Travelling In COVID19 Times

Pre-COVID our tours already had a rigorous Health and Safety focus, and now a COVID19 element has been added to every element of this.

Not only do Welcome to Travel have COVIDSafe plans (Government and Industry Standard) in place, the operators we use on tour also do. 

Our guides are well trained on COVID Safety and will consistently brief the group on this throughout the tour.

Yes. It is a requirement of working at Welcome to Travel.

This will be determined by the local government rules at the time of your tour. We strongly recommend wearing a mask in busy inside venues and on public transport.

Yes, not only will all of the operators/venues we visit on tour have hand sanitiser available, our tour guide will also have some.

We hope not, and we will do our utmost to make sure it doesn’t. However, if for some reason a change does have to be made at the last minute, we have contingency plans in place. We can guarantee Welcome to Travel will be doing the utmost for your trip to be as smooth as possible and incredible as expected.

We ask for your understanding, empathy and patience during these uncertain and unpredictable times for a tour operator.

We hope we don’t have to use them, but we will follow our internal action plans if this does occur. As information and instructions are continually changing, we will work with local government authorities to decide the exact steps that will need to be taken in this scenario.

From there we will be able determine:

• The close contacts of this case
• The testing process
• The isolation process
• If we’re able to carry on the tour in any capacity

You will be eligible for credit, with the amount based on how many days of your tour were left.

The amount of credit is worked out at $100 per day. So if 5 days of the tour are left, there will be $500 of credit.

The amount is $100 per day and not pro rata based on the amount of days because of the extra work that will need to be done in such cases.

The remaining amount can be claimed on travel insurance and we’re able to provide a travel insurance letter for this.

This credit can be used to book any further travel arrangements in Australia. For example if you would like to book the Blue Mountains Road Trip Add On and require some extra nights at the hostel, you would now have the credit to be able to do so.

It could also be used towards another tour for the future. For instance your Welcome to Melbourne may have been cancelled but you’re going to Sydney next, this credit could be used to book on to Welcome to Sydney.

If the group is required to test and isolate, we may need to void the next 24 hours of the tour while that happens. We will aim to restart the tour 24 hours later and we have action plans for this. If this occurs, you will receive a $100 credit for the 24hrs lost.

If the tour is cancelled/paused but it so happens that you still stay at the accommodation that is part of the tour, $35 per night spent will be deducted from the $100 per day.

We have live action plans for such scenarios and we will work with the government authorities to determine the isolation requirements at that time.

Yes! If you have to isolate, we will be regularly checking in on the phone, over email and Whatsapp to make sure you’re ok, inform you of anything you need to know and also even to help with the employment and travel help that you need. In terms of our service levels, nothing will change.

If this does occur, you will need to email [email protected] with the subject: Urgent | Positive Test Upon Arrival

First and foremost, we will work with you, the accommodation that you’re staying in and the local health authority to ensure you’re looked after and the right procedures are followed.

Depending on the situation and local isolation rules at the time, it is possible that you will have to isolate. Any additional costs (eg upgrading to a private room or booking alternative accommodation) would be your responsibility.

In regards to you not being able to start the tour, you would have 2 options:

1. Join the next available tour.
2. Join the tour on the first possible day you’re able to. EG if you’re out of isolation on the Tuesday, you could join on the Tuesday. If this occurs, you’ll be eligible for $100 travel credit for each day you’ve missed.

This credit can be used to book any further travel arrangements in Australia. For example if you would like to book the Blue Mountains Road Trip Add On and require some extra nights at the hostel, you would now have the credit to be able to do so.

It could also be used towards another tour for the future. For instance your Welcome to Melbourne may have been cancelled but you’re going to Sydney next, this credit could be used to book on to Welcome to Sydney.

If it so happens that you still stay at the accommodation that is part of the tour, $35 per night spent will be deducted from the $100 per day.