Terms & cancellation
These terms apply when you book a tour, message a guide or list tours on GuideConnect. They form a contract between you and Tourope UK Ltd. Please read them with our privacy policy.
1. About GuideConnect
GuideConnect is operated by Tourope UK Ltd (company number [Company number]), International House, 6 South Molton Street, Mayfair, London W1K 5QF, United Kingdom. We run the website where independent local guides list private tours and travellers book them. Each tour is provided by the guide who lists it; we provide the platform, take payments on the guide's behalf and look after both sides if something goes wrong.
2. How booking works
- Tour requests. When you request a tour, the guide's calendar is held for that time and the guide is asked to accept. Your booking is confirmed only when the guide accepts. If they decline, or do not answer before the tour starts, the request ends and you are not charged.
- Custom tours. A guide can send you a tour made for you in messages. It is confirmed as soon as you book it.
- Essential collections. Collection tours have a fixed price. Your booking is either confirmed straight away with a free guide we choose, or offered to all free guides who run the tour and confirmed when the first one accepts. We tell you which applies before you book.
- You must be at least 18 to book, and the details you give us — including how many people are travelling and any accessibility needs — must be accurate.
3. Prices and payment
- The price you see is the total for your group, including the GuideConnect service fee and any costs the guide lists as included (for example entry tickets). Anything listed as not included is paid separately on the day.
- Your card is authorised when the guide accepts and charged after the tour. If you choose to book with a deposit, the deposit shown is charged when the booking is confirmed and the rest 48 hours before the tour starts.
- Payments are processed by our regulated payment partner. We pay guides after the tour is completed.
4. Cancellation policy
Every tour shows one of three cancellation policies next to its price. The policy shown when you book applies to your booking.
| Policy | Full refund | Partial refund | No refund |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flexible | Cancelled 24 hours or more before the start | — | Less than 24 hours before |
| Moderate | 5 days or more before | 50% between 5 days and 24 hours before | Less than 24 hours before |
| Strict | 14 days or more before | 50% between 14 and 7 days before | Less than 7 days before |
- Refunds are calculated on the amount you have paid (the full price, or the deposit if you booked with one).
- Withdrawing a request before the guide accepts is always free.
- If the guide cancels, you get a full refund and we will help you find another guide.
- If you do not arrive, the tour counts as cancelled less than 24 hours before the start.
- Nothing in this policy affects your rights under consumer law. [Confirm the position on package travel and the cooling-off exemption for leisure services booked for a specific date.]
5. Staying on GuideConnect
Keeping bookings and payments on GuideConnect is what lets us protect both travellers and guides — secure payment, refunds under the cancellation policy, support if something goes wrong and reviews you can trust.
- Travellers and guides who meet on GuideConnect must book and pay for tours, including future tours with the same guide, through GuideConnect.
- It is not allowed to ask for, offer or arrange a booking or payment outside GuideConnect, or to share contact details in messages in order to do so.
- Guides who break this rule may receive a warning, have their account suspended or be permanently removed from GuideConnect, and may lose payouts for the bookings concerned.
- Travellers who break this rule may have their account closed, and bookings made outside GuideConnect are not covered by our payment protection, refunds or support.
6. Messages and contact details
- Messages between travellers and guides stay on GuideConnect and are sent to both sides by email (and SMS if chosen).
- Phone numbers, email addresses and links to other websites are hidden automatically in messages. Once a booking is confirmed, the guide's and traveller's contact details are shown on the booking so you can find each other on the day.
- Our team may read messages to keep the platform safe, resolve disputes and enforce these terms, and may join a conversation as GuideConnect Support.
7. Reviews
After a completed tour you can review it. Reviews must be honest, about your own experience and free of abuse, personal data and advertising. Guides can publish one public reply to each review. We may remove reviews that break these rules or the law. Reviews a guide earned before joining GuideConnect may be added by our team and are labelled as imported.
8. Your responsibilities as a traveller
- Arrive at the meeting point on time; guides are not required to wait more than 15 minutes.
- Tell your guide in advance about mobility, accessibility or dietary needs. Tours marked kid friendly or wheelchair friendly are described in good faith by the guide.
- Children must be supervised by an adult in your group throughout the tour.
9. Guide obligations
- Hold every licence, permit and insurance needed to guide in your destination, and keep it current. [Minimum public liability insurance amount]
- Describe tours accurately — schedule, inclusions, group size, accessibility and price — and keep your calendar up to date so travellers only see times you can work.
- Answer booking requests and messages promptly. Reply time and acceptance rate decide your guide level and visibility.
- Keep all bookings and payments with travellers you meet on GuideConnect on GuideConnect (see section 5).
- Payouts, commission and the services agreement with our payment partner are set out in the guide payout onboarding.
10. Travel agencies
Travel agencies use a private agency panel to find guides and book tours for their own clients. An agency account is opened only after we have checked the agency's details.
- Prices: agencies book at the same price travellers see. Agencies must not add a markup on GuideConnect; their commission is paid by us out of the GuideConnect service fee, so the guide's earnings never change.
- Commission: the commission rate is agreed with each agency (8% of the client price unless agreed otherwise) and is never more than our own fee for the booking. It is earned once the tour has taken place and paid monthly. No commission is due on cancelled bookings.
- Staying on the platform: agencies and guides arrange, change and pay for tours only through GuideConnect. Contact details are shared only after a booking is confirmed and only for running that tour. Section 5 applies to agencies in the same way as to travellers.
- Clients: the agency is responsible for passing on accurate client details, special needs and the cancellation policy to its clients, and for having a lawful basis to share their personal data with us and the guide.
- Messages: messages between agencies and guides may be reviewed by our team to keep bookings safe and resolve disputes.
[Agency agreement: commission payment terms, invoicing, VAT treatment, suspension and termination.]
11. Responsibility for tours
The guide is responsible for running the tour as described and safely. [Set out GuideConnect's role (agent / marketplace), limitation of liability, and exclusions — not limiting liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud or anything else that cannot be limited by law.]
12. Complaints
If something goes wrong, tell your guide first if you can, then contact us within 30 days of the tour at [support email]. We aim to respond within 5 working days. [Alternative dispute resolution provider, if any.]
13. Governing law
These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales. If you live elsewhere in the UK or in the EU you keep any mandatory protections of the law where you live, and you can bring proceedings there.