Did you book your future stay with a travel agency? SETO recommends suspending all departures until December 15, 2021 to countries classified in scarlet red including South Africa and Mauritius.
[Mis à jour le 3 décembre 2021 à 12h41] The Syndicat des Entreprises du Tour-operating (SETO) has published new recommendations concerning stays abroad following the passage on the red list of 7 destinations in Southern Africa including South Africa, and 3 other countries including Mauritius. He therefore recommends travel agencies to suspend all departures until Wednesday December 15, 2021 inclusive to South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Mauritius, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. As such, SETO recalls that “if it is possible to offer assets, customers are entitled to refuse them in which case the Tourism Code applies.” The union recommends informing all customers currently destined for the new rules applicable for returns in France.
While tour operators will still be able to offer credits to their customers whose package travel has been canceled, they will now be able to refuse them and demand immediate reimbursement. However, pay attention to the conditions of sale for organized stays. If a stay is maintained by the agency because it is considered feasible but you wish to cancel it yourself, the usual charges apply.
The voucher valid for 18 months will be imposed on you by the tour operator for the following services, only if they have been canceled by the tourism professional until September 15, 2020 according to information from 60 million consumers:
- Package travel : services including a flight and at least one overnight stay or services including at least one travel service (plane, hotel, etc.) and tourist services (guided tour, sports activity, etc.). School or language trips are also affected by this measure.
- Tourist accommodation : hotels, seasonal rentals, campsites …
- Car rental
Good news for travelers, some services purchased from your tour operator are not affected by this measure and can be reimbursed as soon as possible:
- Stays canceled before March 1, 2020 : indeed, only stays canceled after March 1 are affected by this new measure.
- Dry flights : Airline tickets purchased alone must be refunded if the flight has been canceled by the airline. However, if the airline has not refunded the ticket (or not in full) to the agency, the latter is not required to refund it (or not in full) to the customer.
- Train, bus or ferry tickets : travelers can claim a full refund of their ticket from the tour operator when it has been canceled by the company.