As we prepare to enter week 7 of lockdown, we just wanted to say thank you to all our customers, friends and followers for being patient and sticking with us through these challenging times – I can assure you that it is genuinely appreciated.

We also wanted to give you an insight into how we have dealt with the financial challenges posed by the far-reaching restrictions on both global and local travel.

These are unprecedented times which have totally shut down the travel and outdoor leisure industries presenting serious problems and great uncertainty for tour operator survival.

There’s been plenty of controversy reported in the news recently about tour operators and airlines failing to refund customers within the 14-day timeframe mandated by the Package Travel Regulations and in some cases not offering refunds at all.  Negative publicity which locked down tour operators and airlines could do without.  Negative publicity which will erode customer confidence.  Negative publicity affecting their ability to bounce back once travel can resume.

Whilst we can’t predict what the future of travel might look like in a post virus era, or when travel might be able to resume, we can control how we respond to this crisis and, importantly, how we react with our customers.

Monkey Mountaineering, like all other tour operators has a set of booking conditions, which, under normal circumstances, we follow as closely as possible, noting that every case is different and that our customers are real people.  We don’t believe normal circumstances include global pandemics, so we have put our booking conditions aside during these challenging times, preferring instead to take a customer focused approach, especially when dealing with cancellations and refunds.  Our aim has been to try and retain our customers, working with them to reschedule their trips wherever possible, to a time beyond when the restrictions will be lifted, at no extra cost.  Where we haven’t been able to run trips due to the restrictions or been unable to reschedule, or customers have elected to cancel, we have provided a 100% immediate refund.

So, if you are looking forward to an adventure once this terrible virus has been beaten and want to book with a tour operator that you can trust, that isn’t solely focused on profit and that puts its customers at the centre of everything it does then you won’t go far wrong with us.

Monkey Mountaineering – unleash your inner explorer!

Monkey Mountaineering – dream now, travel later!

Hopefully we’ll be able to welcome you onto one of our trips in the near future and don’t forget, if you can’t find a trip that suits you on our website, we have a bespoke service and can tailor-make trips just for you.