Change the date, or put your trip on hold!
Why don’t you postpone your trip?
Many travel agencies, transport companies, lodgings and other components of the tourism sector are joining this campaign.
We are experiencing exceptional circumstances. The World Health Organization (WHO) considers the coronavirus COVID-19 a pandemic since March 11st. What does this mean? That signifies that the coronavirus is an epidemic disease that is spread out in numerous countries around the world at the same time.
In order to help to slow down and stop this pandemic and protect the citizens, a lot of countries are taking measures. Among them, Spain and Italy. On Saturday 14th of March 2021, the Spanish Government declared the “State of Alarm” in this country.
How do this measures affect the tourism?
The measures that most of the countries are taking step by step are mostly focused on the contention of the coronavirus. That implies that the journeys of the population are restricted to those people that go to work, fundamentally the personal from the health sector, the security forces, the transport and the service sector. Pubs, restaurants, hostels and other shops related to the tourism industry are closed. For these reasons, the trips planned for these dates can’t be done. Nevertheless, we want to do an appeal for calm and give a message to our clients: don’t cancel your trip, change the date.
The Galiwonders team is doing all the possible to make easier finding a fast solution for the pilgrims that had planned to arrive to Santiago de Compostela or walk the Via Francigena in these delicate moments. If this is your case, or if you contracted any of our tours for the next weeks, contact us as soon as possible in this email: [email protected].
Why is it important to change dates?
Tourism is one of the most damaged industries due to the measures taken in order to stop the expansion of the COVID-19. Because of the big amount of cancellations that are happening now many job positions are at stake. It is true that in this moment it is not possible to walk the Camino de Santiago, but it will be in few weeks, once we beat the coronavirus.
The decision of postponing a trip, not only means an act of solidarity with the different companies and its employees but also helps them to keep doing their activity. By changing dates, you will help that thousands of people to keep their jobs. Employees of the travel agencies, airplane companies, lodgings… and a lot of other people who make it possible for millions of travelers to enjoy their holidays.
The individual decisions of each one of us, can have a huge impact in the tourism industry.
Don’t cancel your trip, change the dates
Unfortunately, at the moment it is not possible to travel to Spain or Italy, due to the restrictions we are experiencing. It is fundamental to try to avoid the infection. Because of this, the Change Policy of Galiwonders includes the special case of coronavirus and everyone affected by the COVID-19 can make use of it.
Our recommendation is: change the date or put your trip on hold. Due to the current circumstances, our advice is to postpone your route. If you have already paid the complete route with us and now you can’t walk it, you can modify the dates without any additional cost. For example, if you were going to walk the Camino or the Via Francigena in March and now you want to put it off until September, you should contact us and we will make the change.
Next 2021 is Holy Year, a special year for all of us that participate in the Camino de Santiago somehow. During the Jubilee Years, the number of pilgrims increases. For this reason, you could think that also the prize of your trip might get higher. If you had already paid the total amount of your tour and now you can’t do it because of the movement restrictions, you can change the dates without any additional cost. In Galiwonders we give you our commitment to respect the original prize of your reservation and keep your trip for 2021 under the same conditions.
This way, if you change your booking, you can walk the Camino de Santiago until December 2021 without any additional cost. This would save an economic loss for both parts, the client and the companies that work in the tourism sector . And you can still enjoy your trip without paying more!
Please note that if you had only paid the deposit of your route, price changes could be applied.
Plan future trips
Even if this is a delicate moment and many of our plans are being suddenly changed, it is also a good moment to look forward the future. It is possible to walk the Camino de Santiago and the Via Francigena at any time of the year and you can start planning it from this moment. Contact us if you are thinking about walking or cycling any of the available routes and we will help you to plan your tailor-made trip. We always recommend to be covered with travel insurance in case an unforeseen situation happens after carefully planning our trips.
The current situation we are all living is exceptional and make us staying at home. Nevertheless, it doesn’t avoid us to think about the next free days we will enjoy and the trips we can do once the pandemic will be over. Respecting the indications of the experts, everything will come back to normality soon. We will enjoy as soon as possible the incredible landscapes the experience of the Camino de Santiago gives us.
As a big number of citizens from all around are sharing in their social media a message and we want to do the same: everything will be ok.
A big hug from the Galiwonders team!