Tour operators are obliged by applicable Dutch and European law to secure customer received funds and payments in the event of their own insolvency or bankruptcy (in accordance with Section 513a of the Dutch Civil Code (Burgerlijk Wetboek) and EU Directive 2015/2302).
Channel Cruises Holland B.V. – acting as Eurosail Travel – (Chamber of Commerce register number 3603 7117) is a participant of SGR (Stichting Garantiefonds Reisgelden) and is registered under number 3.768. This registration can be checked on www.sgr.nl.
The participating tour operators are subject to the guarantee protection of the SGR insolvency guarantee system that is required by law in the Netherlands. Under SGR’s warranty, the prepaid travel sums will be reimbursed to the end user if the tour operator is financially unable to meet its contractual obligations. If the agreement includes transportation and the destination has already been reached, the return trip will be arranged.
Mandatory contribution by the traveler from 1 February 2021
In order to be able to guarantee coverage by the SGR guarantee fund in the future, when booking from 1 February 2021, every traveler (consumer) is obliged to pay a contribution of € 5.00 per person per booking to the guarantee fund of SGR. The travel organizer or travel agent (SGR participant) with whom the trip is booked will process these costs in the price of the trip or state the contribution separately on the invoice and / or booking confirmation. The collecting SGR participant (Channel Cruises Holland) then transfers this contribution to SGR.
Extended warranty policy during the COVID-19 crisis: “Corona Voucher” with SGR protection (with limited duration)
In the context of the exceptional circumstances resulting from the Corona COVID-19 crisis, all registered participants in SGR may issue so-called “Corona Vouchers” if the organizing tour operator is unable to carry out a tour due to official measures and other serious circumstances of force majeure, and therefore have to cancel the trip.
This means that a Corona voucher offered to the customer by Channel Cruises Holland is accepted under the protection of the SGR guarantee system, and – for this reason – all payments and deposits made by a customer are and remain secured.
On March 16, 2020, the Board of Directors of the SGR adopted the following resolution:
- As of March 16, 2020, SGR will consider vouchers from tour operators participating in SGR as covered by SGR within the meaning of Article 3 of the SGR Guarantee System, subject to points 2 through 7 of this Decision.
- This cover only applies if the voucher fulfils the model voucher stipulated by SGR, and only for vouchers issued in the event of a cancellation of trips in connection with the inability to carry out the trip in connection with the occurrence of unavoidable and exceptional circumstances as a result of the Corona COVID-19 Virus and provided that the value of the voucher is clearly filled out and the voucher contains the name “Corona voucher”.
- The value of the voucher cannot be higher than the payment already made for the trip, which had to be canceled due to the Corona COVID-19 virus and for which the SGR guarantee originally applied.
- The voucher must contain an express validity period of a maximum of one (1) year after the date of issue.
- The voucher must state that the SGR guarantee system applies.
- This decision must be communicated on the SGR Website with a clear explanation of the particularities, timing and enforcement of Article 3 (10) (g) of the guarantee system for other vouchers and traveler checks.
- This decision regarding the right to issue of a special Corona voucher with a guarantee from SGR is temporary and expires on June 1, 2020, subject to the possibility for the Executive Board to extend this period after approval by the Supervisory Board.
This decision was approved by the SGR Board of Directors and is dated March 16, 2020.
Subsequently, the Board of Directors of SGR has extended the period within which Corona Vouchers may be issued as follows: Travel organizations are entitled to issue Corona Vouchers up to and including March 31, 2021 for journeys already booked in or before 2020, that have a departure date before April 30, 2021 and that have to be canceled because of Covid-19.
Note: The above translations about SGR are not official SGR translations. SGR only communicates in Dutch and English. The Dutch text on the SGR guarantee system is generally binding.