Terms & Conditions (AGB/ARB)

1. Conclusion of the travel contract

1.1 By registering in writing, verbally or by other means of remote communication, you make a binding offer to conclude the travel contract. The contract is concluded upon our acceptance, which requires no particular form. For electronic bookings we confirm receipt of the booking by an electronic acknowledgement, which does not yet constitute acceptance of the booking. We inform you of the conclusion of the contract by the travel confirmation, which we hand over to you directly or via the intermediary (e.g. a travel agency). If the content of the travel confirmation deviates from the content of the registration, this constitutes a new offer on our part, which you may accept within 10 days by express or implied declaration (e.g. payment of the deposit). The contract is then concluded on the basis and with the content of this new offer.

1.2 The person registering is liable for all contractual obligations of the participants they have registered, provided they have assumed this obligation by express separate declaration.

1.3 Special services (single rooms, connecting flights, extra excursions, etc.), additional agreements and individual arrangements or assurances become part of the contract only if they were booked together with the registration and expressly confirmed by us (usually by the travel confirmation).

1.4 Travel agents (e.g. travel agencies) and service providers (e.g. hotels, transport companies) are not authorised by us to give assurances that go beyond, contradict or alter the tour description or our travel confirmation or the confirmed content of the travel contract.

1.5 Local and hotel brochures not published by us are not binding on us and our obligations, unless they have been made part of the tour description or of our contractual services by express agreement with the traveller.

2. Payment

2.1 After conclusion of the contract and receipt of the travel confirmation with the insolvency insurance certificate (Sicherungsschein), a deposit of 20 % of the travel price is due within 7 days of the invoice date and is to be paid in cash or by bank transfer. For transfers from abroad, the sender bears in full any additional fees for international transfers. The balance is due and payable no later than 28 days before departure, provided it is certain that the trip will take place and in particular can no longer be cancelled under Clause 7.1.

2.2 If due payments of the travel price are not made in part or in full by the customer despite a reminder and a reasonable deadline set by us, we are entitled to withdraw from the contract and to claim compensation in accordance with the cancellation charges under Clause 5.2.

2.3 Insurance premiums for travel insurance (e.g. travel cancellation or travel interruption insurance, travel health insurance with medical emergency assistance, travel baggage insurance) are due in accordance with the respective insurer’s terms and conditions and, as a rule, are payable in full after conclusion of the contract irrespective of the travel price. Costs for obtaining visas (e.g. visa fees) are charged separately as soon as you have commissioned us with the visa application.

3. Services and prices, price changes before conclusion of the contract

3.1 The scope of the contractual services is exclusively determined by the descriptions in the tour description and the information referring thereto in the travel confirmation. If individual changes and arrangements are made at the customer’s request, our obligation to perform results from the corresponding concrete offer to the customer in conjunction with the respective travel confirmation and the services bindingly listed therein.

3.2 The travel prices stated in the brochure are binding on the tour operator. However, we expressly reserve the right, before conclusion of the contract, to change the travel price due to an increase in transport costs, in levies for certain services such as port or airport fees, or in the exchange rates applicable to the trip in question after publication of this brochure. We likewise reserve the right to make a price adjustment if the package tour desired by the customer and advertised in the brochure is only available through the purchase of additional contingents after publication of the brochure. The customer will be notified of the declared changes in good time before booking.

4. Changes to services and prices after conclusion of the contract

4.1 After conclusion of the contract, changes to essential travel services that are not brought about by the tour operator contrary to good faith are only permitted insofar as they are not substantial and do not impair the overall character of the booked trip. In the event of a substantial change to an essential characteristic of a travel service, or a deviation from special specifications of the customer that have become part of the package travel contract, the customer is entitled, within a reasonable period set by the tour operator at the same time as notification of the change, to accept the change, to withdraw from the package travel contract free of charge, or to demand participation in a substitute trip if the tour operator has offered such a trip. The customer may choose whether or not to respond to the notification. If the customer does not respond, or not within the set period, the notified change is deemed accepted. The customer must be informed of this in the declaration pursuant to Clause 4.5 in a clear, comprehensible and prominent manner. Any warranty claims remain unaffected insofar as the amended services are defective. If the tour operator incurred lower costs for carrying out the amended or substitute trip of equivalent quality, the customer is to be refunded the difference in accordance with § 651m (2) BGB.

4.2 After conclusion of the contract, price changes are only possible in the event of an actual and unforeseeable increase, occurring after the contract is concluded, in transport costs due to higher costs for fuel or other energy sources, in levies for certain services such as tourist levies, port or airport fees, or in the exchange rates applicable to the trip in question, and only to the extent that this increase affects the travel price per person or per seat, provided more than four months lie between conclusion of the contract and the agreed departure. Should this be the case, the customer will be informed immediately. A price increase demanded from the 20th day before the agreed departure date is invalid.

4.3 If the price is increased by more than 8 % of the travel price, or an essential travel service is substantially changed, the customer is entitled to withdraw from the travel contract free of charge or to demand participation in another trip of at least equivalent value, provided the tour operator is able to offer such a trip from its range at no extra cost to the traveller. The traveller must assert these rights against the tour operator immediately after the declaration of the change to the travel service or travel price.

4.4 Flight times are as stated on the flight ticket. However, we strongly recommend that you reconfirm the exact flight times with the respective airline or the tour guide in person approx. 48 hours before the outbound and return flight. Some airlines expressly require this.

4.5 Changes to services or prices must be communicated to the traveller without delay after knowledge of the reason for the change, on a durable medium, in a clear, comprehensible and prominent form.

4.6 The traveller may demand a reduction of the travel price if the prices, levies, exchange rates or other costs mentioned under 4.1 to 4.2 lead to lower costs for the tour operator after conclusion of the contract and before the start of the trip. If the traveller has paid more than the amount owed hereunder, the tour operator is to refund the excess. Actual administrative expenses incurred, which are to be evidenced to the traveller on request, may be deducted from the amount to be refunded.

5. Cancellation by the customer, rebooking

5.1 The customer may withdraw from the trip at any time before departure. The decisive factor is receipt of the declaration of withdrawal. Written notification of withdrawal is recommended.

5.2 If the customer withdraws from the travel contract, the tour operator may demand reasonable compensation for the travel arrangements made and for its expenses. The tour operator has standardised this claim for compensation, the flat rates being based on the period between the declaration of withdrawal and the start of the trip, the expected saving in expenses of the tour operator and the expected gain from alternative use of the travel services. Accordingly, the tour operator may demand flat-rate compensation as a percentage of the travel price as follows:

A: For standard package tours:

Cancellation up to the 30th day before departure: 20 %

From the 29th to the 22nd day before departure: 30 %

From the 21st to the 14th day before departure: 40 %

From the 13th to the 7th day before departure: 50 %

From the 6th to the 3rd day before departure: 55 %

From the 2nd day up to the day of departure or in the event of non-arrival: 75 %

B: For sea cruises of at least two overnight stays:

Cancellation up to the 30th day before departure: 25 %

From the 29th to the 22nd day before departure: 40 %

From the 21st to the 14th day before departure: 60 %

From the 13th to the 1st day before departure: 80 %

On the day of departure or in the event of non-arrival: 90 %

The traveller is always free to prove that the tour operator incurred no damage at all or substantially less damage than the flat rates. We reserve the right, deviating from the above flat rates, to demand higher, specific compensation; in this case we will quantify and evidence the compensation demanded, taking into account the expenses saved and any alternative use of the travel services.

5.3 There is no entitlement to rebooking (changes regarding the travel date, destination, place of departure, accommodation or means of transport). If rebookings (e.g. minor changes to the travel programme) are nevertheless made at the customer’s request, these are only possible up to the day before departure. For such rebookings we charge a rebooking fee of € 30 per rebooking. The traveller is free to prove that no damage or less damage than the above flat rate was incurred by the rebooking. Otherwise, rebookings are only possible after prior withdrawal from the travel contract under the conditions of Clauses 5.1 and 5.2 together with simultaneous new registration.

5.4 Deviating from Clause 5.2, the tour operator cannot demand compensation if unavoidable, extraordinary circumstances occur at the destination or in its immediate vicinity that significantly impair the carrying out of the package tour or the transport of persons to the destination. Circumstances are unavoidable and extraordinary within the meaning of this subtitle if they are not subject to the control of the party invoking them and their consequences could not have been avoided even if all reasonable precautions had been taken.

6. Services not taken advantage of

If the traveller does not take advantage of individual travel services properly offered to them by the tour operator due to early return or for other reasons attributable to the traveller, there is no entitlement to a pro rata refund of the travel price. The tour operator will endeavour to obtain a refund of the expenses saved from the service providers. This obligation does not apply if the services are of entirely negligible significance.

7. Withdrawal/termination by the tour operator

7.1 The tour operator may withdraw from the contract due to failure to reach the minimum number of participants if it has specified this number in the respective tour description and stated the time by which the declaration of withdrawal must have been received by the traveller before the contractually agreed departure, and it has clearly stated the minimum number and the latest withdrawal deadline again in the travel confirmation or refers to the corresponding information in the tour description. Withdrawal must be declared no later than 28 days before the contractually agreed departure. If it is already apparent at an earlier point that the minimum number of participants cannot be reached, the tour operator must exercise its right of withdrawal without delay. Payments made towards the travel price will be refunded to the customer immediately.

7.2 The tour operator may also withdraw from the contract before the start of the trip if it is prevented from fulfilling the contract due to unavoidable, extraordinary circumstances; in this case it must declare the withdrawal immediately after becoming aware of the reason for withdrawal. If the tour operator withdraws from the contract, it loses its claim to the agreed travel price.

7.3 If the tour operator is obliged to refund the travel price as a result of the withdrawal, it must do so without delay, in any case within 14 days of the withdrawal.

7.4 If the traveller persistently disrupts the carrying out of the trip despite a warning, or behaves in such a manner contrary to the contract that continuation of the contractual relationship until the agreed end or the expiry of a notice period cannot reasonably be expected, the tour operator may terminate the travel contract without observing a period of notice. In doing so, it retains its claim to the travel price minus the value of the expenses saved and any refunds made by service providers or similar advantages obtained from the alternative use of the services not taken advantage of. Any additional costs for the return transport are borne by the disruptor.

8. Substitute person

8.1 The traveller may declare, within a reasonable period before the start of the trip and on a durable medium, that a third party will take over the rights and obligations arising from the package travel contract in their place. The declaration is in any case timely if it is received by the tour operator no later than seven days before the start of the trip.

8.2 The tour operator may object to the third party taking part if the third party does not meet the contractual travel requirements.

8.3 If a third party enters the contract, they and the traveller are jointly and severally liable to the tour operator for the travel price and the additional costs arising from the entry of the third party. The tour operator may only demand reimbursement of additional costs if and to the extent that these are reasonable and have actually been incurred.

8.4 The tour operator must provide the traveller with proof of the amount of additional costs incurred as a result of the entry of the third party.

9. Liability and limitation of liability of the tour operator

9.1 Our contractual liability for damage that is not personal injury is limited, per trip and customer, to three times the travel price, insofar as damage to the traveller has not been caused culpably. Any claims exceeding this under international conventions or statutory provisions based thereon remain unaffected by this limitation.

9.2 We do not accept liability for information in brochures not produced by us, e.g. hotel, local or ship brochures of third parties.

9.3 We do not accept liability for service disruptions, personal injury and property damage in connection with services that are merely brokered as third-party services (e.g. optional offers of local agencies and operators, additional excursions, guided tours, sporting events, special events), if these services are expressly and clearly identified as third-party services in the tour description and the booking confirmation, stating the brokered contractual partner, so that they are recognisably not part of our travel services. We naturally accept liability for services that include the transport of the customer from the stated departure point of the booked trip to the stated destination, transport during the trip and accommodation during the trip, and where and to the extent that a breach of duties to inform, instruct or organise on our part has caused damage to the customer.

10. Obligations of the traveller, remedial action, setting a deadline before termination by the traveller, cooperation of the traveller, rights in the event of travel defects

10.1 The tour operator must provide the traveller with the package tour free of travel defects.

10.2 If the package tour is defective, the traveller may, provided the requirements of the statutory provisions are met and nothing else is stipulated, demand remedial action, carry out remedial action themselves and demand reimbursement of the necessary expenses, demand remedial action through other travel services (substitute services) and demand coverage of the costs of necessary accommodation, terminate the contract in accordance with § 651l BGB, assert the rights resulting from a reduction of the travel price (§ 651m BGB) and claim damages in accordance with § 651n BGB or reimbursement of wasted expenses in accordance with § 284 BGB.

10.3 If the package tour is significantly impaired by the travel defect, the traveller may terminate the contract. Termination is only permissible if the tour operator has allowed a reasonable period set by the traveller to elapse without providing remedial action; a period need not be set if remedial action is refused by the tour operator or if immediate remedial action is necessary.

10.4 The traveller must notify a travel defect to the local tour guide or partner agency without delay and request remedial action there within a reasonable period. If no local tour guide or local contractual agency exists or can be reached, the traveller should contact the tour operator (contact addresses and telephone numbers can be found in your travel documents). The traveller may also report the defect to the travel agent through whom they booked the trip.

10.5 If the tour operator was unable to provide remedial action as a result of a culpable failure to notify, the traveller is not entitled to assert the rights specified in § 651m BGB or to claim damages under § 651 BGB.

10.6 The representative of the tour operator is instructed to provide remedial action where possible.

10.7 Tour guides, agencies and travel agencies are not entitled to acknowledge claims.

10.8 The traveller is personally responsible for arriving at the departure point on time.

10.9 The traveller must inform the tour operator without delay if they do not receive the necessary travel documents (e.g. hotel vouchers, flight documents) within the times communicated to them, or if the documents and tickets contain incorrect information regarding the customer’s details.

11. Statute of limitations, prohibition of assignment

11.1 Claims of the traveller under § 651 (3) BGB may be asserted at the address of the tour operator stated below. Claims may also be asserted via the travel agent if the package tour was booked through this agent. Asserting claims on a durable medium is recommended.

11.2 For damage or delays in baggage delivery on flights, the tour operator strongly recommends notifying the responsible airline immediately on the spot by means of a damage report (P.I.R.). Airlines generally refuse reimbursement if the damage report has not been completed. The damage report must be submitted within 7 days in the case of baggage damage and within 21 days in the case of delay after handover. Otherwise, the loss, damage or misdirection of travel baggage is to be reported to the representative of the tour operator or to the tour operator.

11.3 The assignment of claims against the tour operator is excluded. This does not apply between family members.

12. Dispute resolution

With regard to the Act on Alternative Dispute Resolution in Consumer Matters, the tour operator points out that it does not participate in voluntary consumer dispute resolution. Should consumer dispute resolution become mandatory for the tour operator after these travel conditions have been printed, the tour operator will inform the customer in an appropriate manner. For all travel contracts concluded in electronic legal transactions, the tour operator refers to the European Online Dispute Resolution platform at http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/.

13. Insurances

13.1 The provider of the insolvency insurance certificate (insolvency insurer) for the tour operator New Silk Road GmbH is R+V Versicherung AG, Raiffeisenplatz 1, 65189 Wiesbaden. The insurance certificate secures all customer payments against insolvency in accordance with § 651r BGB.

13.2 The traveller can take out travel cancellation insurance with HanseMerkur Krankenversicherung AG, Siegfried-Wedells Platz 1, 20354 Hamburg, through the tour operator. Claims under such an insurance contract can only be pursued by the traveller against the insurer. We recommend taking out travel cancellation insurance, insurance to cover repatriation costs in the event of accident or illness, and health insurance that is also valid abroad.

14. Passport and visa requirements, official health regulations, travel documents

14.1 The tour operator will inform the customer/traveller before conclusion of the contract of the general passport and visa requirements and health formalities of the destination country, including the approximate timeframes for obtaining any necessary visas, as well as of any changes thereto before departure. The traveller is obliged to disclose particularities relating to themselves and their fellow travellers that are relevant in connection with these provisions. Otherwise it is assumed that no particularities apply to the traveller (e.g. dual nationality, statelessness, etc.).

14.2 The traveller is responsible for compliance with all regulations that are important for carrying out the trip. All disadvantages arising from non-compliance with these provisions are at the traveller’s expense, unless the tour operator culpably failed to fulfil or poorly fulfilled its duty to provide information. In particular, customs and foreign exchange regulations abroad must be observed.

14.3 The traveller is responsible for obtaining and carrying the officially required travel documents, any necessary vaccinations and compliance with customs and foreign exchange regulations. Disadvantages arising from non-compliance with these provisions, e.g. payment of cancellation costs, are at the expense of the customer/traveller. This does not apply if the tour operator has not provided information, provided it insufficiently or provided incorrect information. The traveller must ensure that their passport or identity card is sufficiently valid for the trip. The tour operator is not liable for the timely issue and receipt of necessary visas by the respective diplomatic mission if the customer has commissioned the tour operator to obtain them, unless the tour operator has breached its own obligations. As a rule, visas are applied for by us only for individual travellers. If the traveller wishes to apply earlier, this must be coordinated with us and is not possible in every case. Travel documents can be collected from us. Unless otherwise agreed, travel documents are sent uninsured at the traveller’s risk and request. If the traveller wishes a special method of dispatch of travel documents, visas or passports (e.g. insured dispatch, express delivery), they bear the additional costs after being informed of the costs incurred.

14.4 We expressly point out that the traveller should obtain information about infection and vaccination protection and other prophylactic measures in good time beyond the scope of the information referred to in Clause 14.1. If necessary, medical advice should be sought as to whether the traveller’s physical constitution permits participation in the trip. Reference is made to general information sources, in particular health authorities, doctors experienced in travel medicine, tropical medicine specialists (e.g. the website of the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine in Hamburg), travel medicine information services or the Federal Centre for Health Education.

15. Data protection

Personal data provided by the customer to the tour operator is processed and used electronically to the extent necessary for the conclusion, performance or termination of the travel contract with the customer and for customer service. Otherwise, we refer to our privacy policy, which can be viewed at https://newsilkroad.de/datenschutz/.

16. Obligation to provide information on the identity of the service provider

In accordance with EU Regulation No. 2111/2005, the tour operator is obliged to inform the customer at the time of booking of the identity of the airline(s) for all flight transport services to be provided within the scope of the booked trip. If the executing airline has not yet been determined at the time of booking, the tour operator must name the airline(s) that will probably carry out the flight transport and ensure that the customer is informed immediately of the identity once it has been determined. If the airline named to the customer as executing carrier changes, the tour operator must inform the customer of the change and immediately take all reasonable steps to ensure that the customer is informed of the change as quickly as possible. The EU Black List can be viewed at http://ec.europa.eu/transport/modes/air/safety/airban/index_de.htm and on the tour operator’s website.

17. Final provisions

German law applies exclusively to the entire contractual and legal relationship between the customer and the tour operator. Insofar as the traveller is a merchant or a legal entity under private or public law, or a person whose domicile or habitual residence is abroad, or whose domicile or habitual residence is unknown at the time the action is brought, the registered office of the tour operator is agreed as the place of jurisdiction.