Stellenbosch Safe – the currency of trust | Flexible Booking Terms  

The start of our peak travel season is looming and, for many of us, the need for our customers to confirm their bookings for September travel is near.Until we have a firm date for reopening of travel, our customers and guests will be reluctant to confirm their travel for September and October now, which is what they will be required to do based on a 60-day cancellation penalty period.

You can reduce their fear of booking or confirming existing bookings by instituting more flexible booking policies and shortening your cancellation penalty periods to 30 days or even 15 days prior to travel.

For new bookings, instituting a guarantee that you will refund in full a deposit for any COVID-related cancellations (only) will address any fears that their deposit will not be returned should they need to cancel due to COVID illness, travel bans or related reasons.

The more flexible we can be in terms of our cancellation policies for the remainder of 2020, the longer we can hold on to those confirmed bookings and instill trust need for new bookings as we wait for travel to reopen.