Guides terms and conditions

(1.1) In these GTCs, the following capitalized words and phrases shall have the meaning ascribed to them under this Clause 1.1:

• Applicable Law: All laws or regulations that apply from time to time to the offer, promotion, sale and (non-)performance of Tours by the Guide, in any territory or country. Where relevant, the Applicable Law may include the Directive.

• Clause: A clause of the GTCs, unless expressly specified otherwise.

• Directive: Directive EU 2015/2302 of 25 November 2015 on package travel and linked travel arrangements, together with any national transposition thereof, as applicable in any relevant Member State.

• E&S: Explore and Share SA, a company incorporated under Belgian law, with registered offices in 6840 Neufchâteau (Belgium), rue de la Faloise 11 and with company registration number 545.923.423.

• Guide: The certified guide or company employing (whether as employees or self-employed contractors) certified guides who or that subscribes to the Service by the activation of an account in accordance with these GTCs.

• GTCs: These Guide Terms and Conditions, including any variation thereto notified to the Guide from time to time.

• Party(-ies): Individually or collectively, E&S and/or the Guide.

• Platform: The online brokering tool accessible through the Website, on which the Guide is able to promote and offer Tours.

• Quote: A firm offer for sale made by the Guide pursuant to a Request from a User. Such Quote must be in writing and contain all information required under Applicable Law.

• Registration form: The registration form for guides available at https://www.explore-share.com/join-us/

• Request: Any request for information or for a booking made by a User in relation to a Tour.

• Services: The services contemplated under Clause 3.

• Tour: Any service for guided tours offered by the Guide on the Platform. Tours include “standard” tours proposed on the Platform and any bespoke tours organized by the Guide after consultation with the User.

• Tour agreement: The agreement between the User and the Guide resulting from the acceptance of a Quote by the User and the payment by the User of a (deposit on) the Tour Price, as provided in the GTCs.

• Tour price: The total price, including any taxes, levies or duties due under Applicable Law (such tourist taxes, sales tax, etc.).

• User: Means a user of the Platform who is interested in purchasing a Tour.

• UTCs: The User Terms and Conditions, available under https://www.explore-share.com/terms/

• Website: https://www.explore-share.com and any sub-page or domain.

(1.2) Rules of interpretation. In the GTCs:

• (1.2.1) Headings are for convenience only. They have no influence on the construction or interpretation of the GTCs.

• (1.2.2) Words or phrases used in the plural form include the singular and vice versa. Any gendered term or phrase includes all other genders.

• (1.2.3) The phrases “such as”, “including” or similar phrases or expressions must be understood as introducing a non-exhaustive list of items and must be read as including the phrase “but not limited to”.

• (1.2.4) Any Clause containing an obligation to refrain from doing something or taking any action includes obligations (i) to not cause such thing to be done or such action to be taken by others and (ii) to deploy one’s best efforts to prevent others from doing such thing or taking such action.

(2.1) Subject-matter. These GTCs apply to all relations between E&S and the Guide, including the provision of the Services and to the use by the Guide of the Platform and the Website.

(2.2) Acceptance by Guide.  By the mere fact of using the Services, the Platform or the Website, the Guide accepts the application of the GTCs. Notwithstanding the foregoing, E&S is entitled to require from time to time, as a condition precedent to the (further) provision of the Services, that the Guide would expressly confirm his acceptance of the GTCs, including by “tick-the-box” solutions.

(2.3) No other terms and conditions. These GTCs are exclusive of the Guide’s general terms of purchase or similar documents, which do not and shall never apply between the Parties. Any specific terms and conditions completing or modifying the GTCs must be accepted in writing and signed by E&S.

(3.1) Brokering service. E&S offers a brokering service through the Platform available on the Website, on which certified Guides are able to offer Tours for sale to the Users. E&S’ brokering service includes facilitating communications and the booking process between the Guide and the User through tools such as a built-in chatbox, videoconferencing, e-mails, WhatsApp or similar instant messaging platforms, etc.

(3.2) Collection agent. E&S can act as collection agent of the Guide in relation to payments requested from and made by the Users when booking a Tour through the Platform. Payments received by E&S from users shall be forwarded to the Guide’s account by (international) wire transfer, less costs and commissions, as provided under Clause 8.4.1.

(3.3) **Promotion of Tours.**E&S undertakes, at its discretion, to directly or indirectly (e.g. via promotion for the Platform as a whole) promote the Tours offered by the Guide on the Platform through several channels, including, social media, the Internet, the Website, affiliate websites, business partner network, emailing to Users, mobile applications, and third-party websites.

(3.4) Collection of User feedback. E&S will seek to obtain and will collect reviews and feedback on the Guide and Tours from the Users who have booked and participated in a Tour. Any feedback will be shared with the Guide.

(3.5) E&S’ obligations in performance of the Services. Save for the obligation to forward to the Guide any payments received on his behalf, E&S’ obligations in performing the Services are best efforts obligations. E&S shall incur no liability for any delay or breach of these GTCs unless the Guide demonstrates that E&S has dedicated insufficient commercial resources or efforts reasonably required to perform the Services in accordance with the GTCs.

(3.6) Continuity of Services. The Guide acknowledges that the provision of the Services is contingent upon E&S being and remaining properly supplied by several service providers. E&S cannot therefore guarantee that the Services will be available without interruption or on an error-free basis. If and when the Services are interrupted due to events not attributable to E&S (such as power outage, internet failure, payment services downtime, etc.…), the only obligation of E&S shall be to provide the Guide, to the best of its abilities, information about such interruption of the Services and the estimated duration of such interruption. E&S shall not be liable for any damage suffered by the Guide in respect of such an interruption.

(3.7) Discontinuance. E&S is constantly changing and improving the Services. E&S may add or remove functionalities or features which may suspend or stop a Service altogether, provided that reasonable advance notice is provided to the Guide.

(3.8) Restrictive covenants. The Services must be used in good faith. The Guide may not use the Services for any malicious purpose, such as:

• (3.8.1) copying, modifying, altering, adapting, disclosing, translating, porting, reverse engineering, decompiling, or disassembling any portion of the Platform and/or of the Website in any way;

• (3.8.2) interfering with, disrupting, or making accessible to third parties (the operation of) the Platform and/or the Website, the servers or networks that host the Platform and/or the Website, or disobey any law, regulation, requirement, procedure, policy, in this respect;

• (3.8.3) interfering with or violating any other Guide’s or User’s right to privacy or other rights, or harvest or collect data and information about others without their express consent, whether manually or with the use of any robot, spider, crawler, site search or retrieval application, or other manual or automatic device or process to retrieve, index and/or data-mine information;

• (3.8.4)defaming, abusing, harassing, stalking, threatening, or otherwise violate the legal rights of others, or include such unlawful, hateful, obscene, indecent, or otherwise illegal content in the ads, banners and/or content posted, transferred or uploaded on or through the Platform and the Website.

(4.1) Indefinite term. The GTCs enter into force between the Parties as soon as they are accepted by the Guide in accordance with Clause 2.2. They shall remain into force until the relationship between E&S and the Guide is terminated in accordance with this Clause 4.

(4.2) Termination by Guide. The Guide is entitled to terminate his relation with E&S at any time and with immediate effect by a notice served to E&S.

(4.3) Termination by E&S. E&S is entitled to terminate its relationship with the Guide:

• (4.3.1) Without cause, at any time, with 30 days’ month’s prior notice.

• (4.3.2) For cause, with immediate effect and without need for prior judicial authorization or prior notice of default in case (i) of breach of the GTCs by the Guide which is incapable of remedy or (ii) of breach of the GTCs by the Guide which is not remedied within 30 days of a notice thereto. The Parties agree that the following circumstances shall constitute breaches of the GTCs that are deemed to be incapable of remedy:

*   (a) The Guide has repeatedly received negative feedback from Users who have booked a Tour with him or repeatedly breaches the GTCs.

*   (b) The Guide has provided incorrect, incomplete, inadequate or misleading information to E&S or to the User.

*   (c) The Guide has delegated a Tour to another Guide without obtaining the agreement of the User.

*   (d) Any breach by the Guide of his obligations under Clauses 5.1, 5.4, 9.2, 9.5 or 11.

(4.4) Suspension. E&S has the right to temporarily suspend the Services and block the Guide’s access to his account and/or the Platform and/or withdraw the display of the Guide’s Tour(s) from the Platform if and for so long as there are concrete indications that the Guide is not complying with his obligations under the GTCs.

(4.5) Notification of termination or suspension.  E&S shall notify the Guide of the suspension or of the termination of the Services decided in accordance with these Clauses 4.3.2 or 4.4 in writing. E&S shall, at the latest together with such notification, notify in writing the reasons for such termination or suspension.

(4.6) Consequences of termination or suspension. Upon termination or suspension of the relation between E&S and the Guide, for any reason:

• (4.6.1) As soon as technically possible, E&S shall (temporarily) close the Guide’s profile and account and all Services shall (temporarily) terminate.

• (4.6.2) The Guide shall remain bound to perform Tours booked by any User prior to the date of termination. For the sole purpose of performing these Tours, the GTCs shall be deemed to remain into force between the Parties.

• (4.6.3) The rights granted to E&S under Clauses 12, 13 and 17 shall survive termination.

(5.1) Registration Form. The provision of the Services is subject to the Guide creating, and E&S activating, an account on the Platform. To create such account the Guide is required to provide the information requested in the Registration Form. The Guide represents and warrants that any information provided through the Registration Form is in all respects true, accurate, complete and not misleading, both at the time the information is provided and until the effective termination of the relation with E&S. The Guide must keep up to date any information required by E&S, whether through the Registration Form or otherwise.

(5.2) Registration fee. The creation of an account may be subject to the receipt of a one-time registration fee, as provided in the Registration Form. The registration fee is non-refundable, except if E&S refuses to activate the Guide’s account in accordance with Clause 5.3.

(5.3) Account activation. E&S will carry out reasonable due diligence on the information provided by the Guide (which may include one or more interviews). If such due diligence is satisfactory to E&S and upon receipt of the subscription fee, E&S will activate the Guide’s account. E&S shall, however, be entitled to refuse the activation of the Guide’s account if there are reasonable grounds for such refusal, such as the absence of certification by the Guide by a recognized body or administration, missing information, etc.

(5.4) Account strictly personal.  The Guide’s account is strictly personal and the Guide must not to disclose the details of his account or allow access thereto to others. The Guide is and remains in all circumstances responsible and liable towards E&S and others for any activity on his account, including for statements made on the Platform. The Guide must immediately inform E&S if he loses control over his account or if his account is stolen, hacked or otherwise compromised.

(6.1) Profile & Tours. Guides will have their own personal profile pages where they need to publish the relevant information in regard to the Tours they offer, such as but not limited to: description of the Tours, Itinerary, pictures, price per person, level required and other Information the Guide decides to incorporate.

(6.2) Edition of information by E&S. Notwithstanding the Guide’s responsibility to provide accurate information and in order to assure consistency and quality on the Platform, before uploading the Guide’s profile page and the proposed Tours, E&S will be entitled to edit the content provided by the Guide in accordance with Clause 6.1. The Guide must review the content so edited by E&S. If the Guide does not react within 10 (ten) days from a request for approval submitted by E&S, the edited content will be considered as approved.

(6.3) No obligation to accept content. E&S reserves the right to reject or revise any display of the Guide’s Tour or information related to the Guide’s profile and services on the Website, at any time and for any reason in E&S's sole discretion.

(6.4) Publishing Fee. E&S may charge the Guide a fixed fee upon publication of a Tour. The amount of this fee shall be communicated to the Guide before any commitment from the Guide to publish a Tour. This one-off publishing fee is non-refundable.

(6.5) Ranking. The Guides acknowledge that the Tours promoted on the Platform are ranked  according to three criteria, i.e., the volume of revenue generated by the Guide for E&S, the number and quality of User reviews transmitted through the Platform and the number of bookings achieved by a Tour.

(7.1) User Requests. Any Request will be notified to the Guide by e-mail. The Guide can (i) accept the Request; (ii), modify the Request according to availability and price; (iii) decline the Request, or (iv) chat with the User through the tool built into the Platform before accepting or declining the Request.

(7.2) Quote. To accept a Request, the Guide must draw up and transmit to the User a Quote.

(7.3) Exceptional circumstances. Where the circumstances and a uniform User experience require or make it desirable, E&S will be entitled to ask the Guide to include, at the latest in his Quote, temporary terms and conditions specific to those circumstances. Such exceptional circumstances include restrictions on (international) travel (e.g. E&S will be entitled to ask the Guide to include specific cancellation terms in case of epidemics or pandemics).

(7.4) Acceptance of Quote. Acceptance of the Quote by the User will be made subject to payment of (a deposit on) the Tour Price within a certain period. When such payment is received in accordance with Clause 8.2, the Guide and the User will be provided with booking confirmations and the Guide shall obtain the User’s contact details (consisting at least of the User’s e-mail address). The Guide must contact the User after the Tour has been booked, in order to arrange the final details of the Tour and provide any further information that the User needs to know before the Tour. The Guide must only block his schedule and start organizing the Tour upon payment by the User (whether directly to the Guide or to E&S in accordance with Clause 8.1) of the (partial or full) downpayment provided in the Quote.

(7.5) Declined or unanswered Requests. In case the Guide declines a Request or fails to answer it within a reasonable period, E&S shall have the right to redirect the User to another guide to provide the same or another Tour. E&S will assume no liability whatsoever in case it makes use of this right.

(8.1) Payment methods. The Guide commits to accept payments due under an accepted Quote by:

• (8.1.1) Wire transfer into E&S account (acting as a collection agent);

• (8.1.2) Wire transfer into the Guide´s account;

• (8.1.3) Online payment solutions as established in https://www.explore-share.com/faq/ "How can I pay for my trip?"

• (8.1.4) Other payment methods established by the Guide and User jointly.

(8.2) Bank details. The Guide undertakes to provide E&S with the necessary bank details, including the bank account number and any other relevant information, to allow E&S to carry out the payment of the Quote to the Guide. If the Guide fails to provide the necessary information within one (1) year from the date of payment for the Tour by the User, payment’s guarantee to the Guide cannot be ensured.

(8.3) Invoicing. The Guide remains solely responsible for invoicing the Tour Price to the User, even when the Tour Price is paid into E&S’ account (acting as the Guide’s collection agent).

(8.4) Payment schedule. The Guide accepts that the User shall pay for the Tour according to any of the following options:

• (8.3.1) pay full amount of the total price established by the Guide, which must include taxes and other fees required under the Applicable Law;

• (8.3.2) pay a maximum of 25% (twenty five per cent) deposit of the total price established by the Guide (which must include taxes and other fees required under the Applicable Law) and the remainder at the latest 45 (forty five) days before the start of the Tour.

(8.5) User Fee. The Guide is informed that E&S will charge the User a fee contingent on the total Tour Price, in accordance with the UTCs in force from time to time.

(8.6) Commission.  E&S will charge the Guide the Commission for the provided Services, which percentage will be agreed upon between the E&S and Guide in accordance to each particular Tour. The Commission will be comprised between 0% (zero per cent) and 20% (twenty per cent) of the Tour Price (to be increased with VAT if applicable) as charged to the User. For the sake of clarity, the Commission is calculated on any amount that is effectively paid to the Guide (e.g., in case of cancellation a commission shall be due on the cancellation fee, if any, but not on the entire Quote price and in case the Guide upsells services to the User after acceptance of his Quote, the Commission shall accrue payable on those upsales as well).  The Commission will be invoiced and paid as follows: 

• (8.6.1)If the Tour Price is collected by E&S in accordance with Clause 8.1.1, E&S shall transfer any sums collected to the Guide after the Tour has been performed or cancelled, with deduction of the Commission and of any other amounts due to the User by way of refund (if applicable). The Commission will be invoiced to the Guide at the latest on the day of transfer of the Tour Price into his account.

• (8.6.2)If the Tour Price is not paid into E&S’ account, the Guide shall pay E&S the Commission upon receipt of the relevant invoice from E&S, which can be issued as soon as (and proportionally to) the payment of the Tour Price received by or for the account of the Guide. The Guide undertakes to provide E&S with all the relevant information in order to allow E&S to establish its invoice.

(8.7) Commissioned Tours. A Tour sold by the Guide to a User that was put into contact with the Guide via the Platform must be booked through the Platform in accordance with these GTCs and will carry a Commission for E&S. For the avoidance of doubt, whilst the Guide is of course encouraged to do this, E&S does not require any follow-up Tours booked by a same User to be booked through the Platform and such follow-up Tours will not give rise to a commission if booked through other channels than the Platform.

(8.8) Costs & fees. Costs and fees related to payment services or international wire transfers will be borne by the Guide in all circumstances.

(8.9) User dispute. If the User introduces a claim against E&S in relation to a Tour booked by the User, the payment owed to the Guide will be suspended during the period in which the claim is being processed. In the event that the User succeeds in the dispute over the fees, the Guide acknowledges and agrees that E&S will be unable to proceed with any payment to the Guide due to the successful resolution of the dispute in favor of the User.

(9.1) Tour Agreement. The Tour Agreement is formed by the acceptance by the User of the Guide’s Quote, i.e. by the receipt of the User’s (down)payment.

(9.2) E&S not a party to the Tour Agreement. Save for any legal obligation of E&S, E&S is not and will never be a party to and will not accept any responsibility or liability towards the Guide or the User regarding the performance of any Tour Agreement brokered between the Guide and the User. The Guide must not present E&S as a party to the Tour Agreement.

(9.3) (Pre-)contractual information. The Guide accepts that the Applicable Law may require him to provide certain (pre-)contractual information and that such pre-contractual information can be considered as binding in the framework of the Tour Agreement. Generally, the Guide accepts that any information provided on the Platform and in his Quotes will be binding upon him and that the Guide must warrant that this information is true, accurate and not misleading.

(9.4) Written form. The Guide accepts that the Tour Agreement must be in writing. E&S will be entitled to provide the Guide with template documentation in order to facilitate the drafting of Quotes. E&S, however, will accept no liability regarding the complete, accurate, lawful or enforceable nature of any documentation so provided to the Guide. It is the responsibility of the Guide to make sure that his Quotes are compliant with Applicable Law.

(9.5) Personal performance. The Guide must personally perform the Tour booked by the Users, unless specified otherwise in the Quote accepted by the Users and provided that any substitute guide hold at least an equivalent level of certification as the Guide.

(10.1) Cancellation by User. The Guide accepts and understands that Users using the Platform expect uniform and consistent cancellation policies. The Guide therefore accepts that, save for specific terms and conditions clearly stated in the Quote, the Users will be entitled to cancel a Tour by e-mail (and only by e-mail) addressed to the Guide and E&S, at the following conditions:

• 100% (a hundred per cent) refunded if the cancellation is notified up to 60 (sixty) days before the start of the Tour;

• (10.1.2) 75% (seventy-five per cent) refunded if the cancellation is notified between 59 (fifty-nine) and 30 (thirty) days before the start of the Tour;

• (10.1.3) 50% (fifty per cent) refunded if the cancellation refunded if the cancellation is notified between 29 (twenty-nine) and 21 (twenty-one) days before the start of the Tour (minus the Fees);

• (10.1.4) 0% (zero per cent) refunded if the cancellation is notified in writing by email to the Guide less than 21 (twenty-one) days before the first day of the Tour (minus the Fees).

(10.2) **Cancellation in case of exceptional circumstances.**In exceptional circumstances (such as but not limited to bad weather or illness of the Guide) that, in the sole opinion of the Guide, make the performance of the Tour impossible or unsafe, the following procedure will apply:

• (10.2.1) The Guide will inform E&S and the User as fast as possible by e-mail; and

• (10.2.2) Where applicable and if possible (in case of illness for instance), he will propose to be replaced by another guide with at least equivalent certification for the performance of the Tour;

• (10.2.3) He will propose an alternative Tour similar to the initial Tour on the same date; or

• (10.2.4) He will propose to postpone the Tour until a later date; or

• (10.2.5) He will propose to cancel the Tour.

In the case where Guide proposes an alternative Tour similar to the initial Tour, the User will have to accept this alternative Tour or it will be deemed to be a cancellation by User and the refund schedule provided under Clause 10.1 will apply. In the case where Guide cancels or Guide proposes a postponement or substation by another Guide and the User refuses such postponement, then the User shall receive a full refund.

(11.1) General obligation to comply. The Guide acknowledges, accepts and warrants that, in relation with any Tour offered or brokered through the Platform, he will at all times comply with Applicable Law. For the avoidance of doubt, this includes complying with any Applicable Law when publishing, offering, discussing, and performing any Tour.

(11.2) Guide certification. The Guide warrants that, under Applicable Law, he is and will remain at all times during his use of the Services certified and authorized by a competent authority to offer any Tour proposed on the Platform. The Guide must notify any change to his/her certification to E&S including but not limited to the expiration, (non-)renewal or termination, for any reason, of any certification.

(11.3) Insurance. The Guide warrants that he has subscribed to any and all insurance policies required under Applicable Law (including but not limited to any professional liability coverage) and that, at first request, he will provide proof thereof to E&S and/or the User. If the Guide operates in a country or region where Applicable Law does not require specific insurance cover, he must inform the User thereof.

(11.4) Directive. The Guide acknowledges that if a Tour offered to Users qualifies as a “package” or as “linked travel arrangements” in the sense of EU Directive 2015/2302 of 25 November 2015, including its local implementation, he may be subject to specific obligations towards the User. The text of the Directive and associated documentation is available under this link. The Guide must take cognizance of the text of the Directive and notify E&S whether any of the Tours he offers on the Platform are “packages” or “linked travel arrangements” in the sense of the Directive. Where the Directive apply, the Guide acknowledges that he is the sole organizer of the package and/or the sole facilitator of linked travel arrangements offered to the Users through the Platform. Where the Directive is applicable to either the Guide or E&S (in any capacity), the Guide guarantees that he will abide by all the obligations and standards set out in the Directive.

(12.1) Limitation of liability. To the fullest extent permitted under the law applicable to these GTCs, E&S disclaims any and all liability towards the Guide for indirect, immaterial or consequential damage. If found liable towards the Guide, E&S’ liability towards the Guide for any damages not excluded under this Clause 12.1 shall, on aggregate, be limited to the higher of (i) the amount of Commissions effectively paid by the Guide to E&S over the duration of the relationship between the Parties, or (ii) EUR 10,000 (ten thousand Euros).

(12.2) Indemnification. The Guide must defend and hold harmless E&S from any complaint, claim or demand (whether monetary or other) made by third parties against E&S based or in relation to any breach by the Guide of the Applicable law, of these GTCs or of any Tour Agreement. The Guide shall indemnify E&S for any reasonable costs incurred by E&S in defending or investigation such third party claims.

(12.3) Handling of third party claims. In cases where the Guide is obliged to indemnify E&S in accordance with Clause 12.2, E&S shall, at its discretion, be entitled to defend or compromise the relevant third party claim. E&S shall be entitled to implead the Guide, and the Guide accepts to appear, in any type of proceeding commenced by the third party.

(13.1) All rights reserved to E&S. All intellectual property rights from, in and to the Website and/or the Platform and the content thereof, including inventions, patents and patent applications, trademarks, trade names, copyrightable materials, graphics, text, designs, specifications, methods, procedures, algorithms, data, technical data, interactive features, system scripts, graphics, photos, sounds, music, videos, (source and object code), files, interface and trade secrets and the like, whether or not registered and E&S trademarks, service marks and logos contained therein (collectively “Intellectual Property“), are solely owned by or licensed to E&S, and/or subject to copyright and other intellectual property rights under European, foreign laws and international conventions. Except as provided herein, Guide is not granted, either expressly or by implication any license or right to use any of the Intellectual Property without the prior express written permission of E&S.

(13.2) No license granted to Guide. Authorizing a Guide to access the Website and/or the Platform does not imply the waiver, transfer, licensing or full or partial assignment by E&S of any intellectual or industrial property rights. Deleting, bypassing or in any way tampering with the contents of the E&S Website are all prohibited. In addition, modifying, copying, reusing, exploiting, reproducing, publicizing, making second or subsequent publications of, uploading files, sending by post, transmitting, using, processing or distributing in any way all or some of the contents included in the E&S Website for public or commercial purposes are also prohibited, save with E&S’s express written authorization or, where applicable, that of the owner of the rights concerned.

(13.3) Grant of license on published content. By submitting content - in particular texts, photographs, graphics, etc. - to the Website and/or the Platform, the Guide grants E&S a nonexclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, transferable, irrevocable and fully sub-licensable right to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, translate, distribute, publish, create derivative works from and publicly display and perform such content throughout the world in any media, and for any purpose, unless otherwise agreed upon in writing. E&S may limit the use of such content in case Guides requires it by writing.

(13.4) No infringement. The Guide warrants to E&S to have required rights to grant these rights of use in accordance with the present article and that E&S does not infringe any rights of third parties by using this content. The Guide shall indemnify E&S against such claims by third parties.

(14.1) Privacy policy.  E&S respects Guides and Guides privacy and is committed to protecting the personal and business information that Guide shares with it. The Guide has a right to know its practices regarding the information E&S may collect when Guide hires the Service. E&S’ policy and practices and the type of information collected, are described in the Privacy Policy (https://www.explore-share.com/privacy-policy/)

(14.2) No use of personal data except for performance of the GTCs. Except in cases where the communication of personal data to a third party company is required or desirable for the performance of the Services, E&S shall refrain from divulging, selling, leasing or exchanging the personal data to any company or entity other than a company or entity affiliated to E&S, without the prior explicit approval of the Guide.

(14.3) Rights of data subject. According to the applicable legal provisions, the Guide can receive insight or ask for modification of its personal information that is being processed by E&S. The Guide can also object to the utilization of his/her personal information in direct marketing activities, by submitting a corresponding request to E&S.

(15.1) Notices by e-mail.  Any notices or communications to be served or made under the GTCs shall be validly given by e-mail. Any such notice shall be deemed to have been received and read and shall therefore have effect 24 hours after having been sent.

(15.2) Delivery receipt. An automatic delivery receipt generated by a Party’s mailbox shall be sufficient proof of delivery.

(15.3) Contact details. Any e-mails to be sent by E&S shall be validly addressed to (one of) the e-mail address(es) provided by the Guide in the Registration Form, unless any change in these details is properly notified to E&S. Notices to be made to E&S under the GTCs must be sent to guide-help@explore-share.com or any other address notified to the Guide from time to time.

(16.1) Severability. The GTCs are severable. If any of the provisions of the GTCs are deemed null, void, or otherwise unenforceable by a competent authority, this will not affect the remainder of the GTCs and the Parties will renegotiate a lawful provision the effects of which are as close as possible to those of the nullified provisions of the GTCs.

(16.2) No Waiver. No action or omission of E&S shall be construed as a waiver of any right or remedy available to E&S under the GTCs or by law. Any waiver of E&S shall only be valid in writing.

(16.3) Variation. E&S reserves the right, at its discretion, to amend, vary or modify these GTCs from time to time. E&S will provide Guides with thirty (30) days prior notice before any such modifications enter into force. E&S also may notify Guides of the change by using a contact information, email or other means. The revised Terms and Conditions will be effective as of the published effective date.

(17.1) Applicable law. The relation between E&S and the Guide (including any non-contractual elements) is entirely and exclusively subject to Belgian law.

(17.2) Internal complaints handling procedure.  In case of dispute or complaint of any nature concerning the Services, E&S maintains an internal complaint handling procedure which can be triggered by a notification containing full particulars and referring to this Clause 17.2. The Guide’s complaint will then be taken into consideration and will be responded to as swiftly as technically possible by E&S staff. This complaints handling procedure is free of charge and non-mandatory.

(17.3) Jurisdiction. Any and all disputes in relation to the relation between E&S and the Guide shall be adjudicated exclusively by the Courts of Brussels, Belgium.