Planning · Journal
What's the cancellation policy for group bookings?
Cancellation follows the contract and the suppliers behind it — lodges, parks, gorilla permits, aircraft, boats. Peak inventory is less flexible. Force majeure, cyclone and airstrip clauses belong in the annex. We will not invent a one-line website policy that contradicts a camp.
What we tell planners
Group cancellation policy is written in the booking terms for that programme. It is not a single public percentage, because a gorilla permit, a Four Seasons Serengeti block, a Wilson charter and a Mauritius gala tent are different supplier contracts. Incentive houses should expect a ladder: more recoverable early, less recoverable as arrival approaches, and some lines (often government permits, and some peak-camp holds) that become non-refundable once issued. We pass through what we can negotiate; we do not hide it.
Force majeure and operational clauses matter on this map: Mauritius cyclone season, island boat and helicopter weather, safari airstrip sock-in, and political or advisory routing changes (we reroute rather than improvise). Those are not an excuse to skip travel insurance on the guest or company side. Name who holds insurance in the RFP.
Corporate event managers should ask for the cancellation ladder in the same scorecard as the pretty itinerary. Changing headcount after gorilla families are booked is how you pay for empty permits. If dates are not CEO-fixed, say so before we hold July inventory. We would rather write an honest no-flex window than a friendly policy we cannot honour when the camp invoices us.
What to brief next
- — Policy is contractual and supplier-led — not a fake website one-liner.
- — Peak lodges and gorilla permits are the least flexible lines.
- — Ask for the ladder, force majeure language, and who holds insurance — in the RFP.
Related: Payment terms · RFP · How a DMC handles risk · How far in advance