1. PRELIMINARY REMARKS. NOTION OF TRAVEL PACKAGE

Granted that:

a) the Organiser and the Seller of a travel package must be in possession of the administrative authorisation to the fulfilment of their activities;
b) the User has the right to receive a copy of the travel package sale contract (in accordance with the article 85 Cod. Consumo), which is an essential document to access, if necessary, to the Guarantee Fund (see art. 18 of the present General Terms and Conditions).

The notion of travel package (art. 84 Cod. Consumo) is as follows: the object of travel packages are travels, holidays and “all-inclusive” circuits, resulting from the pre-established combination of at least two of the elements listed below, sold or offered on sale at a flat rate price and lasting more than 24 hours or including at least one night:

a) transfer
b) accommodation
c) tourist facilities, non-accessorial to transfer or accommodation (omissis) ... composing a significant part of a “travel package”.

2. LEGISLATIVE SOURCES

The buying and selling of travel packages, regarding facilities to provide both within national territory and abroad, are governed by law n° 1084 of 27/12/1977, ratifying and executing the International Convention concerning Travel Contracts (CCV), signed in Brussels on the 23.4.1970, applicable also by the Cod. Consumo (Consume Code).

3. COMPULSORY INFORMATION – TECHNICAL SHEET

The Organiser has to include a technical sheet in the catalogue or in the program out of the catalogue. The compulsory elements to be contained in technical sheet are:
- details of the Organiser’s administrative authorisation;
- data of the liability insurance;
- validity period of the catalogue, of the program out of the catalogue or of the made-to-measure tour;
- substitution modalities and conditions (article 89 Cod. Consumo);
- exchange rate.

4. BOOKING

The booking must be drawn up on the provided contract form. In case of electronic format, the form must be fully completed and signed up by the client, who will receive a copy of it. The booking will be intended as accepted and the contract agreement will be reached only when the Organiser will send the relative confirmation, also by e-mail, to the client at the selling Travel Agency.

All the information concerning the travel package that is not contained in the contract documents, brochures and other written means of communications, will be provided by the Organiser before the starting date of the tour, as written in the article 87, paragraph 2, Cod. Consumo.

5. PAYMENTS

The deposit of 30% of the proposed price per person, to pay in at the moment of the reservation or of the confirmation, and the date by which the customer must pay the full balance before the departure are written in the brochure, in the catalogue or in other written material. Failure to pay within the established dates is a written resolving clause, which gives the Travel Agency and the Organizer the right to cancel the contract.

6. PRICES

The travel package price is determined by the contract with reference to what is indicated in the catalogue, in the program out of the catalogue or in their possible further updating. The price may vary until 20 days before the departure and only in consequence of the variation of:

- transportation costs, including fuel prices;
- rights and taxes on some category of touristic services, such as landing fees, embarkation or disembarkation fees at ports and airports;
- exchange rates applied to the travel package in question;

For these variations we will refer to the changes in exchange rates and to the costs mentioned above in operation at the moment of program’s issue as reported in the catalogue technical sheet, or at the date shown in the eventual updating mentioned above.

Fluctuations will weigh upon the travel package flat rate price in the percentage clearly indicated in the catalogue technical sheet or in the program out of the catalogue.

7. TRAVEL PACKAGE MODIFICATION OR CANCELLATION BEFORE DEPARTURE

Before the departure the Organiser or Seller who needs to modify significantly one or more elements of the contract must immediately give written notice to the customer, by indicating the kind of modification and the consequent price variation.

In case the User does not accept the suggested modification (paragraph 1), he may ask for a full refund or take an alternative holiday, in accordance with article 8, 2nd and 3rd paragraph.

The User can exercise any of the rights listed above also in case the cancellation depends on the failure to achieve the minimum number of participants, as indicated in the catalogue or in the program out of the catalogue, or in circumstances beyond the Organiser’s control and in fortuitous cases, in relation with the travel package the customer has bought.

In case of cancellations not due to circumstances beyond the Organiser’s control, fortuitous cases, failure to achieve the minimum number of participants, or in case the customer does not accept an alternative travel package, the Organiser responsible for the cancellation (art. 33 lett. e Cod. Consumo), will refund the customer of twice the sum he had paid and the Organiser received, through the travel agent. The refunded sum will never exceed twice the amount already paid by the client in accordance with article 8, 4th paragraph, in case the client is responsible for the withdrawal.

The cancellation of a tour due to the failure to achieve the minimum number of participants, if communicated to the consumer at least 21 days before departure, provides exclusively the refund of the fees paid so far.

8. CUSTOMER’S WITHDRAWAL

The customer may withdraw from the contract, without paying a penalty, in the following cases:
- price increase (see art. 6) of more than 10%;
- significant modification of one or more contract elements, objectively defined as fundamental to the fruition of the whole travel package, in case these modifications are suggested by the organiser after the conclusion of the contract before client’s departure and rejected by the User.

In cases listed above, the User has alternatively right to:

- make use of an alternative travel package, without surcharges or with the refund of the excess sum in case the cost of the second package is inferior to the first one;
- the refund of the fees paid so far, that must be executed within seven workdays from the receipt of the refund request.

The User will have to communicate his own decision (accepting or rejecting the above-mentioned modifications) within two workdays from the receipt of increase or modification notice.

In case there is no communication within that deadline, the Organiser’s suggestion is intended to be accepted. The customer withdrawing the contract before the departure out of the cases listed in the first paragraph will have to pay – independently on the payment of the deposit (see art. 5/1° paragraph) – the individual administration costs and the penalty, as indicated in the technical sheet in the catalogue, in the program out of the catalogue or in the made-to-measure tour.

With regard to pre-established groups, these sums will be settled at the conclusion of every single contract.

CANCELLATION PENALTIES

Customers withdrawing the contract before the departure out of the cases listed in the previous paragraph of this article will have to pay as penalty, independently of the deposit’s payment as prescribed in the article 5, €. 30,00 as entry fee and the following participation fee percentages, calculated on the basis of the number of days before the beginning of the tour the cancelation took place (the count of the days does not include the one of the withdrawal, whose communication must come in during a workday prior to the beginning of the tour):

The same sums must be paid by people who cannot travel owing to the lack or the irregularity of personal expatriation documents. No refund is provided in case travellers decide to interrupt their holiday or the stay already started.

9. MODIFICATION AFTER THE DEPARTURE

In case the Organiser finds himself in the impossibility, except for client’s fault, of providing the customer of an essential part of services contemplated in the contract, he will have to find alternative solutions, without surcharges for the customer. In case the provided services are worth less than expected, he has to refund he difference between the paid sum and the effective cost of the services provided.

In case there is no alternative solution or the solution arranged by the Organiser is refused by the customer for honest and justified reasons, the Organiser will provide, without any surcharges, a mean of transport equivalent to the prescribed original one to go back to the starting point or to another place formerly settled, compatibly with the availability of means and places and he will refund the difference between the cost of the expected services and the cost of services offered until the moment of the anticipated return.

10. SUBSTITUTIONS

Clients renouncing may be substituted by another person provided that:

a. the Organiser receives a written notice including cessionary’s personal details at least 4 workdays before the holiday start date;
b. the substitute satisfies all the conditions necessary to the service fruition (ex art. 89 Cod. Consumo) and in particular requirements concerning passports, visas, health certificates;
c. the substitute reimburses the Organiser for all the costs necessary to that procedure, as quantified before the cession.
The releaser and the substitute are both responsible for the full balance payment and for the amount as written at the letter c) of this paragraph.
Further modalities and substitution conditions are indicated in the technical sheet.

11. PARTICIPANT’S DUTIES

Participants have to travel with their individual passport or other document valid for all the countries touched by the itinerary, an entry permit and health certificates if requested. They must observe rules of prudence, diligence and all those norms and laws taking effect in the countries where the tour takes place. All participants must besides obey to all the information provided by the Organiser, such as rules, administrative and legislative dispositions concerning the travel package. Participants will be held responsible for all the damages the Organiser may suffer owing to their non-fulfilment of the obligations examined above.

The User shall provide the Organiser with all the documents, information and all the elements he owns, which are useful to exercise the right of substitution towards a third party liable of the damage and he is responsible to the Organiser for the damage made to the right of substitution.

The User will also communicate in writing to the Organiser, at the moment of the booking, particular personal requests which may lead to specific agreements on travel modalities, provided that their accomplishment is possible.

12. HOTEL GRADING

The hotel official classification is provided in the catalogue or in the other informative material only on the basis of expressed and formal indication of the competent country authorities where the service is given. In the absence of official classifications recognised by the competent public authorities of the countries – even EU members – where the service is provided, the Organiser reserves the faculty to provide in the catalogue or in the brochure his own hotel description, which could allow the customers to evaluate the suggestion and, later, to confirm it.

13. RESPONSABILITIES

The organiser is liable for damages caused to the User in case of total or partial non-fulfilment of the services settled by the contract, in case these are performed by himself or by other service suppliers, unless he is able to prove that the event is due to the consumer’s behaviour (including independent initiatives taken by the traveller during the holiday), to circumstances extraneous to the supply of the services prescribed in the contract, to fortuitous case, adverse weather conditions, circumstances beyond the Organiser’s control or that the same Organiser could not reasonably foresee nor solve.

The Seller who dealt with the client’s reservation is not liable under any circumstances for the duties originated by the organisation of the tour; he is indeed responsible only for the duties originated by his function of intermediary and, in any case, within the bounds of the norms concerning such responsibility.

14. LIMITATIONS ON CLAIMS FOR REFUND

The compensation for damages to the person can never be superior to the limits established by International Conventions, in which Italy and EU participate, with reference to the services whose non-fulfilment has determined responsibility. In any case the compensation can never exceed the amount of 50.000 Germinal gold Francs for damages to people, 2.000 Germinal gold Francs for damages to things and 5000 Germinal gold Francs for any other damage (article 13 n° 2 Contratto Collettivo Viaggio).

15. DUTY OF ASSISTANCE

The Organiser has the duty to assist the User, as established by the professional diligence criteria, with exclusive reference to his own duties, according to the law or contract. The Organiser and the Seller are exempted from their individual responsibilities (articles 13 and 14 of these General Terms and Conditions) in the event that failure to fulfil or inaccurate fulfilment of the Contract are attributable to the User, to an unforeseeable and unavoidable third party, or due to circumstances beyond the Organiser’s control and fortuitous cases.

16. CLAIMS AND COMPLAINTS

Any failure in the fulfilment of the contract shall be immediately notified by the User, in order to enable the Organiser, the Local Agent or the Tour Guide to correct the situation. Any complaint has to be filed by the User and notified to the Organiser or Seller by means of recorded delivery letter with advice of delivery within ten workdays from the date of return to the tour starting place.

17. CANCELLATION AND REPATRIATION TRAVEL INSURANCE

Unless expressively included in the price, it is possible, or rather advisable, to stipulate, at the time of the booking an insurance for expenses due to travel package cancellation, travel-related accidents and baggage loss. This can be done at the Organiser’s or Seller’s office, where it will be also possible to stipulate a contract of assistance covering repatriation costs in case of accident or disease.

18. GARANTEE FUND

The Directorate General of Tourism of the Productive Activities Ministry has created the Guarantee National Fund. The User can apply to the Fund (in accordance with the article 100 Cod. Consumo), in case of insolvency or declared bankruptcy of the Seller or Organiser, to protect the following requirements:

a) refund of the fees already paid;
b) repatriation costs in case of trips abroad.
The Fund shall also provide an immediate amount of money for possible forced return of the User from non-EU countries in case of emergency due or not due to the Organiser’s behaviour.

The Fund’s intervention modalities are established by Prime Minister’s Decree n° 349 of 23/07/99 and G.U. n° 249 of 12/10/1999.

ADDENDUM

GENERAL CONDITIONS OF SALE CONTRACT FOR SINGLE TOURISTIC SERVICES

A) LAW PROVISIONS

Contracts regarding the sale of single services (accommodation, transport, etc.) cannot be intended as organized travel packages and they are therefore governed by the following dispositions of the Collective Travel Contract (“Contratto Collettivo Viaggio”): article n°1, n° 3 and n° 6; from 17 to 23 and from 24 to 3, concerning estimations which are different from those regarding the organisation contract as well as from other agreements specifically referred to the sale of the single service object of the contract.

B) CONTRACT CONDITIONS

The following clauses of the general terms and conditions for travel package sale contract listed above are also applicable to these contracts: article 4, 1st paragraph; article 5; article 7; article 8; article 9; article 10, 1st paragraph; article 11; article 15; article 17. The application of these clauses does not determine at all the configuration of the concerned contracts as, in the case in point, travel package. The terminology of the quoted clauses concerning the travel package (Organiser, travel, etc.) must be intended with reference to the correspondent figures of the sale contract of the single touristic services (Seller, accommodation, etc.)

Technical organisation: Sardinia Cycling S.R.L. – (CA) - Italy
Insurance #: UnipolSai – 0327.5106617.44
Authorisation number issued by Regione Sardegna: 408

Compulsory communication in accordance with the article 16 of the law 269 of 3/10/98. The Italian law punishes with imprisonment crimes concerning prostitution and child pornography, even if they have been committed abroad.

INFORMATIVA ex art. 13 D. Lgs. 196/03 (protection personal data) The treatment of personal data, whose submittal is necessary to conclude and execute the contract, is carried out in accordance with D. Lgs. 196/2003 in both digital and printed format. Data will be transmitted only to the suppliers of the services included in the travel package. The client will be able to exercise the rights ex art. 7 D. Lgs. 196/03, by contacting SardiniaCycling SRL, travel organization, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., treatment holder.