How COVID-19 is affecting our holidays​
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We understand that the current global health issue of coronavirus (COVID 19) may well be generating a certain amount of anxiety for people with regard to making decisions about future holidays.
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The summer of 2025 is clearly a long way off and at this point in time, we anticipate being able to host all of our walking holidays as planned and without any restrictions in place.
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Many travel operators are significantly larger than us, dealing with hundreds of suppliers in many countries around the world. Fortunately, we're in a rather unique position in that we're much more 'niche', based only in Dorset, and working with only a handful of suppliers, with whom we have really great personal relationships.
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Whilst we think it extremely likely that all our future holidays will go ahead as planned, we want all our prospective guests to know that we have already given a great deal of thought to the possibility of future pandemics and future Government legislation with regard to social distancing and/or national or local lockdowns.
In the unlikely event of that happening, we already have a plan in place. This would involve postponement, rather than cancellation with the transfer of the holiday(s) to new dates. In this event, pricing would remain the same, and, as far as possible, we would aim to keep the rest of the itinerary, including accommodation, musicians, walks and caterers, the same too.
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This is sadly what we had to do with our two 2020 holidays as well as two of our five 2021 holidays, and while this was clearly a huge disappointment for everyone concerned, it has also been incredibly heart-warming to have had the vast majority of guests transfer over to the new dates, and to be so well-supported by our suppliers, who have been, quite simply, amazing.
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Three of our 2021 and all of our 2022 holidays were able to go ahead, and whilst we had to make a few minor changes in order to meet Government guidelines at the time, the feedback we've had from the guests on those holidays has been really fantastic...and given that well over 90% of them have told us they want to return for a future holiday, we can be fairly certain the minor changes we did have to make didn't have any impact on people's enjoyment!
In the event that you weren’t able to make the new dates (or weren't happy with any changes to the itinerary), we would of course, issue you a full refund (including any deposit already paid).
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You're probably aware, we're members of The Association of Bonded Travel Organisers Trust Limited (ABTOT) with whom we hold a 'Total Payment Protection Policy' (TOPP). ABTOT is a very similar organisation to ABTA, which you might also have heard of - essentially, membership enables travel operators like us to fulfil our legal responsibility to guarantee the safety of our customers' pre-payments under the Government's 'Package Travel Regulations 2018'. We trade as 'Ninebarrow Musical Walking Holidays', but the name of our company is Yonder Stile Ltd, and you can find us in the ABTOT membership database (member 5415).
So in short - we want you to know that you can book a 2025 holiday with us, safe in the knowledge that your deposit will be totally secure however the COVID-19 situation develops in the coming months and years.
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If you've got any questions - please feel free to contact us on relax@ninebarrowwalking.co.uk or on our office number: 07704 365296.
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And if you want to read our full terms and conditions, please click here.
