COVID-19 TRAVEL ADVISORY

Written 9/10/2020:

​Due to the unprecedented impact of the Coronavirus pandemic, we will be making updates to this page when necessary. Additionally, in response to the unpredictable nature of the pandemic, the information below will now be apart of our Terms and Conditions to adapt to the constantly evolving nature of this pandemic. You can view our Terms & Conditions or find it under the sign up page for each destination.

We work with all guests on postponed trips for new dates, if the dates do not work with your schedule, we will offer you trip credit. 

We appreciate your understanding and patience during this time. Please know that our small team is working tirelessly to address the needs of our TLA Family - travelers, trip leaders, local suppliers and each other. We will get through this together and look forward to exploring with you on the other side. 

​The most recent letter from our Founder, Nana:

​Dear TLA Community,

 We have successfully postponed all 2020 trips to 2021 due to COVID-19.

I'm sure many of you have questions about the certainty that your trip will continue in 2021. I wanted to take a moment to shed some light on the situation. We are seeing international borders starting to open to tourist everyday! This gives us the hope that our will continue. While this is great news, the future is impossible to predict and we will be making the final call on whether or not a trip can operate on a rolling 30-60 day basis. The health and safety of our guests, team, and local partners is always our number one priority. 

Once our 2021 trips continue, we will be making some operational changes until further notice, including the following:

- Increased sanitation standards for partner hotels

- Requirements around mask use on trips

- Protocol and training for trip leaders specific to COVID-19

- Health-related itinerary adjustments (Any change we make will be at or above the standard of our current itinerary and will be communicated to you in advance.)

We will be sending out more information as trip dates get closer. While we strive to take care of you, it is impossible to completely eliminate the risk of exposure while traveling. For this reason, by attending a trip with us, you are acknowledging this risk. We are also encouraging all of your to get travel/medical insurance. You will be responsible for these fees including COVID-19 testing before and after the trip begins and ends.

Some of you have also asked about refunds. Refunds are only made if we cancel the trip as a whole, which is rarely done. If we cannot travel to a specific destination during our said dates, we will postpone or again, offer you travel credit to attend a future trip.

Although we take great care in putting together our itineraries and hiring trip leaders to show you an amazing time, we are an intermediary. Meaning, we do not own hotels, drive vans, or teach other class/activities that we pay through our local partners. We have to pay deposits on your behalf to make sure there is availability on the day to go. We work very hard to find the most unique, best value options and we work directly with suppliers to make sure the quality stays consistently high. Doing this allows us to make sure your tourism dollars are always going to support the local community, which we care deeply about. 

The result in doing business like this is that in some cases we have to pay deposits in advance to lock in dates needed for our groups. Normally, this isn’t a problem. However, during a pandemic, when borders are closed and we cannot operate trips, it has complicated things by limiting our ability to issue refunds since that money has been distributed on your behalf. 

For this reason, if your trip cannot run as planned, you will be put in the travel group with the new date or be offered travel credit for a future trip. It is a great help to us and the small suppliers who make your travel memories possible and we promise to reward your patience with the most amazing trip ever when you’re ready to travel again. By signing up for a trip, you acknowledge the terms and conditions, which highlights that refunds are only made if we cancel the trip entirely, meaning we choose not to provide new dates to postpone. By signing up for a trip with us you acknowledge this as our terms are available to read on our website. 

One final note: travel is going to come roaring back. The desire for new experiences and connecting with new people is an immutable human trait and even a global pandemic can’t suppress that need. There may have never been a time when we needed these things more. So don’t despair - your next adventure might be a bit farther out than you planned, but it’s coming. And I promise it’s going to be worth the wait.

 

Love,
Nana