Thank you for your interest in our private trip program for organizations and affinity groups. 

In addition to offering trips to the public through our brochure program, we have designed many once-in-a-lifetime custom travel experiences for organizations and affinity groups. We have worked with museums, art galleries, alumni groups, non-profits, church groups, theatre groups, book clubs, etc. Past partners include everyone from Queen’s University and World Wildlife Fund Canada to the Alberta Automobile Association and the United Church of Canada. Under the private trip program, in addition to generating revenue for the organization (or generating savings for the group members), you will receive free seats as certain thresholds are met in the group size.  

We understand the challenges of working in these kinds of partnerships, including the appropriate allocation of risk, division of labour and distribution of the rewards. We are also sensitive of the need to balance generating revenue with protecting the integrity of your brand! We work closely with you to ensure that the private trip reflects a unique travel experience tailored to the specific needs and interests of your members. We do all of the work so that you can focus on your objectives.

Please send me an email at awhite@horizon-co.com or call me at 416-585-9911 as soon as you are ready to discuss the next steps or if you would like to receive a comprehensive Private Group package including sample itineraries. References are also available upon request.

Andrew White

When you book your private label trip with Horizon, we begin a process that involves committing ourselves to both you and our contacts around the world. We want to make your experience the very best possible, and to do so we expend a great deal of time and energy in the development of your itinerary. Our planning department begins to organize the details: engaging local guides, booking hotels, reserving restaurants and planning events. All of this involves expenses, some of which we would not be able to recover in the event that you cancel your trip. We have therefore developed this private trip agreement to help clarify the terms and conditions of our partnership.

Step 1

Consultation – The initial consultation with Horizon regarding the private trip agreement process as well as specific destination is free. The amount of time spent on the consultation will vary at the discretion of Horizon, ranging from a couple of hours to a couple of days.

Private Trip Questionnaire - As part of the consultation process, we will ask you to complete our private trip questionnaire (either the simple version for block trips or the detailed version for custom trips).

Block or Custom trip – After the initial consultation, we will need to make a decision whether to block a regular departure or develop a custom trip. Since custom trips require a disproportionate amount of original work, we require the payment of the custom trip development fee before doing any further work. For block trips, which require significantly less up front work, we will begin the process of pulling together the proposed itinerary and the proposed price for free.

Custom Trip Development Fee –A non-refundable custom trip development fee of $500 is required before we begin working on your proposed custom trip itinerary. This fee will be refunded once the trip has been completed or it can be applied against your final balance. [Note that in some cases this fee may be waived – please call us to discuss.]

Private Trip Agreement – Once a decision has been made regarding the block custom issue, we will ask you to sign this private trip agreement.

Business Terms - The private trip agreement will include the business terms identified in Schedule A to this agreement dealing with questions of marketing cost and revenue sharing.

Trip Proposal - As soon as we have signed the private trip agreement, we will begin to develop a preliminary itinerary and pricing proposal. For block trips, once we have received your questionnaire, the process will be fairly easy and should not require extensive discussions or communications. For custom trips, there may be a fair amount of back and forth as the specific itinerary evolves. At the end of this process, we will provide you with a brief trip proposal, including a short itinerary, a departure date and a price range.

Price –The price is based on your itinerary and the number of participants in your group; additions to or withdrawals from the group will alter the price for each participant (although if your group size changes within 30 days, the price will not change). We will provide you with a tiered pricing grid as part of the materials to be signed as part of the deposit and confirmation process.

Terms & Conditions – Along with the trip proposal, we will provide you with a list of the terms and conditions that apply to your specific departure. Upon your approval of the trip, these terms and conditions will govern the relationship between you and Horizon.

Group Deposit – Once you have approved the trip proposal, we require a group deposit of $1,000 per group (refundable outside of 120 days prior to the trip). In charter situations, such as reserving an entire château or chartering a ship, the deposit requirements and cancellation policies will reflect the terms of the charter. At this point we will secure hotel rooms, book events, reserve restaurants and hire local guides. This is due one week after we send you the trip proposal. This deposit will be applied to your final balance.

Individual Deposits - A deposit of $1,000 per person is required to confirm each participant’s reservation. These deposits are due either one month after the group deposit or at the time of booking, and are applied to each person’s final balance.

Balance of Payment -The balance of payment must be received no later than 90 days prior to departure and is payable by cheque or credit card in the same currency as your deposit.

Cancellation Policy – Individual cancellations will be governed by Horizons standard terms & conditions. We strongly recommend that individuals purchase the RBC Insurance Travel Insurance.