A fair tour cancellation policy lets guests cancel for free up to 24 hours before the start time, keeps the full price for later cancellations and no-shows, and gives guests a full refund or a free new date whenever you cancel the tour yourself. That 24-hour rule is what Viator, GetYourGuide and Airbnb use for most tours, so guests already expect it. Set it once in your booking system and it applies to every booking automatically.
This guide explains what to put in your policy, how to pick the right cancellation window, what consumer law says about refunds, and how to set the policy up in your booking system so refunds, guest changes and bad weather cancellations take care of themselves. It includes four templates you can copy. OTA rules and laws were checked in September 2026. This is general information, not legal advice, so check the rules in your own country.
What is a tour cancellation policy?
A tour cancellation policy is the set of rules, shown to guests before they pay, that says what happens to their money if plans change. It has two halves: what guests get back when they cancel or don't turn up, and what you owe them when you cancel, for example because of bad weather or too few bookings.
Most operators write the first half and forget the second. Both matter. The first protects your income. The second protects your reviews, because a guest whose tour was called off judges you by how quickly and fairly you sorted it out.
The 24-hour standard that OTAs use
If you sell on online travel agencies (OTAs), your guests have already learned their rules. Here is what the three biggest platforms use for tours and activities:
| Platform | Default policy for guests | Other options |
|---|---|---|
| Viator | Full refund up to 24 hours before the start, no refund after that | "All sales final", or a custom policy |
| GetYourGuide | Free cancellation until 24 hours before, then you are paid in full | Set in your supplier contract |
| Airbnb Experiences | Most experiences: full refund up to 1 day (24 hours) before the start | Some experiences use a 3-day policy |
Viator says about 85% of the products it sells use its standard 24-hour policy. Two lessons follow from that. First, 24 hours is the number guests expect: a shorter window feels generous, and a longer one needs a reason guests can understand, such as food you buy in advance. Second, if you sell the same tour on OTAs and on your own booking page, keep your direct policy at least as generous as your OTA listing. A guest who sees free cancellation on Viator and a strict policy on your website will book on Viator, and you pay the commission. Our guide to OTA commission vs direct bookings shows what that costs.
Do guests have a legal right to cancel a tour?
In the EU and the UK, usually not. The 14-day cooling-off period that covers most online purchases does not apply to leisure services booked for a specific date. Article 16(l) of the EU Consumer Rights Directive makes them an exception, and in 2022 the EU Court of Justice confirmed in case C-96/21 that the exception can also apply when an agent sells the ticket on the organiser's behalf. In the UK, regulation 28 of the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 does the same. The reason is simple: you hold a place for that guest on that date, and you can't always resell it.
So your published policy is what decides whether a guest who cancels gets money back, on two conditions: guests must see it before they pay, and it must be fair.
The fairness rule cuts the other way when you cancel. The EU Unfair Contract Terms Directive lists as potentially unfair any term that lets a business keep money for services it hasn't provided when the business itself ends the contract, and Schedule 2 of the UK Consumer Rights Act 2015 has the same rule. In practice: when you cancel, the guest gets their money back or a new date they agree to. You can offer a voucher as a choice, but don't force one.
Outside Europe the rules differ, but card payments add a practical check everywhere. A guest who feels treated unfairly can ask their bank for a chargeback, and your best defence is proof that they saw your policy before paying. Stripe's dispute guidance recommends a screenshot of how your terms appear at checkout.
What to include in a tour cancellation policy
A complete policy answers eight questions. Guests read it on a phone, so answer each one in a sentence, not a paragraph.
- Free cancellation window. How long before the start guests can cancel for a full refund, for example 24 hours. Say that it is measured in the tour's local time.
- Late cancellations. What guests get back after the window closes: nothing, or a share of the price.
- No-shows. Usually no refund. Say so plainly.
- Late arrivals. How long the guide waits, and whether a guest who misses the start counts as a no-show.
- Date changes. Whether guests can move to another date for free, and until when.
- How to cancel. The link, email address or phone number to use. When cancelling is hard, guests just don't turn up.
- When you cancel. The reasons you might (weather, safety, too few guests), when you will decide, and what guests can choose: a full refund or a new date.
- Refund timing. How the money comes back and how long it takes. Card refunds usually take 5 to 10 business days to show on a statement.
How to choose the right cancellation window
Set your free cancellation window to the time you need to resell the place or avoid the costs you would pay for that guest. For most day tours that is 24 hours. It gets longer when you spend money in advance or turn away other business for the booking.
| Type of activity | Suggested policy | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Walking, city and bike tours | Full refund up to 24 hours before | Low costs per guest, and places often resell |
| Food, wine and tasting tours | Full refund up to 48 hours before | Food and tastings are ordered in advance |
| Boat, kayak and other weather-dependent trips | 24 hours, plus a clear weather promise | Guests worry about the weather before booking |
| Classes and workshops | Full refund up to 48 hours before | Materials and a fixed number of places |
| Private tours and large groups | Full refund 7 or more days before, 50% after that | You turn away other bookings for that date |
Stricter is not always better. A longer window protects you against late cancellations, but some guests will choose a similar tour with free cancellation instead. Start with the most flexible policy your costs allow, then look at your cancellation and no-show numbers after a season and adjust.
How to set your cancellation policy in your booking system
A policy written on your website only works if your booking system follows it. When the two disagree, guests quote whichever suits them. Set the policy in the booking system itself, so the same rule decides every refund.
In TicketPa, each activity has a Policies tab with two settings:
- Cancellation window, in hours before the start, for example 24 or 48.
- Late refund, the share of the price guests get back after the window closes, from 0% to 100%.
From those two numbers, TicketPa does the rest:
- The booking page states the policy in plain words before guests book, for example "Cancel up to 1 day before the start for a full refund. After that, you get 50% back."
- Guests cancel from their ticket, up to the start time, and get the refund the policy allows. Online payments go back to their card automatically, and the places go straight back on sale.
- Guests can move to another time from their ticket while cancelling is still fully refunded, so a change of plan becomes a new booking instead of a lost one.
- Your team can cancel any booking from its page, for example when a guest emails you, and choose whether TicketPa emails the guest. Guests who planned to pay on arrival simply owe nothing.
TicketPa has one window and one late refund percentage per activity. For a policy with three tiers, such as template 2 below, choose the two that matter most and explain the rest in your activity description.
4 tour cancellation policy templates you can copy
Replace the words in brackets with your own, and keep the final version short enough to read on a phone.
1. Standard 24-hour policy for day tours
Cancel up to 24 hours before the start time ([city] time) for a full refund. Cancellations within 24 hours and no-shows are not refunded. To cancel or change your date, use the link in your ticket or reply to your confirmation email. If we cancel for weather, safety or any other reason, you choose a full refund or a free new date.
In TicketPa: a 24-hour window and a 0% late refund.
2. Tiered policy for private tours and groups
For private tours and groups of [8] or more:
- Cancel 7 days or more before the tour: full refund.
- Cancel between 7 days and 48 hours before: 50% refund.
- Cancel less than 48 hours before, or don't show up: no refund.
You can move the tour to another date once for free if you ask at least 7 days before. If we cancel, you get a full refund.
In TicketPa: a 168-hour (7-day) window and a 50% late refund, with the 48-hour rule handled by your team.
3. Weather and safety policy
This tour runs in light rain, so please bring a jacket. If we decide conditions are unsafe, such as strong wind, storms or high waves, we will cancel and tell you by email at least [3] hours before the start. You then choose a free new date or a full refund. If we run the tour and you decide not to come, our normal cancellation policy applies.
4. Minimum group size policy
This tour needs at least [4] guests to run. If fewer than [4] are booked by [18:00 the day before], we will tell you by email, and you choose a full refund, a free new date or [our other tour] instead.
Show the minimum group size on the booking page too, in your activity description, not only in the policy. Guests who know about it in advance take a cancellation much better. TicketPa doesn't cancel low time slots by itself, so check the guest list at your decision time and cancel the time slot if it is below your minimum.
How to cancel a tour for bad weather
Sometimes cancelling is the right call. How you do it decides whether guests rebook or leave a one-star review.
- Decide at a fixed time. Pick a decision time, such as 3 hours before the start or 18:00 the evening before, and check the forecast then. Guests cope with a cancellation far better than with waiting at the meeting point.
- Tell every guest directly. Email everyone with the reason and what happens next. Don't rely on a social media post.
- Give them a choice. A full refund or a new date, with a link to book it.
- Refund quickly. Refund the same day. A refund that takes weeks turns a fair decision into a complaint.
- Keep a record. Note the date, the reason and the forecast. It helps with disputes and shows you which weeks to plan around next year.
A booking system should turn steps 2 to 4 into one action. In TicketPa, you open the time slot's guest list and cancel it. Every booking on it is cancelled, online payments are refunded in full, and every guest gets an email with your note and a link to book another time.
If you write the message yourself, here is one you can copy:
Subject: Cancelled: [tour name] on [date]
Hi [first name],
We're sorry, but we've had to cancel the [tour name] on [date] because of [strong winds forecast for the afternoon]. Your safety comes first.
You can pick a new date here: [booking link]. If you paid online, your money is on its way back to your card in full.
[Your name], [business name]
Where to show your cancellation policy
A policy only protects you if guests saw it before they paid. Put it in four places:
- On the booking page, near the price and before the payment step.
- In the booking confirmation email.
- On the ticket, together with how to cancel.
- In your activity description, if it has special rules such as a minimum group size.
Use the same wording everywhere. If your website says 24 hours and your emails say 48, guests will quote whichever suits them, and a bank handling a chargeback may side with them. Setting the policy once in your booking system is the simplest way to keep it consistent.
Common cancellation policy mistakes
- A stricter policy on your own site than on OTAs. It pushes guests to book where you pay commission.
- Hiding the policy in the terms and conditions. Guests don't read them, and a policy they never saw is hard to enforce.
- No timezone. "24 hours before" should mean the tour's local time, and the policy should say so.
- Vouchers only when you cancel. Offer a refund as well. Forcing a voucher is likely to be unfair under EU and UK law, and it reads badly in reviews.
- No easy way to cancel. Guests who can't cancel simply don't turn up, and you lose the chance to resell the place. Our guide to reducing no-shows covers this in more detail.
- Refunds worked out by hand. When every refund is a calculation, mistakes and arguments follow. Let the booking system apply the rule.
Set your policy up in TicketPa
TicketPa is booking software for tours, classes and activities, and your cancellation policy is part of every booking. Set a window and a late refund for each activity, and TicketPa shows the policy before guests book, refunds online payments when they cancel, lets them move to another time and handles weather cancellations in one step. See how it works for tours and boat trips, or all features.
