At Walk Across Scotland & Make Tracks, our ultimate priority is to protect the best interests of our customers (i.e. to exercise our duty of care), therefore, it is important that our clients have peace of mind in the knowledge that we are doing our very best throughout this most unprecedented situation. We are provided with Coronavirus updates from the UK & Scottish Governments on a daily basis and, with this information, we take time to carefully consider how any developments could impact each walking holiday.
Despite the pandemic arguably now more controlled in a number of countries, including the UK; the global impact of the virus remains a very serious situation. While the Scottish Government has now implemented a four phase plan and route map for restoring the country to some form of normality, this could still change over the coming weeks. We must also pay serious attention to the restrictions on those who are arriving from overseas, where the current requirement is to immediately self-isolate for 14 days before heading out into the wider society. It is, therefore, extremely important that we implement measures which are most appropriate to the circumstances. Given the latest announcements from the UK & Scottish Governments, it remains extremely difficult for us to gauge which walking holidays, if any, are able to take place over the short to medium term. As the country begins the road the recovery and progresses through each phase, we can only realistically consider future walking holidays upon reaching phase three, at which time most businesses will be allowed to reopen. It is unlikely phase three will be reached until well into the summer.
We are, therefore, at a stage where measures must continue to be implemented for all bookings, with particular attention to those which are due to take place over the coming weeks. Having deliberated over the most appropriate course of action, it is with deep regret that we have decided to contact all clients who are due start their walking holiday on and before the 10th July, with a view to offering the following;
1. Postpone and reschedule to a preferred date
2. Postpone to a date to be determined
3. Cancel the walking holiday with the deposit payment used as a credit for a future walking holiday with WAS & MT up to the end of 2022.
Our ultimate priority is to safeguard the health and wellbeing of our customers, while also acting with honesty and integrity throughout this crisis. With the country on lockdown for the time being and many B&Bs closing until further notice, the logistics behind all walking holidays is becoming more problematic. Therefore, we have very little choice but to postpone all walking holidays which are due to start on or before the 10th July. The date could be extended further into the summer, depending on how the situation unfolds over the coming days and weeks.
As a tour operator, we are bound by the rules within the Package Travel & Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018, where we are required to offer clients the opportunity to re-schedule their walk (or cancel if a suitable alternative cannot be found) to a future date.
We truly have the best interests of both our clients and service providers at heart, therefore, we sincerely hope that any changes or unavoidable postponements can be agreed to the satisfaction of all parties involved.
We are deeply sorry to any customers who are affected by these postponements, which will no doubt come as a major disappointment. The coronavirus outbreak has so many far reaching consequences and we must stand together and stay positive to save ourselves and communities alike.
