Travel With Confidence

If you're ready for a getaway, we've got your back!

Due to the ongoing impact of COVID-19, the safety and wellbeing of all of our travellers, leaders, suppliers and staff remains our top priority. Not only have we updated our booking policies so you can flexibly amend booking arrangements before departure and get the most out of your holidays while away, we have also introduced new measures and safety guidelines so you can travel with GoKo Travels safely and securely.

This policy will be updated as public health recommendations change both locally and globally for the purpose of your safety.

What does this new booking policy mean for me?

Fully Flexible bookings for peace of mind - We understand that sometimes plans change. That's why GoKo Travels have updated our booking policies, so you now have full flexibility to change your travel plans if needed.

Our flexible booking policy includes:

  1. Free date changes up to 45days prior to departure - with no interest or added fees*
  2. Full refund giving if you have to cancel the trip due to any COVID-19 related issues or international restrictions.
  3. You can now lock in your trip with a small refundable deposit (unless stated) and then pay the rest in instalments whenever you like, with no interest or fees.

*This excludes changes on international flights, and any non-refundable in-destination costs - including if you have to make non-refundable deposits at time of booking)

Book with Confidence

  • Full Flexibility

    Free date changes and cancellations up to 45-days before departure on the majority of our holidays

  • Your Money is Safe

    Full financial Protection on all of our bookings so you can travel with piece of mind.

  • COVID-19 Commitment

    Full refund given if you have to cancel the trip due to any COVID-19 related issues or international restrictions.

  • Travelling Safely

    When you travel with us you can be confident that all of our holidays meet COVID-19 safety regulations.

Our NEW COVID-19 Safety Guidelines to protect you every step of the way

As we start planning our return to running trips, the safety and wellbeing of our travellers, leaders, and guides remain our top priority. As such, all of our tours will now undergo a comprehensive risk assessment and audit before they take place, and a number of key safety measures will remain a priority throughout every trip.

Top Trip Changes

Physical Distancing

Alongside other COVID-19 protocols such as enhanced hygiene and sanitation to help reduce the risk of group travel, we ask all of our group members and staff to follow the recommended guidelines that physical distancing remains as 1.5m/5ft apart from others whenever possible. Leaders will be fully briefed on physical distancing local regulations and will communicate these to customers as required and unnecessary physical contact between group members and/or the leader such as handshakes or hugs will be avoided.

Group Sizes

GoKo Travels core product offering is based on small group adventures and relaxing getaways.

With our priority being your safety, we want all of our holidays to carry a less inherent risk of COVID-19. As such, all of our group tours will have a maximum capacity of 8 people and our accommodation-only bookings will be capped at a maximum of 10 until further notice.

Any product that includes activities or transport options that will force you to interact with large groups (e.g. busses, trains, site tours etc) will be carefully risk assessed before agreeing to operate. As we continue to follow local government guidance on allowable group sizes, we may make the decision to reduce group sizes for the entire trip or for certain activities and environments - including restaurants and transfers.

Room Sharing (applies to group tours only)

On our adventure tours, GoKo Travels mainly operates products that are based on twin share accommodation, allowing single travellers the chance to share accommodation with their new travel friends. We will continue to offer this as an option, with single supplements available whenever possible for single travellers who do not wish to share a room. For those who do choose to share a room with a fellow traveller, we will do our best to ensure that you will be with the same roommate for the entire trip to support social distancing efforts and enhance safety.

Before Any GoKo Holiday

Before you travel, we recommend you check your government’s travel advisory and the World Health Organization website for the most up to date information about destinations and permitted travel from each country.

In line with this, GoKo Travels has also put in action sets to ensure safety before you even board your flight:

Expert Support

We are here to help. If you have any questions prior to your trip, you can be confident knowing we will be able to update you on anything COVID-19 related; including local regulation and restriction updates, quarantine measures and visa requirements.

COVID-19 Destination & Itinerary Audits:

Alongside monitoring destinations on a rolling month by month basis, all of our hotels and itineraries will be reviewed and promise to make suitable amendments to ensure all of our trips can operate safely under the new government protocols.

Our audits will monitor local regulations, laws and healthcare standards that may impact operations (e.g., distancing, group sizes, face-masks, covid-19 testing etc), enforce supplier checks, review itinerary options and assess transport suitability’s.

Self-assessment before departure

Customers will need to assess their health before departure. If they have any symptoms or risk of exposure, they should tell us immediately and will not join the trip. Instructions about what to do and who to contact in this event will be provided to customers prior to departure.

To ensure this, we have introduced a self-assessment questionnaire which must be taken by all travellers 72 hours before departure date. If a passenger is to answer “yes” to certain questions, they need to provide a negative test result(s) before they will be able to join.

COVID-19 Testing

GoKo Travels will not require a negative COVID-19 test as proof of health from customers or leaders at this stage unless it is required by local law or regulations, or they have answered “yes” to certain of the questions in the self-assessment COVID-19 questionnaire.

This is partially due to the lack of availability of testing for people with no symptoms in many parts of the world. However, GoKo Travels is monitoring the development of rapid testing as well as COVID vaccines. It is likely that these will be a central part of entry/exit requirements for international travel. It’s possible that one or both may be a requirement for carriage on future trips.

While Travelling On A Goko Holiday

(This section only applies to group adventure holidays)

While you are on a GoKo Adventure Tour, there are a number of standards we endeavour to meet:

Group Meetings and Self Declaration forms

Upon arrival, there will be a group meeting in which all customers will be asked to complete a self-declaration form to identify any high-risk customers on day 1 of the trip. If you answer ‘yes’ to any of the questions, you will not be able to continue on the trip and your tour leader will advise you on the next steps.

Any group meetings that are held, will take place outside or in well-ventilated spaces. All leaders, guides and customers will be advised to practice physical distancing until after all customers have completed the self-declaration process.

Physical Distancing

Throughout the trip, we will ask all group members and staff to follow the recommended guidelines that physical distancing remains as 1.5m/5ft apart from others whenever possible. Leaders will be fully up to date on social distancing and local regulations and will communicate these to customers as required and unnecessary physical contact between group members and/or the leader such as handshakes or hugs will be avoided as much as possible.

Masks

GoKo Travels follows the advice of the World Health Organisation (WHO) on mask use. As it stands, GoKo Travels asks that all customers, leaders and crew wear masks in any situation or place that is required by local government advice.

For now, this includes: Public and private transport, amongst crowds or places where physical distancing is difficult and Indoors (particularly in places with poor ventilation)

In countries, with low or no community transmission, masks may not be mandatory on any part of the trip. However, GoKo encourages customers, leaders, crew and suppliers to wear masks if they feel safer doing so.

Room Sharing

On our adventure tours, GoKo Travels mainly operates products that are based on twin share accommodation, allowing single travellers the chance to share accommodation with their new travel friends. We will continue to offer this as an option, with single supplements available whenever possible for single travellers who do not wish to share a room. For those who do choose to share a room with a fellow traveller, we will do our best to ensure that you will be with the same roommate for the entire trip to support social distancing efforts and enhance safety.

Hand Hygiene

Protection against COVID-19 as well as other transmissible diseases requires enhanced protocols in hygiene and sanitation. Handwashing is one of the most important safety measures to prevent the spread of disease. As such, GoKo Travels will actively reinforce its importance by implementing a handwashing policy that highlights when, how often and for how long all leaders, guiders and customers must wash their hands on-trip.

Transport

GoKo travels will aim to use small private transport vehicles wherever possible. When using private vehicles we will maintain a high level of hygiene standards. These standards will include:

  1. The cleaning of every surface after use
  2. Customers being assigned their own seat for every journey
  3. Hand sanitiser must be used before embarking and masks must be worn throughout the duration of the trip.

However, at times local transport will be required. If local transportation is used, precautions will be followed in adherence to local health and safety regulations to keep you as safe as possible. You can find more information about the type of transportation we use in the “Need-to-Knows” section of each specific trip - as transportation methods vary for each holiday.

Falling sick on GoKo Trip

If you begin to sick or experience any COVID-19 symptom after the initial self-assessment on day 1, you must tell your tour leader immediately before returning to your room to self-isolate immediately. Your tour leader will take all necessary steps to keep both you and your group members safe, before removing you from the tour.

Likewise, all of our guides and tour leaders will implement a staff-screen process to monitor their own COVID-19 symptoms. Any staff with symptoms will be sent/kept home and instructed to seek medical advice as per local health and safety regulations.

Finally - Don't Forget Travel Insurance

Wherever you’re travelling to, getting the right travel insurance at the time of booking is one of the most important things to do. Not only are you required to have suitable insurance on every single one of our GoKo holidays, we strongly advise you to purchase a policy that is tailored to your individual needs and includes extensive COVID-19 cover.

We further advise that your policy includes cancellation prior to travel should you be required to medically quarantine, curtailment of your trip and medical expenses whilst abroad (this is partially helpfully when needing to cancel flights)

Looking to Carbon Offset?

Although all of our GoKo holidays promise to warm your hearts, we don’t want it to contribute to warming the planet.

Upon request, we can help you go Carbon Neutral. Thanks for our contacts, we can support a 3-step carbon offset scheme to calculate and neutralise your holiday footprint, allowing you to travel conscious free. This covers every step of the journey where you travel with us, from international flights to hotel heating, transport, food and more.

If requested, the GoKo Carbon Offsetting scheme does not focus on just planting trees, but rather the purchasing, persevering and protecting standing forests from deforestation and degradation - helping revive forests back to full health and avoiding the release of stored carbon. This also enables the regeneration of degraded habitats, which gradually re-absorb atmospheric CO2.

Night time campsite with sky full of stars

Why GoKo Travels?

  • Sustainability Guaranteed

    A holiday with GoKo Travels aids in preserving biodiversity, conserving wildlife and supporting local communities.

  • Local Experts

    When travelling with us, our fully qualified local guides, staff and leaders work with us to organise all logistics, meet international travel standards and endeavour to keep you safe.

  • Complete Flexibility

    Free date changes and cancellations up to 45 days before departure on the majority of our holidays and adventures.

  • Exceptional Support

    Experience exceptional expert support from start to finish with a designated travel manager and in-country team leader.