PLEASE NOTE all bookings are subject to the terms and conditions that follow. Please read these sections carefully.

If you book through an ABTA Travel Agent all monies you pay to them will be held by them on our behalf until they are paid to us or refunded to you. The holidays in this website are operated by Italia nel Mondo Ltd trading as The Sicilian Experience and governed by English Law and the jurisdiction of the English, Scottish or Northern Ireland Courts as appropriate.

We are a member of ABTA, membership number D0933

Our address is 63 Horseshoe Road, Pangbourne, Berks, RG8 7JL

Our office hours are:-
Monday – Friday 09:00 – 17:30
Saturday 10:00 – 13:00

Your holiday contract

Your contract is between Italia nel Mondo Ltd (the Company) trading as The Sicilian Experience and the person making the booking and/or the person on whose behalf the booking is made (the Client). A contract will exist between the Company and the Client when the client pays a deposit/full payment to the Company or its agent or the Company has verbally confirmed the booking.

Your Financial Protection

Book with confidence. We are a member of ABTA which means you have the benefit of ABTA's assistance & code of conduct. See below for details.We provide full financial protection for our package holidays.

1. For flight-based holidays this is through our Air Travel Organiser's Licence number 2699. When you buy an ATOL protected flight or flight inclusive holiday from us you will receive an ATOL certificate. This lists the flight, accommodation, car hire and/or other services that are financially protected, where you can get information on what this means for you and who to contact if things go wrong. We will provide you with the services listed on the ATOL certificate (or suitable alternative). In some cases, where we aren't able to do so for reasons of insolvency, an alternative ATOL holder will perform those obligations and you agree to pay any money outstanding to be paid by you under your contract to that alternative ATOL holder. However, you also agree that in some cases it will not be possible to appoint an alternative ATOL holder, in which case you will be entitled to make a claim under the ATOL scheme (or your credit card issuer where applicable).

2. When you buy a package holiday that doesn't include a flight, protection is provided by way of a bond held by ABTA. For further information please visit the ABTA website.

Website descriptions

Throughout this website we have sought to give you the fullest and most accurate information on the features and facilities of each hotel, apartment, tour, location and service, to assist you in making the choice of holiday best suited to your personal needs. However, as all these details have to be prepared as much as a year in advance of when you may be travelling, there may be occasions when an advertised item is not, in the event, available on your journey or during your particular stay.

For example, outdoor activities such as terrace bars, beach sports and barbecues can be subject to weather conditions and lack of demand, particularly in early or late season therefore may only be operational during high season (usually 1st July – 31st August). Similarly hotels may occasionally have to amend or curtail certain facilities such as entertainments, courtesy buses etc due to local factors such as licensings laws, religious holidays, government restrictions, or other unforeseen circumstances. Swimming pools have occasionally to be emptied for cleaning or repairs. In some hotels air-conditioning is often only operated at certain times of the day even in hot weather.

Flight schedules and routes (including arrival and departure points) may have to be altered, for example because of change of scheduling. We will advise you if we become aware of a major change, but cannot accept liability for the loss of or alteration in an advertised amenity in such circumstances.

Hotel facilities

Certain hotel and apartment facilities such as private beaches, swimming pools, poolside bars and air conditioning are operational at the owner's discretion and may not be available outside the high season (July & August).

In towns & resorts where public parking is limited (such as Taormina and Siracusa) there is often a charge to use the hotel's private car park. Charges vary and are payable locally.

Your holiday price guarantee & surcharges

We reserve the right to alter the prices of any of the holidays shown in our brochure. You will be advised of the current price the holiday that you wish to book before your contract is confirmed.

When you make your booking you must pay a deposit which will be advised at the time as this will vary according to the flight element which must be covered in full. The balance of payment will be due no later than 8 weeks prior to departure. If your deposit and/or balance is not paid on time we reserve the right to cancel your holiday and if the balance is not paid on time we reserve the right to retain your deposit. The price of your holiday was calculated using the Financial Times Guide to World Currencies on 03 Sept 2020 in the relation to the euro.

Changes in transportation costs (including fuel), dues, taxes or fees chargeable for services such as airport taxes mean that the price of your travel arrangements may change after you have booked. However, there will be no change within 30 days of your departure. We will absorb and you will not be charged for any increase equivalent to 2% of the price of your travel arrangements, which excludes insurance premiums and any amendment charges. You will be charged for the amount over and above that. If this means that you have to pay an increase more than 10% of the price of your travel arrangements, you will have the option of accepting a change to another holiday if we are able to offer one (if this is of equivalent or higher quality you will not have to pay more but if it is of lower quality you will be refunded the difference in price) or cancelling and receiving a full refund on all monies paid except for any amendment charges. Should you decide to cancel for this reason you must do so within 14 days from the date printed on your final invoice. Should the price of your holiday go down due the changes mentioned above by more than 2% of your holiday cost, then any refund due will be paid to you. However, please note that travel arrangements are not always purchased in local currency and some apparent changes have no impact on the price of your travel due to contractual and other protection in place.

When you buy a flight-based holiday, all monies you pay to the travel agent are held by him on behalf and for the benefit of the Trustees of the Air Travel Trust at all times. This is subject to the agent's obligation to pay it to us for so long as we do not fail, any money held at that time by the agent, or subsequently accepted from you by him, is and continues to be held on behalf of and for the benefit of the Trustees of the Air Travel Trust without any obligation to pay that money to us. When you buy a holiday not including a flight, all monies you pay to the travel agent are hold by him on our behalf at all times.

If you change your booking

If, after our confirmation invoice has been issued, you wish to change your travel arrangements in any way, for example your chosen departure date or accommodation we will do our utmost to make these changes but it may not always be possible. Any changes must be requested in writing from the person who made the booking or your travel agent. You may be asked to pay an administration charge and any further costs incurred in making this alteration. Costs could increase the closer to the departure date that changes are made. Note: Certain elements such as airline tickets may not be changeable and could incur cancellation charges up to 100% of that part of the arrangements.

If you cancel your booking 

If, once a reservation has been made, you wish to cancel it, either wholly or in part, a written instruction must be received by The Sicilian Experience, signed either by you or, in the case of a reservation made through a travel agent, by the agent. Cancellation charges will be levied as follows:

If we change or cancel your holiday

As we plan your holiday arrangements many months in advance we may occasionally have to make changes or cancel your booking and
we reserve the right to do so at any time.

Changes: If we make a major change to your holiday, we will inform you or your travel agent as soon as reasonably possible if there is time before your departure. You will have the choice of either accepting the change of arrangements, accepting an offer of alternative travel arrangements of comparable standard from us if available (we will refund any price difference if the alternative is of a lower value) or cancelling your holiday and receiving a full refund on monies paid. In some cases we may also pay compensation (see below). These options do not apply for minor changes. Examples of minor changes include alteration of outward/return flights by less than 12 hours, change of aircraft type or airline, change of accommodation to another of the same or higher standard.
Cancellation: We will not cancel your travel arrangements less than 8 weeks before your departure date except for reasons of force majeure or failure by you to pay the final balance. We may cancel your holiday before this date if, e.g the minimum number of clients require for a particular travel arrangement is not reached. If your holiday is cancelled you can either have a refund of all monies paid or accept an offer of alternative travel arrangements of comparable standard from us, if available (we will refund any price difference if the alternative is of a lower value). In some cases we will pay compensation.
Compensation: If we cancel or make a major change we will pay compensation as detailed below except where the major change or cancellation arises due to reasons of force majeure. The compensation that we offer does not exclude you from claiming more if you are entitled to do so.

Force Majeure: We will not pay you compensation if we have to cancel or change your travel arrangements in any way or you miss your departure because of unusual or unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control. These can include, for example, war, riot, strikes or other industrial action (or threat thereof), terrorist activity and its consequences, volcanic activity, natural or nuclear disaster, fire, flood, adverse weather conditions, epidemics and pandemics, unavoidable technical problems or delays with transport, airport closure. In such circumstances you may be covered under your insurance scheme. Please refer to your policy.

Our Liability - Limitations

The Sicilian Experience only accepts liability for any loss or damage sustained by you as a result of our negligence or breach on contract.

We exercise care and control in our choice of hotels, apartments, airlines, tour operators, restaurants and other organisations involved in the planning and provision of your holiday but as we have no direct control over them we cannot accept liability for acts or omissions whether negligent or otherwise of any of these organisations or their employees.

In particular we have no control over the management of the hotels and in the case of overbooking by a hotel, of which we are not aware before your departure, you will be offered alternative accommodation on arrival. Reasonable compensation for the inconvenience will be offered where the location and/or facilities of the alternative accommodation are reasonably regarded as inferior to that originally booked.

Please note we will of course try to give such reasonable help as we can in the case of a dispute arising between one of our clients and a company, authority of personnel that are neither agents for employees of The Sicilian Experience.

We do not have and cannot accept any liability for any additional costs, loss or damage caused by force majeure (see force majeure above).

All arrangements made by the Company in connection with the booking are subject to contractual terms of the suppliers providing the services that make up your booking. These terms are incorporated into this contract and may limit or extinguish your right to compensation. We are to be regarded as having the benefit of any limit on compensation contained in the relevant international convention. These limit liability for death, injury and loss or damage to baggage. Copies of the international conventions are available on request.

Covid-19 Limitation of liability

We both acknowledge the ongoing COVID-19 global crisis and accept our obligations to comply with any official guidance from governments or local authorities, both in the UK and whilst on holiday.

Please note that we will have no liability for any refunds, compensation, costs, expenses or other losses of any kind incurred by you (including, where applicable, the cost of medical treatment), in the following circumstances:
-   If you, or anyone in your booking party, test positive for Covid-19 and have to quarantine for a period of time, or are notified or
    otherwise become aware that you have, or suspect you may have, come into close contact with someone who has tested positive
    for Covid-19 (or where they otherwise suspect they may have Covid-19) and have to self-isolate for a period of time. If this
    happens within 14 days of your departure date, you must contact us as you may no longer to able to trave. We will offer you the
    following options where possible and subject to availability:
          *  Postponing your holiday to a later date. We will notify you of any impact on the price the postponement may have (please
              note that you may have to pay full cancellation charges on some elements of your holiday such as flight as well as any
              increase in costs imposed by other suppliers)
          *  If not everyone on the booking is affected, you will have the right to transfer your place on the holiday to another person
              nominated by you. However, this will be subject to possible amendment charges and name change conditions imposed by the
              airline.
          *  Cancelling your holiday, in which case we may have to impose our standard cancellation charges as at the date of cancellation
              by you. You may be able to claim these charges back from you travel insurance.
-   If this happens whilst you are on your holiday, please notify us without delay and we will provide such reasonable assistance as we
    can in the circumstances. However, we will not be responsible for covering the cost of any curtailment of your holiday, missed
    transport arrangements, additional accommodation required, or other associated costs incurred by you. You must ensure you have
    travel insurance which covers these costs for you.
-   If you fail any tests, checks or other measures imposed by a supplier, airline, port or airport, border control authority or other
    government body or local authority or fail to submit for testing or assessment when requested to do so, and as such you are
    denied entry to the destination, access to the services or you are otherewise unable to proceed with the holiday or that portion of
    the holiday.

You also acknowledge that the suppliers providing your holiday, including airlines, hotels and excursion providers, will need to comply
with national and/or local guidance and requirements relating to Covid-19, and have implemented certain measures as a result. This
will likely include specific requirements regarding personal protective equipment, such as use of face-masks by staff (and you may be
required to wear a face-mask as well), social distancing, maximum number restrictions on the use of certain facilities, designated
alternative entrance and exit routes, mandatory hand sanitisation, limited entertainment options and limited food/drink availability.
We do not expect these measures to have a significant impact on your enjoyment of the holiday and all measures will be taken with
the purpose of securing your safety and those around you.

If you have a complaint

If you have a problem during your holiday, please inform the relevant supplier (e.g your hotelier) or us immediately in an endeavour to put things right. If your complaint is not resolved locally, please follow this up within 28 days of your return home by writing to our Customer Services Department at The Sicilian Experience, 63 Horseshoe Road, Pangbourne, Berks RG8 7JL giving your booking reference and all other relevant information. If you fail to follow this simple procedure we will have been deprived of the opportunity to investigate and rectify your  complaint whilst you were in resort and this may effect your rights under this contract.
Arbitration: As members of ABTA (membership number D0933) we are obliged to maintain a high standard of service to you by the ABTA Code of Conduct. We are confident that in the few instances of clients complaints an amicable settlement can be reached. If, however, such a settlement cannot be reached the dispute may be referred to ABTA's arbitration scheme.

This scheme is arranged and administered independently. It is a simple and inexpensive method of arbitration on documents alone
with restricted liability on you for costs. The upper limit on claims is £5,000 per person and £25,000 per booking form. The scheme doesn't apply to claims which are soley in respect of physical injury or illness or their consequences. It can however deal with claims which include an element on minor injury or illness subject to a limit of £1500 on the amount the arbitrator can award per person in respect of this element. Your request for arbitration must be received by ABTA within 18 months of the date of return from holiday. Further information can be found on www.abta.com

What the price includes

1. Airport taxes and passenger charges in England and country of destination if flights are included in the holiday (see our price list for full details of what is included).
2. Transfer to and from the resort airport and your hotel or apartment if transfers are included in the holiday (see our price list for full details of what is included)
3. Accommodation with room facilities as confirmed for the duration of the holiday booked.

What the price excludes

1. Transport to and from you UK departure airport.
2. Any supplements indicated on the price panels for extras you wish to reserve.
3. Meals en route between the overseas airport and your hotel and return.
4. Surcharges if applicable. See "Price Guarantee & Increases".
5. Holiday Insurance
6. Car Parking costs
7. Any charges made by hotels & apartments for cots.
8. Local Tourist Taxes (between €1 - €5 per person per night at most most towns & cities) 
9. Local resort representatives.

Airline conditions

Airline tickets are issued subject to the airline's Condition of Carriage. These conditions, some of which limit and exclude liability are, of course, subject to international agreements between governments. You can ask to view an airline's Conditions of Carriage. Airline tickets are strictly non transferable and any costs or consequences arising from on-compliance with this condition are entirely the responsibility of the client.

Special Requests

We are always willing to pass on to an hotelier or an airline a request for a particular type of room, adjoining rooms, special diets, etc, but is must be clearly understood that the ability to meet such requests rests with the hotelier, apartments owner or airline because we do not have exclusive rights. Any additional charges for such arrangements must be paid directly to the supplier and any failure to supply such arrangements is not our responsibility provided we have passed on the request. Please see the "Our Liability Limitations" section of the booking conditions.

Passport, Visa and Immigration Requirements

Your specific passport and visa requirements, and other immigration requirements are your responsibility and you should confirm these with the relevant Embassies and/or Consulates. We do not accept any responsibility if you cannot travel because you have not complied with any passport, visa or immigration requirements.

Foreign and Commonwealth

In conjunction with the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) we wish to ensure your safety whilst on holiday overseas. Therefore before travelling we recommend you visit the FCO website or ABTA information line Tel. 0901 201 5050 (calls are charged at 50p per minute).Your specific passport and visa requirements, and other immigration requirements are your responsibility and you should confirm these with the relevant Embassies and/or Consulates. We do not accept any responsibility if you cannot travel because you have not complied with any passport, visa or immigration requirements.

Data Protection

Please be assured that we have measures in place to protect the personal booking information held by us. This information will be passed on to the principal and to the relevant suppliers of your travel arrangements. The information may also be provided to public authorities such as customs or immigration if required by them, or as required by law. Certain information may also be passed on to security or credit checking companies.

We will only pass your information on to persons responsible for your travel arrangements. This applies to any sensitive information that you give to us such as details of any disabilities, or dietary/religious requirements. (If we cannot pass this information to the relevant suppliers, we will be unable to provide your booking. In making this booking, you consent to this information being passed on to the relevant persons). Full details on our data protection policy are available upon request.