General Terms and Conditions for the Mediation of Travel Services

Dear Customer,

We are pleased to assist you with your travel wishes. We arrange individual tourism services for you (in particular accommodation or transport services).

The contracts for the arranged services (overnight stays and/or transport) are concluded directly between you and the provider of the respective service. The accommodation or transport conditions of the respective providers apply, which we make available to you before booking.

Please read the following General Terms and Conditions (“GTC”) for the mediation of travel services of Switzerland Travel Centre AG, Kalanderplatz 5, 8045 Zürich (“Travel Intermediary” or “STC”) carefully. These govern the mediation of the respective services with regard to the rights and obligations of you as the customer and us as the travel intermediary. The mutual rights and obligations of the customer and the travel intermediary arise from the agreements concluded in the individual case, these GTC and the applicable statutory provisions. By using our intermediary services, you agree to these GTC.

STC services are provided in particular via websites such as www.swisshotels.com, www.swissrailways.com and www.switzerlandtravelcentre.com as well as via partner websites provided by STC.

By accepting the customer’s mediation request, a contract for the mediation of individual travel services is concluded between the customer and the travel intermediary.

If the mediation request is submitted electronically (e.g. email, websites, internet, SMS), the travel intermediary will confirm receipt of the request electronically. This confirmation of receipt does not constitute confirmation of acceptance of the mediation request. In particular, this confirmation of receipt does not constitute acceptance of a travel contract (such as a transport or accommodation contract) by the arranged service provider. A travel contract is only concluded upon confirmation by the respective provider.

The rights and obligations of the customer towards the arranged provider are governed exclusively by the agreements concluded with that provider, in particular its terms and conditions. By booking the arranged individual service, the customer accepts the terms and conditions of the respective provider made available to them. This also applies with regard to rebooking and cancellation conditions, which are determined solely by the provider. The travel intermediary does not become a contractual partner of the customer for the arranged service and assumes no liability for services provided by third parties.

The price for the arranged service is determined by the provider. The payment conditions are governed by the general terms and conditions or other provisions of the respective provider. Further information, including available payment methods, can be found in the provider’s provisions depending on the type of service.

Based on these mediation conditions, the customer will receive the best possible advice. Upon request, the travel intermediary will submit the booking request to the provider. After confirmation by the provider, the travel intermediary’s obligation includes handing over the documents relating to the arranged service. This does not apply if it has been agreed that the documents will be sent directly to the customer.

When providing information and advice, the travel intermediary is liable within the scope of the law and contractual agreements for the correct selection of the information source and the proper transmission to the customer. However, the travel intermediary is not liable for the accuracy, completeness or timeliness of such information, as this may change at any time.

Special requests will only be accepted by the travel intermediary for forwarding to the arranged provider. Unless expressly agreed otherwise, the travel intermediary is not responsible for the fulfilment of such special requests. They are also not a condition or contractual basis for the mediation request or for the booking declaration submitted by the travel intermediary to the provider on behalf of the customer. The customer is informed that special requests generally only become part of the contractual obligations of the provider if they are expressly confirmed by the provider.

Claims and complaints must be asserted directly against the provider. If such claims must be asserted within certain deadlines arising from legal or contractual provisions, these deadlines are not preserved by asserting them against the travel intermediary.

With regard to any claims of the customer against the provider, the travel intermediary has neither the right nor the obligation to provide advice on the type, scope, amount, requirements for claims or applicable deadlines or other legal provisions.

The prices indicated for the services are the prices of the arranged providers. The service providers are paid directly by the customer for the booked services. However, the customer undertakes, upon first request, to deposit the amount for booked services with the travel intermediary by credit card.

Any service fees payable by the customer to the travel intermediary in connection with consultation and the processing of a booking, cancellation or rebooking, as well as other services carried out on behalf of the customer in connection with the mediation of a service, result from the service fees communicated to and agreed with the customer. Any commission income from the provider belongs to the travel intermediary.

The travel intermediary’s claim to service fees remains valid in the event of service disruptions or changes, in particular rebooking, withdrawal, cancellation, annulment or termination of the arranged services by the provider or the customer.

The travel intermediary is entitled to request payments in accordance with the service and payment provisions of the arranged provider, insofar as these have been validly agreed between the provider and the customer and contain legally effective payment provisions.

Claims for payment against the customer may be asserted by the travel intermediary, insofar as this corresponds to the agreements between the travel intermediary and the provider, as an authorised collection agent of the provider, but also in its own right on the basis of the customer’s obligation to provide an advance payment.

The above provisions apply accordingly to cancellation or rebooking costs and other claims of the arranged provider arising from legal or contractual grounds.

The customer may not assert against the travel intermediary’s own payment claims any right of retention or set-off on the basis that the customer has claims against the arranged provider, in particular due to defective performance of the arranged contract.

The customer must check the contractual and other documents of the arranged provider transmitted to them (in particular booking confirmations and vouchers, but also other documents) for accuracy and completeness, in particular for consistency with the booking and the mediation request.

If documents relating to the arranged service are not sent directly to the customer by a provider, they will be handed over by the travel intermediary at its discretion either by postal or electronic delivery.

The customer must immediately notify the travel intermediary of any errors or defects in the intermediary’s services that are recognisable to them after their discovery. This includes in particular incorrect or incomplete information regarding personal data, other information, details and documents relating to the arranged services, as well as incomplete execution of mediation services (e.g. bookings or reservations not made). The customer must immediately check the documents sent to them (e.g. booking confirmations, vouchers, invoices) for accuracy and completeness (see also section 7 above). In the event of discrepancies, these must be reported to the travel intermediary immediately. This applies in particular to deviations in the personal data of the customer compared with the identification document (passport or ID). The travel intermediary points out that providers may refuse the service if the names in the travel documents do not match the names in the identification documents.

The travel intermediary assumes no liability if delays, inconveniences or even the failure of services occur due to any discrepancies or incompleteness if the customer fails to fulfil their obligation to report them.

In their own interest, the customer is requested to inform the provider or travel intermediary of any special needs or restrictions in relation to the requested service.

The travel intermediary is not liable for any defects or damages that arise for the customer in connection with the arranged service.

Any liability of the travel intermediary resulting from culpable breach of intermediary obligations remains unaffected by the above provisions and is limited to the extent permitted by law. In any case, the travel intermediary shall only be liable for damages resulting from intentional or grossly negligent acts or omissions in connection with its intermediary activities. Liability for slight negligence as well as for indirect or consequential damages is expressly excluded. Liability for auxiliary persons is also excluded.

If the arranged services cannot be provided due to force majeure (i.e. an external event that cannot be foreseen and cannot be prevented even by exercising reasonable care and technically and economically reasonable means, such as natural disasters, terrorist attacks, war, epidemics and pandemics, failure of telecommunications connections, strikes, official or unofficial measures, etc.), the consequences agreed between the customer and the arranged provider shall apply.

In connection with the request for mediation of travel services, in addition to the customer’s contact details (name, residential address, email, telephone number), the following information is generally stored and processed: travel data, travel destinations, hotel, price, customer requests, information on additional travel participants, payment information, date of birth, nationality, language, preferences and other information provided by the customer to the travel intermediary. Further information on data protection can be found in the Privacy Policy.

The legal relationship between the customer and the travel intermediary is governed exclusively by Swiss law, excluding conflict-of-law provisions and the provisions of the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG).

Subject to mandatory statutory provisions, the courts at the registered office of the travel intermediary shall have exclusive jurisdiction for disputes between the customer and the travel intermediary.

The travel intermediary may amend these GTC unilaterally at any time. The applicable GTC will be published on the travel intermediary’s websites or otherwise communicated to the customer.

If one or more provisions of these GTC are invalid, the validity of the remaining provisions shall remain unaffected.

Status: 23.12.2024

Note: This page has been translated using artificial intelligence. In case of any discrepancies, the German version of the General Terms and Conditions shall prevail. The original German version is available here: Allgemeine Geschäftsbedingungen.