Your Terms and Conditions are a major part of the booking process, however more often than not; they aren’t given the time and attention needed to be useful. They are one of the key factors when handling a situation such as a cancellation, a change of mind or even in the event when a guest tries to do the wrong thing by you, therefore it is necessary to keep these up to date and covering all possible scenarios that may occur.
One of the benefits of the eTourism Online system, is that it prompts guests to agree to these Terms and Conditions, by ticking a box before allowing their booking to be completed. Our confirmation emails also include these Terms and Conditions ensuring that guests always have a copy.
With this in mind, we have listed some points to consider including in your own terms and conditions.
1. Cancellation policy - State clearly what your policy is:
- What is the process if a guest wants to cancel? How much notice do you require?
- What penalty should the guest incur?
- Do they lose their deposit and is the booking Non-Refundable.
2. Modification Policy
- What notice do you need to change the dates and details of a booking?
- Do you charge a small fee to cover your time and administration?
- If you are changing dates from a peak period, is there a penalty?
- What about if the customer is reducing their length of stay?
3. Deposit & Payment Policy
- How much deposit do you want to take from the customer and when? *Please note that if your arrangement with eTourism is that we take a fee upfront the guest, we will ensure that this is added into your terms & conditions.
- When do you take final balance payment? On arrival or a given amount of days before?
- Does your deposit value change depending on when the customer stays?
4. House Rules
- What house rules do you want to let your client know about before they arrive?
5. Suggested things to include:
- After hours check in policy
6. Disclaimer - This is often missed out but it is a good idea to say something along the lines of:
While every effort is made to ensure that the information published by the property is correct, we cannot guarantee that they are free from errors or faults. The property will endeavour to honour pricing & availability where possible in the event of an error offering an alternative if necessary.
When was the last time you reviewed your terms and conditions?
To update your terms and conditions in eTourism Online, simply log into your eTourism Online extranet
Select TOOLS > PREFERENCES > PAYMENT OPTIONS
You will find a box displaying your terms and conditions which you can update. 
This field does often require some HTML codes to make it display properly. Please contact us for assistance should you need it.
Please note that eTourism & eTourism Holidays cannot be held responsible if your terms and conditions are not up to date.
Should you have any questions or require any further information on this or other features of eTourism Online, please contact our support team on 1300 551 448 or support@etourism.com.au
