TY Tour update.

Please find below a recent letter from the Schooltour Company.

In light of this we are holding a meeting on Monday 9th March  at 7.oo pm. 

 We ask all parents of Transition Year students who have paid for the international tour to please attend. 

If you have any queries that need to be answered before then please let us know  via email to principal1@ourladysbelmullet.ie or  coordinator@ourladysbelmullet.ie and we will endeavour to get answers before the meeting on Monday evening.

Many Thanks

E Holmes.

5th March 2020

Dear Hanoria,

As you are well aware, the Coronavirus (COVID-19) news is flooding the media. There are lots of variables depending on travel dates and destination however we have been working hard to find solutions within our control and answer the many questions being asked by school management, group leaders and parents. As we are currently dealing with so many unknown factors and it is impossible to know what is going to happen in the future, we wanted to inform you of your current options. We are trying to be as proactive and fair as possible and we have been working closely with our suppliers to calculate what we can recoup if you decide not to travel. Currently your tour falls into the 80% cancellation bracket. However, if you decide to cancel your tour before 11th March, we can guarantee that you will receive more than a 20% refund of the tour price. We can offer this because we have been able to agree partial refunds with our suppliers without breaking our contracts. Should you not cancel by 11th March, we will have to pay our suppliers as we are contractually obligated to do and our cancellation policy from our terms and conditions (included below) will have to be strictly adhered to. It is a very lengthy process for us to calculate exact amounts and it will take some time for suppliers to arrange refunds so please bear with us while we confirm the total refund due. In all cases overpayments, where applicable, will be refunded in full. It is important to note that students who have not paid the correct amount will only be refunded pro rata amounts. Under these uncertain circumstances it would not be advisable to reschedule your tour right now as further costs would be incurred with no guarantee the situation will improve in the coming months and in this matter we feel that we would be doing you a disservice. Please note that the figures above are only applicable if the whole group cancels, our normal cancellation policy applies if individuals choose to cancel. Recent updates from The Department of Foreign Affairs does not influence the insurance policy which does not cover this unfortunate situation of epidemic outbreak. I have attached our FAQ sheet to answer any further questions regarding your tour relating to the Coronavirus. As a parent myself, with children who have travelled on school tours for many years, I have huge empathy for all of you who have been affected by these unfortunate circumstances. My staff and I are working tirelessly to ensure a positive outcome for all. However, we have an enormous number of groups who are still travelling, and thousands of students affected by this outbreak. Each group must be looked at individually and suppliers contacted for possible refunds and this is hugely time consuming Please be assured that we have your best interests at heart during this challenging time. We very much appreciate your patience and assure you of our best attention. Please let your tour operator know how you would like to proceed.

Kind Regards,

Gráinne Quinn Managing Director