General Terms and Conditions

1. Conclusion of the travel contract

1.1 With the booking (travel registration), the customer offers Outdoor Xperience (hereinafter “tour operator”) the binding conclusion of the package travel contract. The basis of this offer and the booking of the customer are the description of the trip and the supplementary information of the tour operator as far as these are available to the customer at the time of booking.

1.2 The booking can be made in writing, verbally, by phone, SMS or e-mail.

1.3 The customer shall be liable for all contractual obligations of fellow travelers for whom he makes the booking as for his own, insofar as he has assumed this obligation by express and separate declaration.

1.4 The contract is concluded with the receipt of the booking confirmation (declaration of acceptance) by the tour operator at the customer.

1.5 If the content of the tour operator’s declaration of acceptance differs from the content of the booking, the tour operator has a new offer to which he is bound for a period of 10 days. The contract is concluded on the basis of this new offer if the customer declares acceptance to the tour operator by express declaration or down payment within the binding period.

2. Payment

2.1 The tour operator may only demand or accept payments on the tour price before the end of the tour if the customer has been handed over the security certificate according to § 651k BGB. After conclusion of the contract, a deposit of 30 % of the tour price is due for payment against handing over of the security certificate, which is to be paid within 7 days after receipt of the invoice. The remaining payment is due 21 days before the start of the trip, provided that the security certificate has been handed over.

2.2 If the customer does not pay the deposit and/or the balance according to the agreed payment terms, the tour operator is entitled to withdraw from the travel contract after a reminder with a deadline and to charge the customer with withdrawal costs according to section 4.3 sentence 2.

3. Service and price changes after conclusion of the contract

3.1 Changes to essential travel services from the agreed content of the travel contract, which become necessary after conclusion of the contract and were not brought about by the tour operator contrary to good faith, are only permitted insofar as the changes are not significant and do not affect the overall nature of the trip.

3.2 Any warranty claims shall remain unaffected insofar as the modified services are defective.

3.3 The tour operator is obliged to inform the customer about significant changes in services immediately after becoming aware of the reason for the change.

3.4 In case of a significant change of an essential travel service, the customer is entitled to withdraw from the travel contract free of charge or to demand the offer of a substitute trip, if the tour operator is able to offer such a substitute trip at the – if necessary also newly – agreed date. If the customer does not respond to the tour operator or does not respond within a set period of time, the communicated change is considered accepted.

3.5 The tour operator reserves the right to change the price agreed in the travel contract in the event of an increase in transportation costs or in the charges for certain services such as tourism taxes in accordance with the following provisions:

a) An increase in the tour price is only permissible if there are more than 4 months between the conclusion of the contract and the agreed travel date and the circumstances leading to the increase have not yet occurred before the conclusion of the contract and were not foreseeable for the tour operator at the time of the conclusion of the contract.

b) If the transportation costs existing at the time of conclusion of the travel contract increase, the tour operator may increase the tour price in accordance with the following calculation: In case of an increase related to the seat, the tour operator may demand the amount of the increase from the customer. Otherwise, the additional transport costs demanded by the transport company per means of transport are divided by the number of seats of the agreed means of transport. The tour operator can demand the resulting increase amount for the individual traveler from the customer.

c) If the taxes existing at the time of the conclusion of the travel contract, such as tourism fees, are increased vis-à-vis the tour operator, the tour price can be increased by the corresponding, proportionate amount.

d) In the event of a subsequent change in the tour price, the tour operator must inform the customer immediately after becoming aware of the reason for the change. Price increases are only permitted up to the 21st day before the start of the trip received by the customer. In the event of price increases of more than 5%, the customer is entitled to withdraw from the travel contract without charge or to demand participation in a trip of at least equal value, if the tour operator is able to offer such a trip from its range of services at no extra cost to the customer. The customer must assert the aforementioned rights against the tour operator immediately after being notified of the price increase by the tour operator.

4. Withdrawal of the customer before the start of the trip

4.1 The customer can withdraw from the trip at any time before the start of the trip. The withdrawal must be declared to the tour operator at the address given below. The customer is recommended to declare the withdrawal in writing.

4.2 If the customer withdraws before the start of the trip or does not start the trip, the tour operator loses the claim to the tour price. Instead, the tour operator can, insofar as the withdrawal is not his responsibility or there are unavoidable extraordinary circumstances, demand reasonable compensation for the travel arrangements made until the withdrawal and his expenses depending on the respective tour price.

4.3 The amount of compensation is determined by the tour price less the value of the expenses saved by the tour operator and less what he acquires through other use of the travel services. The tour operator has calculated the following percentage compensation amounts according to the time of receipt of the cancellation notice and the start of the trip as follows:

  • up to 46th day before the start of the event 20 %
  • 45 to 22 days before the start of the event 50 %
  • from 21st day before the start of the event 80 %
  • from 48 hours before the start of the event

or in case of non-commencement of the trip 100% of the tour price.

4.4 In any case, the customer is at liberty to prove to the tour operator that the latter has not suffered any damage at all or that the damage is significantly lower than the flat rate demanded by the customer.

4.5 The tour operator reserves the right to demand higher, concrete compensation instead of the above lump sums, insofar as he can prove that he has incurred significantly higher expenses than the applicable lump sum. In this case, the tour operator is obligated to specifically quantify and prove the demanded compensation, taking into account the saved expenses and any other use of the travel services.

4.6 The legal right of the customer to provide a substitute participant in accordance with § 651e BGB remains unaffected by the above conditions.

5. Rebookings

5.1 A claim of the customer after conclusion of the contract for changes regarding the travel date, the travel destination, the place of departure, the accommodation or the mode of transport (rebooking) does not exist. If a rebooking is nevertheless made at the request of the customer, the tour operator can charge a rebooking fee per traveler if the following deadline is met. Unless otherwise agreed in individual cases prior to the confirmation of the rebooking, the rebooking fee shall be composed of the concrete costs to be individually quantified plus a service fee of € 50 in each case up to the 45th day before the start of the event (deadline).

5.2 If additional costs are incurred due to incorrect information provided by the customer, e.g. due to a required change of a reservation with costs in case of incorrect or incomplete name information, the tour operator may charge the customer up to 31 days before
Start of travel charge a service fee of € 25 plus the specific costs.

5.3 Rebooking requests made by the customer after the deadline can, if their implementation is possible at all, only be implemented after withdrawal from the travel contract under the conditions set out in paragraph 4 and simultaneous re-registration.

6. Services not used

If the customer does not make use of individual travel services that were properly offered to him for reasons that are attributable to him, e.g. due to early return or other compelling reasons, he has no right to a proportional refund of the travel price. The tour operator will endeavor to obtain reimbursement of the saved expenses from the service providers. This obligation does not apply if the services are completely insignificant or if a refund is opposed by legal or official regulations.

7. General obligations of the customer

7.1 The obligation to notify defects arising from § 651o BGB is specified as follows for trips with Outdoor Xperience:

a) The traveler is obligated to immediately notify the local representative of the tour operator (tour guide, agency) of any defects that occur and to demand remedy.

b) The traveler will be informed about the person, the availability and the communication data of the representative of the tour operator at the latest with the sending of the travel documents.

c) If, according to the contractual agreements, a local representative or tour guide is not owed, the traveler is obliged to immediately report defects directly to the tour operator at the address given below.

d) Claims of the traveler are not forfeited only if the traveler fails to give notice of defects through no fault of his own.

7.2 Tour guides, agencies and employees of service providers are not authorized and not authorized by the tour operator to confirm defects or to acknowledge claims against the tour operator.

7.3 If the trip is significantly impaired as a result of a travel defect, the customer may terminate the contract. The same applies if the tour cannot be expected of him as a result of such a defect for an important reason recognizable to the tour operator. The termination is only permissible if the tour operator or, if available and contractually agreed as a contact person, its representatives (tour guide, agency), have allowed a reasonable period of time determined by the customer to elapse without taking remedial action. The determination of a deadline is not required if the remedy is impossible or is refused by the tour operator or its agents or if the immediate termination of the contract is justified by a special interest of the traveler.

7.4 The customer must inform the tour operator if he does not receive the required travel documents or does not receive them in full within the period communicated to him by the tour operator.

8. Special obligations of the customer and his travel participants

8.1 Each tour participant is obligated to follow the instructions given to him or her as well as the instructions of the tour guide, insofar as these instructions are objectively reasonable and necessary, taking into account the interests of the customer, and in particular serve the safety of the customer, his or her other tour participants, the exclusion of danger to other persons and property, and the proper execution of the tour.

8.2 Each travel participant is obliged to ascertain his or her own health and physical condition before booking the trip, before the start of the trip and during the trip and, in particular, is required to seek medical advice before booking and/or starting the trip, if necessary. In this regard, the tour operator is not subject to any contractual obligation to advise, examine and monitor.

8.3 The customer is solely responsible for road safety, technical functionality and all other circumstances in connection with the carriage of his own equipment, in particular his own bicycle. Also in this regard, the tour operator has no obligation to advise or verify.

8.4 Both in the case of own equipment carried along and in the case of equipment provided, the customer is responsible for a continuous inspection with regard to the technical freedom from defects and the road safety. Within the framework of his general legal obligation to report defects, the customer is required to immediately notify any defects to the tour guide appointed by the tour operator and – in the case of an item of equipment provided – to demand remedy.

8.5 The customer is obliged to strictly observe all traffic regulations and rules of conduct in entered national, nature and biosphere parks or other special public or private protection zones. Independently of the information provided by the tour operator in this regard, the customer must also inform himself about the relevant traffic regulations of the respective travel country.

8.6 Helmets are mandatory during all Outdoor Xperience tours by bicycle.

8.7 Each participant is required to avoid any damage, impairment or endangerment of other persons and property and to adjust his behavior and riding style accordingly when riding the bicycle.

9. Termination and exclusion for reasons of conduct

9.1 The tour operator may terminate the travel contract without notice or exclude the participant(s) concerned from the travel program if

a) the customer or his travel participants do not sufficiently meet the physical requirements necessary for the specific travel event or the equipment brought along is not sufficient for the intended purpose,

b) the customer or his travel participants culpably violate the special obligations under section 8 of these travel conditions,

c) the customer or his travel participants otherwise, regardless of a warning by the tour operator persistently disturb or if they behave contrary to the contract to such an extent that the immediate cancellation of the contract is justified.

9.2 In the event of cancellation or exclusion, the tour operator retains the claim to the tour price; however, he must take into account the value of the saved expenses as well as those advantages he gains from an alternative use of the unused service, including the amounts credited to him by the service providers.

10. Limitation of liability

10.1 The contractual liability of the tour operator for damages that do not constitute injury to life, limb or health is limited to three times the tour price, insofar as damage to the tour participant is caused neither intentionally nor by gross negligence or the tour operator is responsible for damage incurred by the tour participant solely due to the fault of a service provider.

10.2 The tour operator is not liable for service disruptions, personal injury and property damage in connection with services that are merely arranged as third-party services (e.g. city tours, sporting events, theater visits, exhibitions, transportation services to the advertised starting point and from the advertised destination) if these services are expressly identified as third-party services in the tour description and the booking confirmation, stating the arranged contractual partner, in such a clear manner that the customer can recognize that they are not part of the travel services of Outdoor Xperience. However, the tour operator is liable for services that include the transportation of the tour participants from the advertised starting point of the tour to the advertised destination, intermediate transportation during the tour and accommodation during the tour and/or if and to the extent that the tour operator’s breach of information, explanation or organizational duties was the cause of damage to a tour participant. Any liability of the tour operator arising from the violation of intermediary obligations remains unaffected by the above provisions. The general terms and conditions and cancellation conditions of the respective contractual partner apply.

11. Assertion of claims and limitation period

11.1 Claims for non-contractual provision of the tour must be asserted by the customer within one month after the contractually stipulated date of the end of the tour. The period begins with the day following the day of the contractual end of the trip. If the last day of the period falls on a Saturday or Sunday, or on a holiday recognized by the state at the place of declaration, the next working day shall take the place of such a day.

11.2 The assertion can be made within the deadline only to the tour operator at the address given below. After expiry of the deadline, the customer can only assert claims if he was prevented from meeting the deadline through no fault of his own.

11.3 Claims of the customer according to § 651i paragraph 3 BGB from injury to life, body or health, which are based on an intentional or negligent breach of duty by the tour operator or its legal representative or agent, are subject to a limitation period of two years. This also applies to claims for compensation of other damages based on an intentional or grossly negligent breach of duty by Outdoor Xperience or a legal representative or vicarious agent of Outdoor Xperience. All other claims according to § 651i paragraph 3 BGB are subject to a limitation period of one year.

11.4 The limitation period according to clauses 11.1 and 11.2 begins with the day following the day of the contractual end of the journey. If the last day of the period falls on a Saturday or Sunday, or on a holiday recognized by the state at the place of declaration, the next working day shall take the place of such a day.

11.5 If negotiations between the customer and the tour operator about the claim or the circumstances giving rise to the claim are pending, the limitation period is suspended until the customer or the tour operator refuses to continue the negotiations. The limitation period shall commence at the earliest 3 months after the end of the suspension.

12. Passport, visa and health requirements

12.1 The tour operator will inform nationals of a state of the European Community, in which the tour is offered, about provisions of passport, visa and health regulations before conclusion of the contract and about their possible changes before departure. For nationals of other states, the responsible consulate will provide information. It is assumed that there are no particularities in the person of the customer and possible fellow travelers (e.g. dual nationality, statelessness).

12.2 The customer is responsible for obtaining and carrying the travel documents required by the authorities, any necessary vaccinations and compliance with customs and foreign exchange regulations. Disadvantages resulting from the non-observance of these regulations, e.g. the payment of cancellation costs, shall be borne by the customer. This does not apply if the tour operator has not, insufficiently or incorrectly informed.

12.3 The tour operator is not liable for the timely issuance and receipt of necessary visas by the respective diplomatic representation, if the customer has commissioned him with the procurement, unless he has culpably violated his own obligations.

13. Insurance

All trips are insured by a liability insurance of the tour operator. Every traveler is recommended to have travel cancellation insurance, international health insurance as well as travel accident insurance with travel recovery insurance.

14. Choice of law and jurisdiction agreement

14.1 For customers and travel participants who are not nationals of a member state of the European Union or Swiss citizens, the exclusive validity of German law is agreed for the entire legal and contractual relationship between the customer/travel participant and the tour operator. Such customers/travel participants can sue the tour operator exclusively at its registered office.

14.2 For lawsuits of the tour operator against customers or contracting parties of the travel contract who are merchants, legal entities under public or private law or persons who have their domicile or habitual residence abroad, or whose domicile or habitual residence is not known at the time the lawsuit is filed, the place of jurisdiction is agreed to be the registered office of Outdoor Xperience.

15. Information on the consumer dispute resolution act

With regard to the Consumer Dispute Resolution Act, the tour operator points out that it does not participate in a voluntary consumer dispute resolution. If a consumer dispute resolution would become obligatory for the tour operator after printing of these travel conditions, the tour operator will inform the customer about this in an appropriate form. The tour operator refers to the European online dispute resolution platform https://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/ for all travel contracts concluded in electronic legal transactions.

16.Special regulations alpine hazards/risk description

Outdoor Xperience trips require a high degree of personal responsibility on the part of the traveler. When traveling in the mountains and during mountain hiking and biking there is an increased risk of accidents. Outdoor Xperience cannot guarantee absolute safety. Objective alpine dangers (rockfall, icefall, lightning, weather falls, avalanches, breakage of cornices, etc.) cannot be excluded by the experienced and highly qualified guide personnel employed. Out of duty of care, the certified mountain hiking guide or otherwise qualified guide may modify or cancel the planned trip if technical and or conditional abilities of travelers are not sufficient or weather conditions require it. Outdoor Xperience recommends that travelers look into and fully understand the potential requirements, hazards and conditions of the trip.

17. Other provisions

The invalidity of individual provisions of these terms and conditions shall not result in the invalidity of the entire terms and conditions. Reference is made to § 306 BGB.

18. Veranstalter

Outdoor Xperience
Lutz Gärtner
Oelkofner Feld 17
85567 Grafing b. Munich
Germany

Phone +49 (0) 173 7028331
lutz.gartner@slow-alps.com
www.slow-alps.com

Status: July 2022
Publisher: Lutz Gärtner Outdoor Xperience, Oelkofner Feld 17, 85567 Grafing b. Munich, Germany
Responsible: Lutz Gärtner, Phone +49 (0) 173 7028331