General Terms and Conditions

General Terms and Conditions

Version 03/ May 2022

These General Terms and Conditions are subdivided into:

I. Terms of Use

II. Hospitality Stories – User Terms and Conditions for the offer on its website

III. General Terms and Conditions of the Experiences/ and other tourist services offered by HOSPITALITY STORIES and operated by suppliers

 

Welcome to HOSPITALITY STORIES!

The website www.hospitalitystories.com has been created and is operated by the company under the trade name HOSPITALITY STORIES. This website (including sub-sites and including text, images, videos, software, products, services and other information contained in or presented on the website; all together the "Website") is provided by Hospitality Stories, Tramstrasse 79, 8050 Zurich. You can contact us by email (https://www.hospitalitystories.com/contact) or by phone using +41 76 394 14 02.

Bookings through the Platform are subject to the present General Terms and Conditions of HOSPITALITY STORIES.

Applicable law and jurisdiction: The present General Terms and Conditions and all its subsections [Terms of Use, Hospitality Stories – User Terms and Conditions for the offer on its website, General Terms and Conditions of the Experiences / and other tourist services offered by HOSPITALITY STORIES and operated by suppliers] and any amendments thereof are governed by and construed under the Greek Law. The Parties irrevocably agree that the courts of Athens shall have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any dispute or claim that may, directly or indirectly, including tort, arise in connection with this provision of the services or sale of goods and the present General Terms and Conditions, including any question relating to the existence, validity, efficiency, construction, enforceability or termination of their agreement. All rights and remedies under these Terms and Conditions are cumulative and are not exclusive of any rights or remedies provided by law or by any other agreement. If any part(s) of the General Terms and Conditions are determined to be invalid or unenforceable pursuant to applicable law including, but not limited to, the warranty disclaimers and liability limitations above, then the invalid or enforceable provision will be deemed superseded by a valid, enforceable provision that most closely matches the intent of the original provision and the rest of the terms shall continue in effect. A printed version of these Terms and Conditions and of any notice given in electronic form shall be admissible in judicial or administrative proceedings.

I. Terms of use

These are the Terms and Conditions which apply to all services of HOSPITALITY STORIES and relate to any use of the website https://hospitalitystories.com located within it (hereinafter referred to as the “Website”).

The present Website Terms and Conditions of Use contained herein, apply in full force and effect to your access, use and/or navigation of this website, including all pages and content within the Website (collectively referred to herein below as the “Website”). Accessing, using and navigating this Website, presumes unconditional acceptance of all the present Terms of Use on your part, as our User. We invite you to read these Terms of Use carefully before visiting or using the Website. You expressly agree that you have read, understood and accepted to be legally bound by all the terms and conditions and reservations set forth below. In the event of disagreement or reservation from your side about part or all of these terms, you are kindly requested to refrain from further accessing or browsing the Website.
In the event any translation of these Terms of Use is prepared, the English version of these Terms of Use shall prevail in case of conflicts between the different language versions.

1. Amendments to the Terms of Use: The present General Terms and Conditions and all its subsections [Terms of Use, Hospitality Stories – User Terms and Conditions for the offer on its website, General Terms and Conditions of the Experiences / and other tourist services offered by HOSPITALITY STORIES and operated by suppliers] may be amended at any time and with immediate effect. If we make amendments, they apply as of the date of their publication on the Website. HOSPITALITY STORIES expects you to regularly refer to this section to make sure you are familiar with the applicable Terms of Use. Any further use of the Website following such amendments means you consent to the amendment. The respective conditions valid for each individual booking shall apply.

We expressly reserve the right, indicatively, and not exclusively:
a) to renew or upgrade part or the whole content of the Website;
b) to renew or upgrade part or the whole of the interface, structure, or configuration of the Website, as well as its technical specification; and to
c) limit access to, cancel, suspend, permanently or temporarily, or terminate the operation of the whole Website or part thereof for example for maintenance purposes, at any time, without any justification and without any prior notice to you, the User of the Website according to our own discretion and without liability.

2. Restrictions On Use:

Minors are prohibited from using the Website and its Content, which by law is intended exclusively for adults and we do not knowingly collect personal data from minors. If, however, minors voluntarily visit the Website or make use of its Content or services offered through it that may be considered inappropriate, HOSPITALITY STORIES and its affiliates shall have no liability.

3. Content of The Website:

The website and all content contained in it, including text, images, photographs, audio or video files, trademarks and intellectual property rights associated with this material belong to HOSPITALITY STORIES. You have free access to the site but you are not granted of any license or right under any intellectual property of the HOSPITALITY STORIES or of any other third party. You are not authorized to reproduce, sell, re-sell, distribute, modify, transmit, reuse, retransmit, exploit or make use of the website content for commercial purposes without the written permission of HOSPITALITY STORIES.

4. DISCLAIMER:

The content of the Website is made available on an “as is” basis without any warranty, express or implied, including, without limitation, the warranties of suitability, fitness for a particular purpose, merchantability, completeness, accuracy, topicality, or non-infringement.

The Content on this Website may include inaccuracies or typographical errors. Changes may be made from time to time to this Website at any time and without notice. However, the Company makes no commitment to update the information contained in this Website on a regular basis. The Company does not guarantee that the operation of the Website will be uninterrupted and/or free of errors, that defects and errors will be corrected from time to time or that it is compatible with your computer, hardware and software, that the Website will be secure, that the server providing the Website is free of viruses or any other malware.

We do not guarantee that the web pages, services, options and content shall be provided without interruption and without error, that mistakes shall be corrected or that all submitted queries shall be answered. In addition, we do not guarantee that the Website or any other related website or server through which the content is made available to visitors/ users is provided free of viruses or other harmful elements. The cost of any repair or service shall be undertaken by the visitor/ user and under no circumstances can it be undertaken by the Company.

The Company shall not be liable for any kind of damage (positive, negative, consequential, incidental, contractual or other) arising from the inability of accessing of the users to the Website, the interruption of all or parts of it, the delay, non-delivery, interruption or poor reception of service or loss of their content, the existence of any error. In each case, the Company reserves the right to interrupt at any time temporarily or permanently the operation of all or part of the Website for maintenance or upgrade or any other reason.

Information, advice and opinions expressed in this Website should not be relied upon for personal, legal, financial or other decisions. You should consult an appropriate professional for specific advice tailored to your situation.

Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, directors, advisors, agents or any thirds party involved in the creation, production or delivery of the Website are liable for any direct, indirect, special, consequential, incidental or other damages of any kind arising out of, or in connection with, the use of the Website or its Content, whether based on contract, tort (including negligence), strict liability or otherwise.

5. No offer:

The information on this Website is for general informational purposes only. Information on this Website does not constitute an offer binding to us. Binding agreements with suppliers of activities available on the Website require a booking request through HOSPITALITY STORIES and the supplier's acceptance of the booking request according to the General Terms and Conditions of HOSPITALITY STORIES.

6. Limitation of liability:

HOSPITALITY STORIES excludes its liability, and that of its agents and independent contractors, and its and their employees and officers, and its sub-agents or distribution partners for damages relating to your access to (or inability to access) the Website, or to any errors or omissions, or the results obtained from the use, of the Website, whatever the legal basis of such liability would be, except liability for damages caused wilfully or through gross negligence, and only to the extent permitted by applicable law. Restrictions of liability do not apply within the scope of guarantees issued, in the event of an injury to life, limb or health or for claims based on product liability regulation.

7. Third party content, links to other websites:

HOSPITALITY STORIES does not assume any responsibility for third party content (including any activities available for booking requests, and information relating to such activities) that may be available through the Website, and for content linked to the Website or which are linked to from it or referred to. HOSPITALITY STORIES does not recommend or endorse such content, and will not have any liability relating to it. Where HOSPITALITY STORIES links to third party websites, you use such websites at your own risk. We recommend reading the policies of these websites and review how these websites may process personally identifiable data relating to you. If you think we have illicit content on the Website, please send an email to info@hospitalitystories.com.

8. Intellectual property rights:

As between you and HOSPITALITY STORIES, the Website is and remains protected by copyright and/or any other intellectual property rights (including protection granted through unfair competition law). You acquire no rights in the Website, and in any names, trade names, and distinctive signs of any nature (including trademarks) published on the Website. You may access and view the Website, but not incorporate it into other websites, and not copy, present, license, publish, download, upload, send or make it perceptible in any other way without our prior written consent.

9. Copyright

All copyright and other intellectual property rights in the entire content of the Website, including without limitation, texts, graphics, images, logos, photographs, drawings, videos etc. the “Content”), belong to the Company and are protected by the applicable national, EU and international law, or are included in the Website with the permission of the owner.

Your use of any Content, except as provided in these Terms of Use, without the written permission of the Content owner is strictly prohibited. The Company will enforce its intellectual property rights to the fullest extent permitted by the law, including the seeking of criminal prosecution.

Upon acceptance of the Terms of Use, you may not download, remove, alter or obscure any of the information, content or notices (such as copyright and other proprietary notices) contained in the Content.

All other products or services mentioned on the web pages of the Website which carry logos of organizations, companies, partnering bodies, associations or publications are the intellectual or industrial property of such entities and, therefore, the latter carry the respective responsibility.

Please remember that you must secure all necessary licenses and rights of use from the owner of any rights associated with the content that you wish to upload through the Website.

You may not distribute, modify, copy, transmit, display, reuse, reproduce, publish, license, create derivative works from, transfer, sell or otherwise use Content without the Company’s prior written permission.

II. Hospitality Stories – User Terms and Conditions for the offer on its website

1. Introduction:

1.1 HOSPITALITY STORIES runs an intermediary Platform for tourist offers in the form of an online offer via the internet (hereinafter jointly referred to as the “HOSPITALITY STORIES PLATFORM”).

On the HOSPITALITY STORIES Platform, users have the chance to find and book tours, activities and experiences worldwide, designed and developed by HOSPITALITY STORIES. The offer indicatively comprises guided (or escorted) experiential tours, cooking and wine-tasting courses, sightseeing tours, hiking tours, trips on sailing boats, tickets for entry to sightseeing locations and other related services. The offers are placed by HOSPITALITY STORIES. HOSPITALITY STORIES HAS SIGNED CONTRACTS for tourist services- operation of the experiential tours with local “Suppliers” (hereafter the “service agreement”).

2. Pricing of HOSPITALITY STORIES:

2.1. Unless otherwise advised in the experience details and information, prices on HOSPITALITY STORIES are quoted per person in Euros and include VAT and all other taxes. Local taxes may be charged on site.

Charter of boats for one day experiences (with skipper) and charter of sailing boats for bespoke journeys (experiences with duration longer than one day), are according to the one-day experiences/bespoke journeys, details and information.

2.2 All special offers and promotional campaigns are marked as such.

2.3 Recent significant and continued increases in the global oil and fuel prices might have an impact in the operating cost of our 2022 one day experiences, especially where land transportation (by minivan, minibus, car) or sea transportation (by ferries, sailing boat & speed boat) are included. Hospitality Stories is following up closely with local business partners and will adjust prices of affected one day experiences, if local suppliers increase their prices. Any price adjustment will be uploaded on www.hospitalitystories.com timely.

3. Availability and warranty:

3.1 There is no claim for availability, quality or service features, or technical support for the HOSPITALITY STORIES. HOSPITALITY STORIES can redesign, reduce or suspend of their website www.hospitalitystories.com at any time, at its discretion. Existing agreements with a Supplier, as well as the execution of these agreements, remain unaffected by these changes.

3.2 Limitation of Liability: HOSPITALITY STORIES makes every effort to carefully select local suppliers, which comply with the highest selection standards that HOSPITALITY STORIES sets for its clients and services and also makes every reasonable effort to ensure that each local supplier provides for civil liability against third parties and also for the proper execution of their services. However, HOSPITALITY STORIES’s liability to consumers is limited to the present Terms and Conditions and provides no guarantee, warranty or representation on behalf of its local suppliers. To that extent, neither HOSPITALITY STORIES nor any of its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, directors, advisors, agents or any thirds party involved in the creation, production or delivery of the Website’s contents and offers are liable for any direct, indirect, special, consequential, incidental or other damages of any kind arising out of, or in connection with, the use of the local suppliers’ services and or any other third-party services rendered).

4. Evaluation function available on the website of HOSPITALITY STORIES

4.1 Users of the HOSPITALITY STORIES website have the opportunity to have personal influence on the content of HOSPITALITY STORIES by writing travel reports, or uploading pictures (“user content”). Users are considered fully responsible for the user content they provide. They ensure that the content is accurate, correct and guarantee that the content does not contain any misleading or illegal statements. Furthermore, the users guarantee that the content does not violate third-party rights. Under no circumstance and in no way does Hospitality Stories make user content its own, it merely provides a dedicated section on their website for this purpose.

4.2 HOSPITALITY STORIES may use the user content in many ways. This includes displaying it on the website, reformatting, editing for better grammar, incorporation into adverts on social media or other work.

4.3 HOSPITALITY STORIES can remove or report user content if deemed necessary and at its own discretion. For example, HOSPITALITY STORIES can remove user content if it violates company’s principles for content. Hospitality Stories is not obliged to store copies of user content or provide copies thereof and does not guarantee the confidentiality of user content.

4.4 HOSPITALITY STORIES and its commercial partners can display adverts and other information together or next to the user content on the website and other media. Users have no claim to remuneration for these adverts. Subject to changes regarding the type and scope of these advertising measures. The user does not need to be especially notified of this.

4.5 The users shall fully indemnify HOSPITALITY STORIES and its commercial partners from all third-party claims (incl. suitable costs for legal prosecution and defence) at first request, which these third parties assert against Hospitality Stories concerning the user content provided by the user. This also applies if the contested content can no longer be accessed on HOSPITALITY STORIES website. In the event of recourse by third parties, users have to immediately, truthfully and completely provide HOSPITALITY STORIES with all the information necessary to verify the claims and defend them.

5. Data protection: according to the Privacy Policy of Hospitality Stories

5.1 HOSPITALITY STORIES collects and uses personal data of users to the extent that is necessary for its operation according to the governing law and its Privacy Policy which can be found at http:/hospitalitystories.com/privacy policy.

Any personal data (for example, your name, address, telephone number or email address) you transmit to the Website by electronic mail or otherwise will be processed in accordance with the Privacy Policy. Any other communication or material you transmit to the Web site, such as questions, comments, suggestions, will be treated as non-confidential and non-proprietary.

Links:

The website may contain links to other websites. HOSPITALITY STORIES provides these links for your convenience only, and shall not be responsible or liable for the actions of such other independent websites. The incorporation of these links in no way indicates that HOSPITALITY STORIES endorses, supports or accepts the content, the advertisements, the products, the services, the policies or the material existed or available on these web websites.

Such third-party providers are solely responsible to exercise due diligence and care and are liable for any and all of their own acts and omissions, including, but not limited to, conduct that causes harm or damage to the users of the website and their services.

Claims:

The user of the website is liable HOSPITALITY STORIES and its affiliates for any loss or damage resulting from illegal or harmful use of his account, and the use of the website services in a fraudulent manner or not in accordance with these terms.

You agree to indemnify HOSPITALITY STORIES and its affiliates, executives, representatives and employees for any claim, including reasonable attorneys' fees, arising out of or in any way connected with your breach of these terms and conditions or breach of any applicable law.

Security:

Use of this website is subject to the Privacy Policy of HOSPITALITY STORIES. If you would like to know about the security practices that govern how we process information provided on the website, please refer to our Privacy Policy. By using this website, you consent to the use of your personal information as described in our Privacy Policy.

External Links:

The website may contain links (“links”) to other websites which are controlled by third parties. Under no circumstances HOSPITALITY STORIES can be held responsible for third party’s website content, or for any financial or other harm suffered by the user who followed such link. Linking to this website is only permitted at its homepage. Link to another page is only allowed with prior written permission of HOSPITALITY STORIES. Similarly, the use of one or more extracts from this website is not allowed without the prior written permission of HOSPITALITY STORIES.

General Note:

HOSPITALITY STORIES strives to ensure that the content of the website is up-to-date and reliable. However, HOSPITALITY STORIES and its representatives are not infallible and sometimes errors and / or omissions may occur. Therefore, information should be carefully evaluated by the visitors, as neither HOSPITALITY STORIES nor any other company-related group, or other third party involved in creating, manufacturing or supplying the website can be held responsible for any direct, incidental, consequential, damage as a result of access or inability to access this website or for any error or omission in the contents of the website. HOSPITALITY STORIES will periodically review the content and / or products, services and resources described on the website and reserves the right to make such changes without the obligation of informing previous, present and future visitors of this website.

Contact Details:

For further information about us or if you have any queries or concerns regarding the present Terms and Conditions, please contact us via email at info@hospitalitystories.com.

III. General Terms and Conditions of the Experiences/ and other tourist services offered by HOSPITALITY STORIES and operated by suppliers

Within the scope of an intermediary service, Hospitality Stories shall provide the visitors and Suppliers of tours or tourist services with this booking Platform.

Furthermore, HOSPITALITY STORIES shall also provide this booking Platform to certain cooperating partners (sub-agent/ distribution partner) for the booking of the Supplier’s tourist services.

The use of this Platform by sub-agents or distribution partner requires a separate contractual agreement and is not permitted without the prior written authorization of HOSPITALITY STORIES.

1. Introduction

Part III of these General Terms and Conditions applies to all contracts concluded through HOSPITALITY STORIES’ website.

2. Arrival at meeting point and compliance with conditions:

You are responsible for providing truthful details and arriving on time at the notified meeting point. If you are travelling to an activity from abroad, you are responsible for having the necessary travel documents (passport etc.), and for observing the health regulations etc.

3. Payment:

The agreed total price for the service we have provided is due upon the conclusion of the contract.

Payment schedule

Within 48 hrs. from the binding acceptance of the booking from the clients by HOSPITALITY STORIES, a 35% deposit of the total amount of services due is required (payable by wire transfer or credit card payment).

Only upon payment of the requested down payment, a booking can be considered being confirmed from the side of HOSPITALITY STORIES.

Settlement of balance due (full payment) is expected latest 14 days prior to the date of the booked one day experience, otherwise the booking will be automatically cancelled and cancellation fees apply (down payment will not be refunded). 

If time between booking date and date of the experiential tour is less than 14 days, full payment is requested (no down payment possible).

Ιn case specific experiences/tours i.e. sailing experiences/tours, require different payment terms, these will be mentioned in the experience/tours information- details.

Certain Experiences, that are offered only once a year (for example, Easter, Feasts), require full payment at the time of booking confirmation. The specific payment terms, will be mentioned in the experience/ tours information- details.

4. Self-responsibility for insurance:

The price of the services does not include insurance. You are responsible for providing sufficient insurance protection. The requirement for insurance depends on the activity booked.

Each user of Hospitality Stories’ services either acting as an individual and/or as a parent and/or as a guardian of a third party, shall take all appropriate measures to limit health and other risks by indicatively performing prior to the experience a physical evaluation and take into account needed equipment, proper dress, weather conditions, adequate training and overall fitness.

5. Unpaid services:

If you do not pay for the booked service according to the agreed due date of payment, although Hospitality Stories is able to perform the contractual service and there is no legal or contractual right of retention for you, then Hospitality Stories is permitted to withdraw from the contract and charge you as per its Cancellation Policy.

6. Cancellation Policy:

6.1 If you reject (cancel) the activity, the cancellation conditions stated below will apply.

Period before the Experience date In which you notify Hospitality Stories	Cancellation Charge
14 days or more	Deposit only (35%)
13-3 days	50%
less than 48 hrs before the start of the experience or in the event of a no show	100%

For certain experiences, that are offered only once a year (for example, Easter, Feasts), 100% cancellation fees apply.

In case specific experiences/tours i.e. sailing experiences/tours, follow different cancellation policy, this will be mentioned in the experience/tours information- details.

6.2 The refund is done using the same payment method. In the event of credit cards which are charged monthly, the amount shall be credited at the end of the current invoicing period. The refund by bank transfer shall be done within seven bank working days.

7. Extraordinary cancellation:

HOSPITALITY STORIES can cancel the activity on the agreed date without observing a period of notice, in case Events Beyond our Control occur.

Events Beyond our Control

Except where otherwise expressly stated in these Booking Terms and Conditions, we will not be liable or pay you compensation if our contractual obligations to you are affected by Events Beyond our Control.

For the purposes of these Booking Terms and Conditions, Events Beyond our Control means any event beyond our or the supplier of the service in question, the consequences of which could not have been avoided, even if all reasonable measures had been taken.

Examples include war or threat of war, and acts of terrorism (and threat thereof), civil strife, riots, civil unrest, significant risks to human health such as the outbreak of serious disease at the travel destination, epidemics, pandemics or natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes or weather conditions which make it impossible to travel safely to the travel destination or remain at the travel destination, mechanical difficulties, the act of any government (national or local), or other national or local authority including port authorities, lock closure, natural or nuclear disaster, fire, chemical or biological disaster, unavoidable technical problems with transport and all similar events outside our or the supplier(s) in question’s control.

8. Exclusion of participation:

HOSPITALITY STORIES is permitted not to allow you to join an experiential tour, or to exclude you from one, if you do not meet the personal participation requirements, your participation would endanger you or someone else or in any other way make the activity impossible in the long-term. In these cases, the paid price cannot be refunded.

9.Disabilities and Medical Requirements:

You must ensure that you are medically and physically fit participating in the experiential tours, and that such participation will not endanger yourself or anyone else. If any member of your party is affected by any condition (medical or otherwise) that might affect their, or any other guests’ enjoyment of the experiential tour, you must advise us about this before the time of booking so that we can try to advise you as to the suitability of your chosen experiences and/or making the booking. You must also promptly advise us if any medical condition or disability, which may affect any member of your party’s participation, which develops after the booking has been confirmed. We may require you to produce a doctor’s certificate certifying that such member of your party is fit to participate. Acting reasonably, if we are unable to properly accommodate the needs of the person(s) concerned, we will not confirm your booking, or if you did not give us full details at the time of booking, we will cancel it and impose applicable cancellation charges when we become aware of these details.

Pregnant women: We cannot accept guests who will enter their 24th week of pregnancy by the beginning of, or at any time during the experiential tour.

10. Changes to the program:

Furthermore, HOSPITALITY STORIES reserves the right to make any changes to the program, if this is necessary due to unforeseeable or unavoidable conditions.

11. Time zone:

For calculations of the time and deadlines for reservations and payments, the time zone of Hospitality Stories (GMT+1) is authoritative.

12. Limitation of Liability:

Without prejudice the above and except as otherwise prohibited by law, HOSPITALITY STORIES shall not be liable in any way for any specific, indirect or consequential damages or any damages that may arise from the use of its services, this website or its content, or any third-party provider of goods or services related to the website. This limitation of liability shall apply regardless of whether the claim is based on a contract, negligence, tort, or any other claim, even if HOSPITALITY STORIES had been informed of the possibility of such damages.