1. CONTENT OF THE SALE CONTRACT FOR TOURIST PACKAGES
General Terms and Conditions are part of the travel contract, together with the description of the travel package and the booking confirmation of the services requested by the guest/traveller. When the guest/traveller confirms the purchase of the travel package, he or she has accepted, even on be-half of those who will participate in the travel, the present General Terms and Conditions.
2. LEGISLATIVE SOURCES
The sale of tourist package regarding services to be provided both within national boundaries and abroad is governed - until its repeal by art. 3 of D. Leg. 79 of 23 May 2011 (the “Tourism Code”) – by L.27/12/1977 no. 1084 ratifying and implementing the International Convention relative to travel contracts (CCV) signed in Brussels on 23.4.1970 – as applicable – as well as by the Tourism Code (art. 32- 51) and its subsequent amendments and by the Civil code if applicable.
3. NOTION OF TOURIST PACKAGE
A tourist package is defined as follows:
“The object of a tourist package concerns travelling, holidays, and “all inclusive” itineraries, cruise tourism, resulting from the combination, in whatever and in whichever way carried out, of at least two elements indicated as follows, sold or offered for sale for a fixed sum: a) transportation; b) ac-commodation; c) tourist services not related to transportation or accommodation of which under art. 36 constitute for the satisfaction of the recreational needs of the tourist, a significant part of “tourist packages” (art. 34 Tourism Code).
The tourist is entitled to receive a copy of the contract of sale of the tourist package (prepared in compliance with art. 35 of the Tourism Code)
4. TECHNICAL DATA SHEET
The tourist package forming the subject matter of the contract is organized by The Grand Wine Tour SRL. – Società Unipersonale (hereinafter simply referred to as the “organizer”), with Registered Of-fice in via Rio Misureto 8, 12051, Alba (CN), telephone +39 0173 0173 362958, VAT Number and Tax Code: 03869420046, License no.: 03869420046-12022020-1609.
The Grand Wine Tour SRL. – Società Unipersonale is covered by civil and professional liability in-surance N° 2379864 Reale Mutua Assicurazioni. Protection Fund: Il Salvagente s.c. a r.l. N° 2020 / 1-3016
5. MANDATORY INFORMATION
Before the conclusion of the tourist package contract, the organiser or the retailer shall communicate the following information to the traveller, either by means of what is published in the catalogue in the pages relating to the chosen destination, or by means of a quotation or other information tool in the case of non-catalogue travel:
a) the main characteristics of the tourist services, such as:
the travel destination(s), the itinerary and periods of stay, with relevant dates and, if accommoda-tion is included, the number of nights included;
the means, characteristics and categories of transport, the places, dates and times of departure and return, the duration and places of intermediate stops and transport connections; if the time has not yet been established, the organiser and, where applicable, the retailer, shall inform the traveller of the approximate time of departure and return;
the location, main features and, where applicable, tourist category of the accommodation under the rules of the country of destination;
the meals provided, whether or not they are included;
Visits, excursions or other services included in the price agreed for the package;
tourist services provided to the traveller as part of a group and, in this case, the approximate size of the group;
the language in which the services are provided;
if the trip or the holiday is suitable for persons with reduced mobility, an indication of this will be given in the catalogue or, for non-catalogue trips, following a request by the customer and, upon the traveller's request, precise information will be given on the suitability of the trip or holiday that takes into account the traveller's needs;
b) the trading name and geographical address of the organiser and, where applicable, of the retailer, their telephone numbers and e-mail addresses;
c) the total price of the package holiday inclusive of taxes and all additional fees, charges and other costs, including any administrative and handling costs, or, where those costs cannot reasonably be calculated in advance of the conclusion of the contract, an indication of the type of additional costs which the traveller may still have to bear;
d) the arrangement for payment, including any amount or percentage of the price to be paid as a down payment and the timetable for payment of the balance, or the financial guarantees which the traveller is required to pay or provide;
e) the minimum number of persons required for the package
f) information on the traveller's right to withdraw from the contract at any time before the start of the package upon payment of appropriate withdrawal costs
Please note:
No refunds will be granted to no-show guests or those who give up during the course of the tour.
The guest/traveller who withdraws from the contract prior to departure, with the exceptions of the hypotheses listed at paragraph a) of art. 11 of the general terms and conditions, will be charged with a penalty to the extent indicated below:
• withdrawal up to 11 days before the tour: 25%
• withdrawal from 10 to 0 days before the tour:100%
Excursions and services purchased by the consumer on the spot and not included in the price of the package, although illustrated and described on the website, are not part of the subject of the con-tract issued by The Grand Wine Tour SRL - Società Unipersonale as organizer. Therefore, no re-sponsibility can be ascribed to The Grand Wine Tour SRL - Società Unipersonale, as an organizer of the services, in the event that people of our staff, escorts or local correspondents will take care of the reservation and sale of such services.
This catalogue is valid from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2020. The organizer reserves the right, in any case, to make changes to it in relation to factual circumstances or legislative amendments.
6. SALE CONTRACT OF A TOURIST PACKAGE
The tourist has the right to receive a copy of the sale contract of the tourist package, drawn up in written form and signed by the organizer or seller. The contract contains the following elements:
a) destination, duration, starting and ending date, where periods of stay are involved, the length of the same with relevant starting and ending dates;
b) name, address, telephone number and details of the authorization to practice of the organizer or intermediary signing the contract;
c) price of the tourist package, regulations for its revision, duties and taxes on landing, disembarka-tion or boarding services in ports and airports and any other expenses charged to the tourist;
d) the amount, up to a maximum of twenty-five percent of the price, to be paid on booking, and the deadline for the payment of the balance; the aforementioned amount is paid by way of a deposit but the effects described in Article 1385 of the Italian Civil Code are not produced if withdrawal de-pends on unexpected circumstances that are not attributable to a given party or that are justified by serious non-performance on the part of the other party;
e) details of the mandatory insurance cover and of any other policies agreed upon with the tourist;
f) the means, characteristics and categories of transport to be used, the dates, times and points of departure and return, type of place assigned;
g) where the package also includes air transport, the name of the carrier and any non-compliance with the regulations of the European Union;
h) where the tourist package includes hotel accommodation, its location, its tourist category, degree of comfort, its suitability to accommodate disabled persons, and its main features, its compliance with the rules of the Host Member State concerned and the meal plan;
i) itinerary, visits, excursions or other services which are included in the tourist package, including the presence of tour leaders and tourist guides;
l) the deadline for informing the tourist in the event of cancellation of the trip due to failure to reach the minimum number of participants required;
m) specific agreements regarding travel arrangements expressly reached between the organizer or the intermediary and the tourist at the time of booking;
n) any expenses charged to the tourist for transferring the contract to a third party;
o) period within which the tourist must present any claims concerning non-performance or improper performance of the contract;
p) period within which the tourist must communicate his choice regarding the amendments to the contractual conditions referred to in Article 41 of Legislative Decree 79/2011.
Possession of the contract document is indispensable for applying, should the need arise, to the Guarantee Fund indicated in Article 19 of these General Terms and Conditions of Sale Contracts.
7. BOOKINGS
Reservation requests should be drawn up using the proper contract form, in electronic format if ap-plicable, filled-in in all parts and signed by the consumer who will be supplied with a copy.
The acceptance of the reservation is understood to be confirmed, and the contract effective, only when the promoter sends official confirmation, also in the form of telematic data, to the consumer through the intermediary travel agency.
Acceptance of bookings by the organizer will be subject to availability of places.
The organizer reserves the right not to effect the trip if the minimum number of participants, which is indicated in the contract, is not reached, informing the traveler in writing at least ten days in ad-vance of the scheduled departure date.
Before the departure the promoter will supply information concerning the tourist package, not in-cluded in the contract documents, in the leaflets and/or under different form of written advice, as regulated by art. 37, paragraph 2 of the Tourism Code.
Special requests regarding the offering and/or execution of services included in the package, includ-ed special care for people with reduced mobility or special meal requests, will have to be specified prior to conclusion of the contract.
8. PAYMENTS
The amount of the advance payment of 25% of the price of the tourist package, due upon reserva-tion or when the binding request is presented, and the date within which, prior to departure, pay-ment in full is due, are stated by the contract, the catalogue, the brochure or other documents.
Non-payment of the above mentioned amounts within the agreed deadlines constitutes the express termination clause which will result in legal termination of the contract by the intermediary agency and/or the promoter.
9. PRICE
The prices of the tourist packages published in the catalogue are expressed in Euros.
The price of the tourist package is stated by the contract or by the information leaflet and any sub-sequent updates to the same that may have taken place, with reference to the catalogue or to the brochure program or to the website of the agency.
Revision of the sale price of the tourist package agreed between the parties is admissible up to 20 days prior to the trip, as a result of a variation in the cost of transport, fuel, duties and taxes, or in the exchange rate applied.
For such variations, reference shall be made to the above mentioned costs and exchange rates appli-cable on the date of stipulation of the contract. Official rates of exchange shall apply to such possi-ble variations and to the above mentioned costs according to program publication date, as per date stated by the catalogue technical file, or to the date stated by any of the aforementioned updates.
An upward revision cannot in any case exceed 8% of the original price. If the increase in price were to exceed the percentage stated in the previous paragraph, both parties would have the right to withdraw from the contract, following reimbursement of the amounts already paid to the other par-ty. The price may not, in any case, be increased in the twenty days preceding departure.
10. MODIFICATION OR CANCELLATION OF A TOURIST PACKAGE PRIOR TO DEPARTURE
a. In the event that the promoter or the seller need to significantly alter one or more elements of the contract prior to departure, he must immediately inform the consumer in writing about the nature of the changes and about the consequent price difference.
b. If the tourist does not accept the modified proposal referred to in the above paragraph, he has the right to withdraw from the contract and to reclaim the previously paid sum or to accept an alternative tourist package pursuant to paragraph a) Article 11.
c. The consumer must communicate in writing his acceptance or refusal of the modification, within and not later than two working days from the moment he is notified of the said increase or modification. In the absence of any such express communication within such period, the pro-posal is considered to have been accepted.
d. If the organizer cancels the tour prior to its departure for whichever reason, except those imput-able to the guest/traveller, the latter will be entitled to receive a refund, within law terms, equal to the price paid for the tour.
e. There will be no refund if cancellation of the tour depends on failure to reach the minimum number of participants, force majeure or fortuitous events.
11. CONSUMER WITHDRAWAL
a. The consumer can withdraw from the contract, without paying any penalties, in the following situations:
- price increase as set out in article 9 above where the said increase is greater than 8%;
- significant modification of one or more contract elements that can be considered essential in terms of the enjoyment of what has been booked overall, and proposed by the organizer after signing the contract but before departure and not accepted by the consumer.
In such cases, the consumer has the right to:
- receive an alternative package, without any supplementary price increase or with the reimburse-ment of any price difference where the second package has a lower value than the first;
- request reimbursement of the part of the price that has already been paid. This refund shall be ef-fected within fourteen working days from the moment of receipt of the request for reimbursement.
b. The consumer who withdraws from the contract prior to departure in cases not listed before, will be debited (regardless of the advance payment referred to in article 8) cancellation penalties stated above.
12. MODIFICATIONS AFTER DEPARTURE
If, following departure, an essential part of the services stipulated in the contract cannot be sup-plied, the organizer shall provide alternative solutions for the continuation of the scheduled trip without extra charges of any kind for the tourist or, alternatively, it shall reimburse to the latter the difference between the services originally envisaged and those effectively provided, without preju-dice to compensation for any damage that the tourist can prove to have suffered.
13. SUBSTITUTIONS
The tourist may have himself replaced by a third party provided that the said party meets all the re-quirements for using the service, in the relations deriving from the contract, by communicating in writing to the organizer or the intermediary at least seven working days before the departure date, that he is unable to use the tourist package and providing all the details of the transferee.
The transferor and the transferee shall also be jointly liable towards the organizer or the intermediary for the payment of the price and of any further expenses deriving from the transfer.
The transfer will only be possible if the transferor or the transferee reimburses to the organizer all the additional expenses incurred in order to effect the substitution which shall be quantified prior to the transfer.
The transferee must meet all the requirements for using the service and, in particular, must possess all the prerequisites related to passport, visas, and health certificates, and on condition that the ser-vices forming the subject matter of the contract, or those offered in substitution of the same can still be provided following a substitution.
14. CONSUMER OBLIGATIONS
During the preliminary meetings and, in any case, before the signing of the contract, Italian citizens are given general information in writing – updated to the date of publication of the Catalogue – concerning the health requirements and documentation needed to go abroad, in accordance with the terms laid down in Legislative Decree 79/2011.
Foreign citizens shall obtain similar information from their diplomatic representatives in Italy and/or official Government channels.
In all cases the tourists shall, before departure, check the latest update with the competent authori-ties (for Italian citizens at the local Questura (Police Headquarters) or the Ministry of Foreign Af-fairs on the site www.viaggiaresicuri.it, in order to comply with their guidelines before departure.
In the absence of such verification, the seller or organizer shall have no responsibility for the non-departure of one or more tourists, due to lack of, or irregularities in, the documents required for travelling abroad. Tourists shall inform the seller and the organizer – under their own responsibility, also as regards the exactness and truthfulness of the information and data supplied – of their citi-zenship and, at the time of departure, they must be certain that they possess the vaccination certifi-cates, their own passport and any other valid document necessary to enter the countries included in the tourist package, including entry and transit visas, and any health certificates or health and insur-ance policies that may be required.
Finally, in order to evaluate the health and security status of the countries to be visited and thus the effective usability of the services purchased or to be purchased, the tourist shall obtain (utilizing the sources indicated above) the official general information available at the Ministry of Foreign Af-fairs, which specifically indicates whether travel to the destinations is formally not advisable. Tour-ists shall also adhere to the normal rules of prudence and diligence and to those specific rules in force in the countries to be visited, as well as to all the information supplied by the organizer and the rules, administrative or legal instructions pertaining to the tourist package.
Tourists will be liable for any damage which the seller and/or the organizer may suffer also as a re-sult of failure to comply with the above mentioned obligations.
The tourist is, moreover, bound to supply the organizer with all documents, information and other elements in his possession which may be useful to the latter in exercising the right of subrogation against third parties responsible for the damage (Article 48 of Legislative Decree 79/2011) and he is liable towards the organizer should he obstruct the latter in the exercising of its right of subrogation.
At the time of booking, the tourist shall also inform the organizer in writing of any particular per-sonal requests, which may form part of a specific agreement, relating to travel arrangements, provid-ed that they can be carried out. The tourist must always inform the seller and the organizer of any special needs or conditions (pregnancy, food allergies, disabilities etc.) and clearly specify the re-quest for particular personalized services.
15. HOTEL CLASSIFICATION
The official classification of hotels is provided in the catalogue or in other informative material only on the basis of the express and formal indications provided by the competent authorities of the place in which the service is provided. In the absence of official classification recognized by the competent Public Authorities to which the service refers, the organizer reserves the right to provide its own description of the accommodation structure in the catalogue or brochure, in order to allow the tourist to evaluate it and consequently accept it.
16. LIABILITY
The organization responsible for damages caused to consumers due to the total or partial perfor-mance of the contract, whether these are performed by him or by third party service providers, un-less he proves that the event was caused by the consumer (including initiatives undertaken by the latter during the execution of tourist services) or by circumstances beyond the provision of services under the contract, by accident, force majeure or circumstances that the organizer could not accord-ing to the professional diligence reasonably foresee or resolve.
17. COMPLAINTS
Any failures in the performance of the contract must be reported by the tourist by means of the timely presentation of a written complaint, so that the organizer, its local representative or tour guide may proceed to provide a timely solution. The tourist may also make a claim by sending a let-ter by registered mail, or by another method that guarantees notice of receipt, to the organizer or the intermediary within ten working days of the date of return to the place of departure.
18. INSURANCE AGAINST COSTS OF CANCELLATION OR FOR REPATRIATION
While the obligation remains for the organizer and the intermediary to stipulate a suitable third party liability policy pursuant to Article 50 of Legislative Decree 79/2011, the tourist is nonetheless enti-tled to stipulate insurance policies which, for travel abroad, guarantee the immediate repatriation of the tourist in the event of emergencies and which ensure that the tourist will be provided with assis-tance, also of an economic nature.
19. GUARANTEE FUND
The National Guarantee Fund, set up to protect consumers, covers the following if bankruptcy is declared by the seller or organizer:
– reimbursement of the price paid;
– repatriation relative to trips abroad.
The Fund guarantees immediate availability of money in cases involving forced re-entry of tourists from non-EU countries due to emergences that may or may not be due to the behaviour of the or-ganizer. The Fund mechanisms are set out in President of the Council of Ministers Decree 23/07/99, no. 349.
20. ADDENDUM TO THE GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF SALE OF SIN-GLE TOURIST SERVICES
A) REGULATORY PROVISIONS
The contracts for the supply of the only transport, accommodation or any other separate tourist ser-vice cannot be configured as a case in point of travel or tourist package, are governed by the follow-ing provisions of the CCV: art. 1, n. 3 and n. 6; Articles. 17 a23; Articles. 24 to 31, with regard to provisions other than those relating to the organization contracts and other agreements concerning the sale of a single service contract.
B) CONDITIONS OF CONTRACT
These contracts are also subject to the following clauses of the general conditions of contract for the sale of packages above: art. 6, paragraph 1; art. 7, paragraph 2; art. 13; art. 18; art. The application of these clauses does not determine the configuration of the relevant contracts as a tourist package. The terminology used in said clauses regarding contract for tourist package (organizer, travel, etc..) Can be understood with reference to the corresponding figures of the contract of sale of individual tourist services (seller, stay, etc..).
Compulsory notification pursuant to art. 17 of Law n. 38/2006: The Italian law punishes with im-prisonment for offenses relating to child prostitution and child pornography, even if committed abroad.