Terms & Conditions
The service of Guide to Iceland ehf. (from now on referred to as “GTI”) is subject to the terms and conditions set out here below. By using GTI’s website, www.guidetoiceland.is (from now on referred to as “website”), to market or sell your service (accommodation, tours & activities and/or rental cars) you (from now on referred to as “establishment”) acknowledge and accept that terms and conditions listed here form a binding contract between you and GTI regarding online sales, GTI’s service and usage of the website
Usage / User Accounts
Establishments need to create an account and provide information about themselves in order to use all of the establishment features on the website. Establishments are responsible for their own account password and username along with all activities that occur in connection with said account.
Please note that GTI only accepts registration by licensed establishments. Any registration of individuals operating without a valid tour operator/travel agency/vehicle rental licence will not be accepted. If an establishment signs up on the website claiming licence without having such, it is seen as a fraudulent act, resulting in immediate termination of user account, and exposing establishment to any legal liabilities that might follow, as stated by district courts of Reykjavík. GTI also requires all suppliers and partners to use vehicles and transportation that meet Vakan's requirements.
Establishments agrees to notify GTI immediately of any unauthorized use of a registered account on the website.
Establishment may not impersonate someone else (e.g., adopt the identity of another company) or create an account for anyone other than the company they represent, provide an email address other than establishment’s own, or create multiple accounts. GTI reserves the right to close any account at any time without notice
Content
Establishments can contribute to the website in a number of different ways; by posting/uploading products to sell on the website, uploading photos, communicate with customers, GTI local bloggers and travellers, write reviews and comment on articles, along with filling out their own public profile (“your content").
All content posted by establishments on the GTI website is the property of GTI. GTI may use your content, display it on its website or affiliated portals, promote it, reformat it, use it in GTI’s advertisements and other works, distribute it at will and allow others to do the same in connection with their own websites and media platforms.
By creating an account and listing your products on the website, you hereby irrevocably grant GTI permission to use your content for all purposes listed above. You also irrevocably grant the website's users (guests/customers) and the users of any other media the right to access your content in connection with their use of the website and any other media.
Establishments represent that they own, and/or have the necessary permissions (copyright and other property rights) to use and authorize the use of their content on the website as described herein. One may not imply that the establishment made content is in any way sponsored or endorsed by GTI. Establishments alone are responsible for the use of their content.
Establishments represent that their content is at all times true, accurate and not misleading. Establishments are also at all times responsible for a correct and up to date statement of their service. Establishments assume, therefore, all risks associated with GTI’s and the website's users’ reliance on their content’s accuracy, completeness or usefulness and any disclosure by establishments of information in their content that makes establishments personally identifiable. GTI cannot be held liable and establishments shall hold GTI harmless against the website’s users or any other, for inaccurate, erroneous information made available by them on the website.
Establishments are responsible for updating and editing their own content, tours and products in general, along with making certain that all information is at all times up to date. Any errors appearing on the website due to establishments not updating their information are the establishments responsibility and matters will be addressed as if stated information is correct.
In cases where GTI contacts establishments with a request for an update of content, establishments are expected to update their product immediately and without exceptional delay. GTI reserves the right to unpublish products with outdated information without any notice.
All product content posted on the website must be in accordance to the GTI Content Quality Guidelines. All new products must pass inspection and will not be visible on the website until approved by the GTI content team.
If a product is disapproved, the establishment will receive a message regarding the matter, and be able to see the issues blocking publication on their personal portal. After addressing the issues, a product can be sent in for reevaluation.
GTI may remove or reinstate establishment content from time to time at its sole discretion. GTI has no obligation to retain or provide you with copies of your content, nor does GTI guarantee any confidentiality with respect to your content.
Establishments expose themselves to liability (to GTI, the website’s users or others) if, for example, content violates any third-party right, including any copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, moral right, privacy right, right of publicity, or any other intellectual property or proprietary right; contains material that is false, intentionally misleading, or defamatory; contains material that is unlawful, including illegal hate speech or pornography; exploits or otherwise harms minors; or violates or advocates the violation of any law or regulation.
GTI and its affiliates may display advertisements and other information adjacent to or included with all establishment content on the website and other media. Establishments are not entitled to any compensation or payment for such advertisements or other use of your content. The manner, mode and extent of such advertising are subject to change without specific notice to the establishment.
Establishments agree to not specifically target the website’s users that have been obtained through the website, in neither online or offline marketing promotions or solicited or unsolicited mail.
Liabilities
GTI only resells services that suppliers offer on the website. GTI does not charge users for any fees, and as such, it cannot be held liable for any accidents, losses, injuries, death, damages, delays, expenses due to any action or inaction by the establishment. Establishments shall, therefore, compensate and hold GTI harmless for and against any cost, claim and liability held against it due to action or inactions that establishments are responsible for under these terms and conditions.
GTI is not responsible for the correctness and completeness of information (including credit card details) and dates provided by the website’s users and GTI is not responsible for the payment obligation of the users relating to their reservation on the website.
Under no circumstances is GTI, its agents or affiliates, liable for any of the following losses or damage (whether such losses where foreseen, foreseeable, known or otherwise): (a) loss of data; (b) loss of revenue or anticipated profits; (c) loss of business; (d) loss of opportunity; (e) loss of goodwill or injury to reputation; (f) losses suffered by third parties; or (g) any indirect, consequential, special or exemplary damages arising from the use of the website regardless of the form of action.
Conditions listed above also apply to all individuals registered as locals on the website. Anyone knowledgeable about Iceland can maintain a blog in Contact a Local, provided they have a clean criminal record. Locals agree to blog and offer services under their own names and/or companies, and as such GTI cannot be liable for any infringement of copyright, accidents, losses, injuries, death, damages, delays, expenses due to any action or inaction on their part, services or product.
Pricing & Best Price Guarantee
GTI has a best price guarantee which means that no lower rate (price) can be found online for services (accommodation, tours & activities and/or rental cars) with the equivalent booking conditions. Establishments may, therefore, not offer your products and/or services on the website for a higher rate (price) than elsewhere online, including their own homepage. If an establishment offers a service online at a lower rate (price) he shall immediately adjust the rates (prices) on the website so the lower rate (price) will be available for the GTI website’s users. Establishments shall also settle the difference, between the booked rate and the lower rate, with a refund to GTI.
Prices listed on the website and affiliated websites shall be listed as per person, unless otherwise specified, and the rate (price) shall include VAT and all other taxes and expenses. Establishments may not charge the website’s user for any other fees, extras or surcharges due to its purchase/reservation unless it’s set out in the confirmed booking.
Bookings and establishment responsibilities to clients
Establishments will honor bookings and are solely responsible for managing the availability of their products. If availability is listed on the website, establishments must honor bookings made on listed availability.
If an overbooking occurs, establishments are responsible for solving the problem, be it by arranging a new tour for the client or arranging a new vehicle, with no added costs to the client. Establishments are responsible for contacting clients and addressing the issue personally.
Establishments can contact GTI main service desk to ask for assistance in replacing the booking, but any additional cost that finding a replacement might incur will fall on the original establishment, as the fault is set on wrongful information regarding availability.
Guide to Iceland does not allow for establishments to cancel tours based on minimum requirement of passengers not met. If an establishment foresees a tour not running for this reason he must arrange for all bookings to be moved to a similar tour and contact all clients booked on the matter.
GTI runs on an internal review system in which clients can grade establishments. If any establishment has his overall rating fall below four stars, establishments might become subject to review by the GTI internal inspection team and subject to termination from the website.
An establishment is responsible for all aspects of his product as listed on their site. If an establishment utilises a third party service on their tour (e.g. pick up services, catering etc.) they are fully responsible for said third party to commit and render full service. Should the third party fail to uphold its obligations, the establishment listed as the tour provider is responsible for any damages, complaints or problems that might arise and will be expected to address them.
If a tour is cancelled due to dangerous weather conditions, natural disasters and/or other unforeseeable reasons, establishments will either reschedule the tour after conversing with client or, if client wishes, offer a full refund for tour not serviced.
In case of an establishment cancellations, changes in booking by establishment, failure in pickups due to wrongful information listed on site, failure in assistance, delivery of rental vehicles or overbookings due to wrongful availability/fleet management, establishment will take full responsibility of his action, inactions or failures towards client. Establishment will not place or insinuate blame on Guide to Iceland, but remain fully responsible for their own services.
Cancellation Policy
The website’s users are entitled to cancel their purchase/reservation and receive full refund if the following conditions are met:
Cancellation of day tours and Car Rentals: The website’s users can cancel day tours and car rentals 24 hours in advance before departure and receive a full refund.
Cancellation of Accommodations: The website’s users can cancel online accommodation bookings 48 hours in advance before arrival and receive a full refund.
Cancellation of Multi-Day Tours and GTI serviced packages: The website’s users can cancel multi-day tours more than 7 days in advance before departure and receive an 85% refund. The 15% service fee is to cover GTI costs of sales, reservation and planning.
Please note that in cases where cancellation insurance has been purchased the website’s users can cancel such a product with 48 hours in advance before departure and receive a full refund.
Cancellation due to weather: If the website’s user books a service and/or product from an establishment and the establishment or the users have to cancel due to weather conditions or any other circumstances the user shall always receive a full refund. In cases when an activity within a multi day tour is cancelled or alternative option offered from the original tour description, a partial refund is given in case of an alternative activity taken. If the client is not interested in the alternative activity, a full refund is given.
Included in unforeseeable refundable cancellations are all Acts of God taking place on Icelandic soil, e.g. if a volcanic eruption stops clients from getting to Iceland, establishment will also have to issue a full refund.
Establishments are not entitled to a refund from GTI, for its commission, if establishment decides to cancel service/product due to circumstances which are under his control (e.g. overbooking, malfunction of equipment etc).
Commission Rates
GTI’s commission for its service depends on the type of service, duration and booking process of each sale. Value-added tax (VAT) is always added to GTI’s commission.
Following are GTI’s commission rates inclusive of VAT:
Tours: For daily tours GTI receives 20% of the booking price in the confirmed booking. For multi-day tours GTI receives 15% of the booking price in the confirmed booking.
Accommodation: GTI receives 12% of the booking price in the confirmed booking.
Car rentals: GTI receives 15% of the booking price in the confirmed booking.
Email invoices
GTI’s email invoicing system can be used by establishments to charge for custom made products, tailored tours and other services not offered as standardised tours on the webpage. GTI’s commission for the system are as follows (amount are inclusive of VAT):
Sales under 100.000 ISK: GTI receives 15% commission of the confirmed booking.
Sales between 100.000 - 200.000 ISK: GTI receives 10% commission of the confirmed booking.
Sales higher than 200.000 ISK: GTI receives 5% commission of the confirmed booking.
In cases where email invoices are used to facilitate purchase of standard products (tours, rental vehicles, accommodation etc. same as listed on site) same commission percentage applies as listed in section 7. subsection 2.
Affiliate sales by bloggers
GTI provides local people in Iceland with the opportunity to join the travel industry by setting up a blog on Connect with locals. Bloggers provide travellers with informational value and can send and post affiliate links to earn revenue. GTI provides bloggers and companies with the opportunity to earn revenue by partnering with each other via blogger created affiliate links.
A 5% commission is provided to bloggers of all bookings purchased and confirmed serviced. Each affiliate link sent out is active 7 days after the guest/customer has pressed the affiliate link.
Affiliate sales by companies
Companies can send affiliate links to guests/customers. A 5% commission is provided for all bookings that happen the next 7 days after the user has pressed the link, irrespective of which company the product is purchased from.
Transactions between companies and bloggers
All companies and bloggers can purchase services from each other through GTI. By purchasing a service from a company on GTI a company or a blogger gets a 15% discount of the services purchased.
Pay out / Settlement
When an establishment receives a booking through GTI or its website they receive a payment the following month after the website’s users have received the service, accommodation or product that they have been provided with. GTI’s commission is deducted from the total payment.
Establishments will send one invoice monthly for services rendered in the last week of each month.
Payment will be conducted by GTI via direct bank transfer only, to the provided bank account within 21 days upon receiving invoice from the establishment. Online banking claims will not be processed as a formal set of payment for any amount owed. Establishment is solely responsible for making certain that their bank information is available to the GTI accounting department. Should the establishment neglect sending required information to GTI to process billing, interest of overdue payment will not be charged by establishment.
GTI’s system shall be considered conclusive evidence of the existence and receipt of the reservation/purchase made by the website’s user and the amount of the booking price and GTI’s commission.
Terms, Termination and Amendments
By using the website or any GTI’s affiliated website, you, the establishment, agree to be legally bound by these terms, which shall take effect immediately. If you do not agree to be legally bound by the terms and condition, please do not use the website or affiliated websites.
GTI may change these terms and conditions at any time by posting changes online. Please review these terms and conditions regularly to ensure you are aware of any changes. Your continued use of the website or any-affiliated website after changes are posted means you agree to be legally bound by these terms as updated and/or amended.
GTI may terminate or suspend your account or ability to use the website, in whole or in part, at its sole discretion, for any or no reason, and without notice or liability of any kind. For example, GTI may terminate or suspend your account or ability to use the website if you misuse the website. Any such termination or suspension could prevent you from accessing your account, the website, your content, site content or any other related information.
You may terminate this contract at any time by closing your account and discontinuing your use of any and all parts of the website. If you close your account, GTI may continue to display your previously published content and is under no obligation to remove any of your content.
- Governing law and jurisdiction
Any disputes arising out or in connection with this agreement shall exclusively be submitted to and dealt with by the district court of Reykjavík.
This agreement shall be exclusively governed by and construed in accordance with Icelandic law.
Reykjavík, December 8th, 2020
Guide to Iceland ehf.
id. 530612-2600
Skólavörðustígur 11, 101 Reykjavík