Privacy & Cookies Policy
The World Expeditions Travel Group respects your privacy
The protection of your personal information is very important to us, and we believe that you should know how the information is utilised. Our commitment to ensuring the privacy and security of your information is set out below.
References made to The World Expeditions Travel Group (WETG) includes our various brands and divisions that you may deal with, including World Expeditions, UTracks, Tasmanian Expeditions, Australian Walking Holidays, World Expeditions Schools, Adventure South NZ, Trail Journeys, Sherpa Expeditions, Sherpa Van, Huma Charity Challenge, the Blue Mountains Adventure Company,Great Canadian Trails (and more). For more information on our brands visit The World Expeditions Travel Group website.
This Privacy Policy applies to all your dealings and governs data collection and it’s usage. By using our websites and services you consent to the data practices described in this statement.
What personally identifiable information do we collect ?
Depending on how you choose to interact with any of the WETG group of companies, we collect personally identifiable information to allow us to provide the services as requested. Such information includes:
1. Your name, address, date of birth, gender, email address, telephone numbers, postal address, medical and dietary information, passport details, travel insurance details and previous outdoor experience.
2. Details of previous trips or events you have attended or enquired about
3. Information provided through our customer surveys
4. Your travel preferences and other details from your online interactions with us including your use of our systems and services such as our website and/or social media pages, IP addresses
5. Any additional information collected and provided by your travel agent or other third party websites you may book our trips through
How do we collect your personal information?
When making an enquiry or booking a trip we hold certain information so that we can transact your request.
You may supply your information when making an enquiry on our website, sending us a direct email, providing information over the phone, interacting with our social media channels, subscribing to competitions on our website, our various social media channels, or at third party events, through market research, or by supplying your information to a third party, for example a travel agent or online affiliate who you utilise. We update your information where possible to ensure we fulfil your requests accurately.
When you visit our websites we collect information, such as your IP address, device information site visit history via the use of cookies. We also track a visitors behaviour to help provide us with analytical insights and tailored marketing campaigns. You can review our Cookie Policy further below.
How do we use your personal information?
World Expeditions collects and uses your personal to ensure we can fulfil your requests and to provide a more personalized experience. This can include:
• Providing the relevant requested trip information either online or through the post
• Registering you for an information evening or special event
• Providing trip documentation once booked either online or through the post
• To fulfil your booking by updating our local operators and partners with personal information such as medical or dietary information so they can operate the trip safely, providing information to local authorities to secure relevant permits required for your trip, or liaising with insurers or your emergency contacts in case of an emergency
• Where you have requested us to book airline services or additional pre or post tour services, we will provide your full name, date of birth and when it is required, your passport details, to providers of these services.
We may also use your information to market relevant products and events that we believe you may be interested in by way of:
• Sending tailored emails or postal communication (which you can always opt-out of)
• Remarketing ads on social media or the wider internet
Who do we share your information with?
Sharing your information is required to fulfil your booking or enquiry.
• We do not sell or trade any of your personal information collected.
• We will only share your information with overseas suppliers who require it to fulfil your booking. We have no control over how these suppliers hold or utilise your personal information.
• We will be required to share your information with overseas local authorities in order to obtain relevant permits that are required to fulfil your booking.
• We may operate competitions or other promotions from time to time where you will be asked if you are happy to share your information with a third party partner. That third party will be clearly identified. In such cases, if you give clear consent for your information to be shared we will do so.
• We may share information with external market research companies for research purposes only. They will not be authorised to hold your information for any other purpose.
Your choice to ‘opt out’ is respected
If you have opted to receive enewsletter communications from us and at a later stage change your mind, you may at anytime remove yourself from that email distribution list by;
1. Clicking the ‘unsubscribe’ link at the bottom of every email,
2. Or by forwarding the email you received to the company email address advertised at the bottom of the email you received.
Links to other websites
The various WETG websites may contains links to other websites. Please be aware that when you click on one of these links, you are entering another website. We encourage you to read the privacy statements of these linked websites as their privacy policy may differ from ours.
Correct and up-to-date information
If you would like to verify or change the data we have received from you please contact your nearest World Expeditions office. Please note that you will need to verify your identity before we can disclose the information we hold. Access requests may be subject to a fee of AU$25 to cover the costs associated with providing the details of the information we hold about you.
Your rights
You have the right to ask us not to process your personal identifying data for marketing purposes and the right to erasure. We will inform you before collecting your personal identifying data if we intend to use your personal identifying data for such purposes. To exercise your rights contact our Data Protections Officer.
Cookie Policy
The WETG websites use "cookies" to help you personalise your online experience and communications from us. One of the primary purposes of cookies is convenience features to save you time. You have the ability to accept or decline cookies.
Cookies help collect anonymous information
In order to continually improve our website and ensure its relevance to our viewers we collect anonymous clickstream information from every visitor via the use of cookies. This may include pages viewed, date, time, device used, browser type and IP numbers that determine domain type and geographic region.
Learn more about cookies here or here.
How does the World Expeditions website use cookies?
- Session cookies: These are used to maintain our link to you as you move throughout the site. These cookies are automatically cleared when you close your browser. They are also used to identify if you have logged in and to maintain that login.
- Permanent cookies: We do not currently use permanent or persistent cookies, however third party services that we use may set cookies that persist after closing the browser. Examples of those services include but are not limited to Google, Youtube, Facebook, Yahoo, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, AddThis, Adroll etc. These are almost exclusively for online advertising.
- Third party cookies: A third-party cookie is one that is placed on a user's hard disk by a website from a domain other than the one a user is visiting. We do not use third party cookies at all and suggest that you consider disabling them in your browser.
Managing cookies on this site
You will be able to navigate our site without cookies enabled. You will also be able to book trips and submit forms.
Removing cookies
If you have accepted a cookie from a site and later wish to remove it you can click here to learn how to do this. Warning: Depending on the process followed removing cookies may remove all cookies from all sites ever visited which may be an unwanted result.
Card security
World Expeditions provides a safe and secure e-commerce environment. We protect the security of your credit card data with the following measures:
• We do not store your credit card details on any of our servers.
• We use PCI compliant payment gateways to provide a secure, encrypted environment for the authorisation of credit card and charge card transactions between your browser and our financial institution.
Complaints
The WETG has nominated a Data Protection Officer who is responsible for handling any complaints you may have about how we handle your privacy.
If you have a complaint regarding our practices and believe your privacy has been compromised or breached you must direct your complaint in writing to our Data Protection Officer at the following addresses:
- Email: [email protected]
- Post to: The Data Protection Officer, Level 5/71 York St, Sydney NSW 2000
Our Data Protection Officer will contact you within 2-3 weeks of receiving your complaint to discuss your concerns further and to assist you with an agreed path to resolution.
Privacy legislation
World Expeditions welcomes the Privacy Amendments (Private Sector) Act 2000 (and the subsequent amendments to this Act) and the 10 Privacy Principles that the Act introduces, as well as the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
If you have any queries, concerns or comments about our Privacy Policy, please contact the nearest World Expeditions office.
Changes to this Statement
The WETG will occasionally update this Privacy and Cookies Policy to reflect company and customer feedback. The WETG encourages you to periodically review this page to be informed of how the WETG is protecting your information.
Last updated: 20 January 2020