The Pilgrimage and Tourist Office of the City of Altötting shall provide accommodations of lodging establishments (hotels, inns, guesthouses, private room rentals and vacation apartments, hereinafter: ‘Service Providers’) on behalf of others.
Unless individually agreed otherwise in the respective contract, these terms in the version valid as of the contract conclusion shall become part of the contract concluded with the Pilgrimage and Tourist Office of the City of Altötting and the Service Provider with your booking. We therefore ask you to carefully read through the following terms.
1. Contract Object and Contracting Parties
1.1 These GTC shall apply to the provision of accommodations by the Pilgrimage and Tourist Office of the City of Altötting, Kapellplatz 2a, 84503 Altötting, hereinafter referred to as ‘Tourist Info’, to guests.
1.2 The terms and conditions valid as of the contract conclusion shall apply exclusively. The Tourist Info shall not acknowledge deviating terms, unless it explicitly consented to them in writing in the given case.
1.3 Unless explicitly agreed otherwise, the Tourist Info shall exclusively act as provider of services.
1.4 A contract on the provided service shall thus exclusively materialise between the guest and the Service Provider.
1.5 The Tourist Info shall have no influence on the presented offers of the Service Providers, their contents, scope and quality. It shall not be liable for the statements of the Service Providers, the service to be rendered by them and defaults in this service.
1.6 The Tourist Info shall not be a travel organiser or joint organiser in the sense of sections 651a et seqq. BGB. It shall merely be engaged by the travel organiser to procure the services required to that end. The travel organiser alone shall remain responsible towards the guest as per the regulations of the travel contract under the Civil Code.
1.7 Any liability of the Tourist Info from the provision contract shall remain unaffected by the regulations above.
1.8 The Tourist Info’s provision service shall be free of charge for the guest.
2. Contract Conclusion / Booking
2.1 The Tourist Info shall present in its booking bases (catalogues, brochures, written offers, website) different tourism services which may be directly booked by the guest via the Tourist Info.
2.2 By making the booking, the guest shall submit a binding tender to the respective Service Provider represented by the Tourist Info for the conclusion of a guest accommodation contract or travel contract. Basis and content of this tender shall be the statements of work for the booking basis underlying the booking. The booking may be made informally, but should be made in writing or online for evidentiary purposes, where possible.
2.3 This tender shall be deemed accepted by the Tourist Info, as representative of the Service Provider, confirming the booking, as a general rule, after a short handling time. The booking confirmation shall not require any specific form.
2.4 If the content of the booking confirmation deviates from the content of the tender, the booking confirmation shall be deemed to be a new tender to the booking guest which may be accepted by the guest within a period of 10 days towards the Tourist Info or the Service Provider. During this period, the Tourist Info and the Service Provider shall be bound to the content of this new tender. Acceptance may be declared towards the Tourist Info or the Service Provider either explicitly or by a conclusive act (e.g. payment of the booking total).
2.5 If a guest or third party books for several persons, the booker shall equally vouch for their as well as their own contractual obligations if these were assumed by the booker either explicitly or by separate statement.
3. Services and Changes in Services
3.1 The contractually owed services shall exclusively be those specified in the statement of work for the booking basis applicable at the time of booking (written offer, catalogue or website) and in the content of the booking confirmation.
3.2 Side agreements resulting in a change in the contractually owed service shall require the explicit written confirmation by the Tourist Info or the Service Providers.
3.3 All information on the website shall be provided to the Tourist Info by its contracting partners. Details of the Service Providers on dates and events which are not covered by the relevant booking may be subject to temporal changes or postponements and are thus to be enquired directly from the Service Provider / event organiser. The Tourist Info shall not assume any warranty for these.
3.4 Upon conclusion of the contract, the Service Provider shall be obliged to provide the guest with the booked service for the duration of the contract. It has to render the contractually owed service in a manner equivalent to the standard indicated in the booking basis in terms of content, scope and quality.
3.5 The guest shall be obliged to accept the booked service and to pay the service price to be paid for it.
4. Prices and Price Changes
4.1 The prices indicated in the booking basis (catalogue, brochure, written offer or website) shall be final prices including the respective applicable statutory VAT. Unless otherwise specified or agreed between the parties in this respect, they shall include all ancillary costs. Services subject to consumption-based billing (e.g. for power, gas and water), the local tourism levy or visitors' tax and the costs of extra services may, in particular, accrue additionally to the price indicated in the booking basis and be stated separately as ancillary costs.
4.2 The respective Service Provider shall both be responsible for the regularity and liable for the accuracy of the price indications. The Tourist Info shall not assume any warranty for these.
4.3 The prices stated in the booking basis currently valid at the time of booking shall apply. The respective older booking basis shall become ineffective upon publication of the newer booking basis.
5. Lodging Services
5.1 Booking and Arrival
A lodging contract shall materialise between the guest and the Service Provider upon booking. The Service Provider shall be obliged to provide the booked accommodation as from the agreed date and for the agreed duration. In principle, the Service Provider shall keep the booked accommodation clear until 6 PM of the day of arrival. The guest shall be obliged to inform the Service Provider in good time of any presumably later arrival. If the guest already effected a down or full payment or indicated a credit card number when booking, the accommodation shall also be kept clear beyond that period.
5.2 Change in or Deviation from the Agreed Service
In rare urgent cases, a change in or deviation from the contractually owed content of the booked service may be necessary after conclusion of the contract. Such changes shall be admissible only to the extent that the changes or deviations are insignificant, do not result in a substantial deviation from the contractually agreed service and a factual justification for the deviation exists.
As a general rule, an insignificant and reasonable deviation exists, for ex., if the Service Provider provides the guest with an adequate substitute accommodation for a lodging service, since the rented room has become unusable or the relocation is due to major operational reasons. The Tourist Info or the respective Service Provider shall be obliged to inform the guest about changes or deviations regarding the contractually agreed service without delay. Where appropriate, the guest must be given the opportunity to relocate free of charge or, if this is impossible for reasons for which the Tourist Info or the Service Provider is not responsible, the offer to withdraw from the booking free of charge. If a Service Provider is forced to cancel a lodging service for urgent reasons, it shall be obliged to ensure that the guest will be provided with another, at least equivalent accommodation without delay. If the cancellation is effected only on the day of arrival or if the guest becomes aware of it only on arrival, the Service Provider must organise a substitute accommodation within a period of 4 hours. Any extra costs incurred for a substitute accommodation shall be borne by the respective Service Provider. Where a change is admissible, the other rights (in particular reduction and damages) shall remain unaffected.
5.3 Duties and Obligations of the Guest
The guest shall be obliged to accept the booked accommodation and to pay the agreed accommodation price. The guest may use the booked accommodation only as intended and has to use the rooms and the equipment with due care and in line with the provisions of any existing usage and house rules. Unless agreed otherwise, the accommodation may be utilised only by the guest and by the other persons indicated in the booking confirmation. Any surrender of use to third parties and, in particular, any subletting shall not be admissible. The traveller shall be obliged to notify the Service Provider of any arising defects, malfunctions and impairments of use without delay and to demand remedy. Claims of the guest shall not cease to apply only if the failure to meet the obligation incumbent upon the guest to give notice of defects is not due to the guest’s own fault. Giving notice of defects only towards the Tourist Info shall not be sufficient.
If the stay is substantially impaired in consequence of a defect or malfunction, the guest must fix a reasonable deadline for the Service Provider to perform remedy. Once the deadline has fruitlessly expired, the guest shall be entitled to terminate the contract without notice with immediate effect. A deadline for remedy shall not be required if the Service Provider seriously or finally refuses remedy, remedy is impossible or the guest cannot be reasonably expected to continue the stay or has any special interest in the termination without notice that is recognisable for the Service Provider. Bringing pets shall require the Service Provider’s prior agreement. When doing so, the species and size of the pet and, for several pets, their number must be indicated. The guest’s liability for the pets brought by the guest shall be governed by regulations for pet owners’ liability.
5.4 Due Date of the Booking Total and Down Payment
Unless agreed otherwise, lodging services including the ancillary, consumption and additional costs (e.g. mini-bar, telephone, video) must be directly paid to the Service Provider on the day of departure. The Service Provider shall be entitled to demand a down payment from the guest in the amount of 10 to 30 percent of the booking total even without separate agreement. The Service Provider shall provide the guest with an invoice for the down payment to be made. If the down payment is not paid within the fixed period, the Service Provider shall be entitled to withdraw from the contract. The set payment period must not be shorter than 1 week.
5.5 Withdrawal from the Contract and No-Show
The guest may withdraw from the contract at any time up to the commencement of the booked service by giving notice to the Tourist Info. To avoid misunderstandings, the withdrawal notice should be given by post, telefax or e-mail. If the guest withdraws from the booking or does not claim the booked service, the guest's obligation to pay the booking total shall generally remain in effect. The Service Provider shall endeavour to have the accommodation occupied otherwise in the ordinary course of its business, but shall not be obliged to make special efforts for any other renting. In case of any other occupancy, the Service Provider must tolerate its crediting. If any other occupancy failed, the Service Provider has to tolerate that the saved expenses be charged to it.
The following benchmarks to be paid by the guest to the Service Provider were acknowledged under case law to assess these saved expenses for lodging services:
Booked service: Rate:
Vacation apartments and accommodation w/o meals 90%
B&B 80%
Half board 70%
Full board 60%
The stated rate relates to the respective full booking price including all ancillary costs, with any public duties, such as tourism levy and visitor’s tax being left out of consideration.
It shall explicitly be up to the guest to prove that any other occupancy in the sense of cl. (4) occurred or that the expenses saved by the Service Provider were significantly greater than the amounts taken into account in the flat rates above. In this case, the guest shall only be obliged to pay the lower costs.
To avoid unnecessary costs in the event of any unforeseeable prevention from commencing travel, the Tourist Info highly recommends that a travel cancellation insurance be taken out.
5.6 Rebooking
If the contractual service is rebooked at the guest’s request, the Tourist Info shall not charge any rebooking fees up to 45 days before the arrival. Rebooking requests after expiry of this period may not be considered, unless these do not result in special effort and only minor costs. The guest shall be free, however, to make a new booking after withdrawing from the contract under the terms above.
5.7 Premature Contract Termination
If the contract has been concluded for a definite period, it shall end upon expiry of the agreed term. If the guest terminates the contract prematurely, the Service Provider’s entitlement to the full booking total shall remain unaffected. The Service Provider shall endeavour, however, to have the contractually agreed but unclaimed service used otherwise in the ordinary course of its business, but shall not be obliged to make special efforts. The contract with the Service Provider shall end in the case of the guest’s death.
5.8 Collaterals
If a guest fails to pay the agreed booking total at all or in good time, the Service Provider shall have a lien over the things brought in by the guest to collateralise its receivables from the rendered service including the expenses. It shall thus have the right to retain the items underlying the lien until payment is effected and may exploit them to satisfy its claims under the legal regulations, where appropriate.
6. Purchase Contracts
6.1 Offer and Acceptance
Besides its tourism service, the Tourist Info shall occasionally also offer goods for purchase. The customer’s order shall be a binding offer for the conclusion of a purchase contract. This offer shall be deemed accepted by the Tourist Info if it confirms the order within a period of 2 weeks or delivers the ordered goods.
6.2 Instruction Under the Distance Selling Act
6.2.1 All orders for goods from the Tourist Info by a consumer shall be subject to a right of withdrawal of two weeks. The right of withdrawal may be exercised without giving reasons, either in text form (e.g. letter, fax, e-mail) or by sending the goods back within two weeks after receipt of delivery. Sending the goods or giving notice of withdrawal to the Tourist Info in due time shall be sufficient for compliance with the deadline, provided that the goods are unused and in the original packaging.
6.2.2 Subject to the regulation under c), the goods shall be sent back at the Tourist Info's expense. The return shipping costs shall be paid only by the customer as an advance. The goods must be sent back by postal parcel to the extent that they can be dispatched as such. The return shipping costs shall be refunded to the customer after the return together with the purchase price. A “carriage forward” or cash on delivery parcel of the goods to be returned to the Tourist Info shall not be admissible.
6.2.3 If the value of the goods is less than EUR 40, the return shipping costs shall be borne by the purchaser. Purchasers abroad shall bear any additional bank costs incurred for a return to the Tourist Info.
6.2.4 If the customer is responsible for the deterioration or destruction of the goods, the customer shall be obliged to pay damages. This shall also apply if any putting into use as intended results in a reduction in value. Any putting into use as intended that only serves to check the goods shall be excluded. When using the goods, the customer shall be obliged to surrender the usages.
6.2.5 The right of withdrawal shall apply neither to goods which are clearly tailored to the personal needs (e.g. logo items), are unsuitable for being sent back due to their nature, are quickly perishable or have passed their expiry date nor to audio or video recordings or software with you having unsealed the delivered data storage media nor to newspapers, journals and magazines.
7. Additional Payment Terms
The booked service shall generally be paid in cash, by bank transfer (advance payment) or direct debit. Neither the Tourist Info nor the respective Service Provider shall be obliged to accept cashless means of payment (cheque, Eurocheque card credit card or the like) or foreign currencies for payment.
8. Warranty / Liability
8.1 The details and information of the provision body are based on statements and indications of the respective event organisers and Service Providers. The provision body does not assume any warranty for the accuracy of these details.
8.2 The provision body does further not assume any warranty for services, especially not for the content, implementation, sequence or quality of services or events or for the accuracy of the information transmitted by the Service Provider. The Service Providers alone shall be responsible for this.
8.3 The Service Provider’s contractual liability for any damage that is not bodily injury (including damage for any breach of pre-, sub- and post-contractual duties) shall be limited to three times the travel price, to the extent that any damage to the guest was caused by neither wilful intent nor gross negligence or the Service Provider is responsible for any damage caused to the guest only due to fault by a vicarious agent.
8.4 The Service Provider shall not be liable for default in connection with services which are not contractually agreed principal services and, recognisably for the guest, not part of a package offer of the Service Provider and are merely provided as third-party services upon booking of the package offer or during the stay (e.g. sports events, theatre visits, exhibitions, excursions, etc.) and marked as third-party services.
8.5 The Tourist Info shall be exclusively liable for any errors made by itself or its vicarious agents in the provision. The liability for the booked service itself and for default/deficiencies in the service provision shall be exclusively incumbent upon the respective Service Provider.
8.6 Any liability by a lodging establishment under the regulations for the innkeepers’ liability under sections 701 et seqq. BGB shall remain unaffected by the regulations above.
9. Statute of Limitations
9.1 The guest's claims towards the Service Provider and/or the Tourist Info for any legal reason whatsoever, except for claims from tort, shall come under the statute of limitations after one year. Claims from tort shall come under the statute of limitations under the legal regulations.
9.2 The statute of limitations shall start with the end of the year in which the claim arose and the guest gains or, without gross negligence, should gain knowledge of the circumstances substantiating the claim and of the Service Provider as the obligor.
9.3 If negotiations about the claim or the circumstances substantiating the claim are pending between the guest and the Service Provider or the Tourist Info, the statute of limitations shall be suspended until the guest or the Service Provider or the Tourist Info refuses to continue the negotiations. The statute of limitations shall come into effect three months after the end of the suspension.
10. Place of Jurisdiction and Applicable Law
10.1 The entire legal and contractual relationship between the Tourist Info or the Service Providers and guests not having a place of general residence or business in Germany shall be exclusively governed by German law.
10.2 Legal actions against the Tourist Info or the Service Providers must be taken at their seat.
10.3 Legal actions by the Tourist Info or a Service Provider against the guest shall be governed by the guest’s place of residence, unless the action is brought against fully qualified merchants, legal entities under public or private law or persons having relocated their place of residence or usual abode to a foreign country after conclusion of the contract or whose place of residence or usual abode is unknown at the time the action is taken. In these cases, the seat of the Tourist Info or of the Service Provider shall be decisive.
Effective date of the General Terms & Conditions: September 2019
