or
(iv) an event which either ourselves or suppliers could not, even with all due care, have foreseen or forestalled.

We do not exclude or limit any liability to our clients which may arise from proven negligence by any person employed directly by us or by our suppliers and subcontractors, servants or agents of the same whilst acting in the course of their employment (other than air and sea carriers performing any domestic internal or international carriage of whatsoever kind) in respect of death, bodily injury or illness. Such liabilities shall be subject to English law and all proceedings shall be within the exclusive domain of the English courts.

The Company’s acceptance of liability in this clause is conditional upon you assigning to The Company all rights you may have against any third party in any way responsible for personal injury, illness, death, deficiency or difficulty in question and upon you giving your full co-operation to The Company and/or its insurers.

If booking your own flights, or transportation, we strongly advise you to only book fully flexible fares, which can be can be cancelled or changed without charge prior to departure. If you have booked your own flight or transportation, the Company will not be held responsible or liable should they be cancelled, amended or you fail to reach the point at which the services offered by The Company commence.

Force Majeure. Except where otherwise expressly stated in these Booking Terms & Conditions, The Company regrets it cannot accept liability or pay any compensation where the performance or prompt performance of its contractual obligations are prevented or affected by or you otherwise suffer any damage or loss as a result of ‘Force Majeure’. In these Booking Terms & Conditions, ‘Force Majeure’ means any event which The Company or the supplier of the service(s) in question could not, even with all due care, foresee or avoid. Such events may include war, or threat of war, riot, civil strife, actual or threatened terrorist activity, industrial dispute, natural or nuclear disaster, adverse weather conditions, fire and all similar events beyond The Company’s control. UK Foreign Office advice against travel to an area for the above reasons will be treated as ‘Force Majeure’.

6. COMPLAINTS WHILST ON HOLIDAY

All complaints must be brought to the attention of Shona Travel’s local ground agent or the camp/lodge management so that action can be taken to remedy the problem. Should our representative/agent or the lodge management be unable to resolve the problem, please contact Shona Travel in the UK immediately. If this remains unresolved, details of the complaint should be notified to Shona Travel in writing within two weeks of the end of the holiday.

These Booking Terms & Conditions and any agreement to which they apply are governed in all respects by English law. We both agree that any dispute, claim or other matter which arises between us out of or in connection with your contract or booking will be dealt with by the Courts which lie within the United Kingdom.

7. PRICING  

7(a) After the booking has been confirmed, the price is still subject to the possibility of surcharges in certain limited circumstances. However, subject to the correction of errors, a surcharge will only be levied to reflect increases in transportation costs (including fuel and scheduled airfares), dues, taxes (including a change in either foreign or UK VAT), fees chargeable for services (such as landing taxes and embarkation or disembarkation fees at ports or airports), or adverse variations in exchange rates which have been used to calculate the price of your arrangements. Surcharges will be notified by a Supplementary Invoice sent to you (or your travel agent).

7(b) The Company undertakes however, not to levy a surcharge within 10 weeks (70 days) of departure except in the circumstances set out in (a) above.

7(c) Even when our costs increase as set out in 7(a) above, the Company will absorb a total equivalent to 2% of the cost of your confirmed arrangements (excluding insurance premiums and amendment charges). Only if the increased costs exceed this 2% will The Company levy a surcharge. If a surcharge made would increase the total price of your arrangements (excluding insurance premiums and amendment charges) by 10% or more, you may cancel your booking within 14 days of the date of issue of the supplementary invoice and obtain a full refund of all payments made to The Company, except for insurance premiums and any amendment charges previously incurred.

7(d) The financial commitments made above by The Company in respect of the booking means that no refunds can be made in the event of exchange rate fluctuations or decreases in cost.

Please note, changes and errors occasionally occur. You must check the price of your chosen arrangements at the time of booking.

8. AMENDMENTS AND CANCELLATIONS BY SHONA TRAVEL BEFORE DEPARTURE

8(a) We take great care to provide the holiday arrangements that have been confirmed, but we must retain the right to modify or cancel any tour, flight schedule, accommodation, or arrangement.  Some changes may be considered significant changes, in such that a reasonable person would consider them to represent a material difference between the new arrangements and the original package. Any change not considered a significant change is a minor change.

Examples of significant changes: a change of flight time by more than 8 hours, a change of international airport (except between airports serving the same city), a change of destination or a change to a lower official classification or standard of accommodation for the whole or a major part of the time you are away.

Any change in the identity of the carrier (s), flight timings, and/or aircraft type is deemed to be a minor change.

8(b) In such circumstances, we will inform you as soon as possible. Should the change be such that it significantly alters the nature of the tour (as defined above), we shall give you the choice of an alternative tour or a full refund of all money paid. In recognition, we will absorb all financial loss consequent upon cancellation.

8(c) We shall not cancel any tour for the reason of political tension or natural disaster unless specifically recommended to do so by the UK Foreign Office.

9. GOVERNING LAW AND JURISDICTION

This contract and any matters arising from it are governed by the laws of England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland and are subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of those regions.

10. DATA PROTECTION AND PRIVACY POLICY

The process of booking your holiday requires that we use the personal data you provide such as your name, passport details and address. In addition, we may need some sensitive personal data such as special needs or dietary preferences etc. This information is passed on to the airlines and hotels and any other suppliers of your travel arrangements on a ‘need to know’ basis. If we cannot pass this information to the relevant suppliers, we cannot accept your booking. In making a booking, you consent to this information being passed on to the relevant persons.

The information may also be provided to public authorities, as required by law. You should also be aware that controls on data protection in many of the countries we deal with are not as strong as in the UK. We will however not pass your information on to any person not responsible for part of your travel arrangements unless required to do so by law. 

11. FINANCIAL PROTECTION

Shona Travel Ltd is a company committed to customer satisfaction and consumer financial protection. We are therefore pleased to confirm that, at no extra cost to you, and in accordance with ”The Package Travel, Package Tours Regulations” all passengers booking with Shona Travel Ltd are fully protected for the initial deposit, and subsequently the balance of monies paid as detailed in your booking confirmation form. Your money is fully protected and is held within an independent Trust Account, managed by Protected Trust Services Ltd of 307-315 Holdenhurst Rd, Boscombe, Bournemouth BH8 8BX and its Trustees, chartered accountants – Elman Wall Ltd of 8th Floor, Becket House, 36 Old Jewry, London EC2R 8DD.

When you buy an ATOL-protected flight-inclusive holiday from us you will receive an ATOL Certificate. This lists what is financially protected, where you can get information on what this means for you and who to contact if things go wrong.