Your money Is protected
Your Money Is Protected
Your Africa. Your Story. Your Way.
Your money is protected before you board a flight
When you book with Your Africa, you are not paying a start-up. You are paying a business unit that is a part of Tourvest Destination Management, one of Africa’s largest destination management groups, trading for 19+ years and moving +150 000 travellers a year across 19 African countries.
Below is exactly who holds your money, what stands behind it, and what happens in every scenario we can think of. All inclusions are clearly and transparently listed.
Tourvest Destination Management
Your Africa is a division of Tourvest Destination Management with 19+ years of trading history and audited financial statements
SATSA-bonded member
Southern Africa Tourism Services Association, independently reviewed every year
ATTA member
African Travel and Tourism Association, London
Protected payments
Every payment is processed by a secure third-party payment vendor (Peach Payments). We never handle your card details
Who you are actually paying
Most travel websites never tell you this. We think it is the first thing you should know.
The legal entity. Your booking contract is with Your Africa, a business unit of Tourvest Destination Management, registration number 2008/003719/07, a South African company. Registered office: Stonewedge Office Park, 1 Wedgewood Link Road, Bryanston, Johannesburg, 2021.
The group behind it. Tourvest Destination Management, a division of Tourvest Holdings (Pty) Ltd, operates 14 brands across 13 African countries, employs 900+ people, and has been arranging travel in Africa since 2007. Its accounts are audited annually by a Big Four audit-firm. View more about Tourvest Holdings and its ownership structure at Ownership Structure – Tourvest. It was listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange from 1997 to 2008 and has retained robust governance structures since. This is the balance sheet standing behind your booking, not a brand with a website and a bank account.
How your payment reaches us. Every card payment runs through our secure third-party payment vendor (Peach Payments), a licensed South African payment provider. You can pay by card, EFT or SWIFT. Your Africa never sees or stores your card number. We do not accept cash.
What we do with it. Your deposit is used to secure and pay the lodges, camps, airlines and guides on your itinerary. We hold it within a group treasury function subject to annual external audit, and we can show you supplier confirmations for every service you have paid for, on request, at any time.
Ask us for it in writing. Any client can request a written confirmation of the entity they are contracting with, our SATSA membership status, and confirmation of supplier bookings held in their name. Email [email protected] and we will send it within one business day.
Four layers of protection
Think of it as four separate things, each covering a different risk.
Layer 1 — The group behind the booking
Risk it covers: the operator disappearing with your money
Your Africa is not a standalone company. It is a business unit of Tourvest Destination Management, a group with 19+ years of continuous trading, audited financials, and long-standing direct contracts with the lodges and airlines on your itinerary. More about Tourvest Holdings and its ownership structure can be viewed here. It was listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange from 1997 to 2008 and has retained robust governance structures since. Your deposit is not funding our next month’s operations.
Layer 2 — SATSA bonding
Risk it covers: money already paid, if a South African tourism business is placed into involuntary liquidation
Every SATSA member in good standing is automatically covered by the SATSA Bonding Scheme, administered by Guardrisk Insurance Company Limited. The scheme exists specifically so that travellers can recover pre-paid funds without having to fight it out with a liquidator. We tell you the limits honestly in section "What is protected, and what is not", because a protection you misunderstand is not a protection.
Layer 3 — Independent accreditation, reviewed annually
Risk it covers: being sold to by an operator nobody has checked
SATSA membership is not a badge you buy once. Members submit compliance documents and complete an annual review to stay in good standing, and member status is publicly visible in SATSA’s membership directory. You can look us up yourself. Among our other associations, we are also a member of ATTA, the African Travel and Tourism Association, and bound by the SATSA Code of Conduct.
Layer 4 — Your travel insurance, arranged properly
Risk it covers: your own circumstances changing — illness, injury, family emergency, cancelled flights
No operator’s protection replaces travel insurance, and any operator who implies otherwise is doing you a disservice. We require comprehensive cover on every booking. We have partnered with Redpoint Travel Protection so you can get an appropriate policy without shopping blind, and if you ever need to claim, we cancel with every supplier and issue a claims support letter for your insurer.
Your Africa Deposit Assurance
If your plans change, your money does not simply vanish
Life interrupts trips. If you cannot travel and your insurer declines your claim, we will not treat your deposit as gone.
Where you cannot travel for one of the reasons listed below, and your travel insurer has declined your claim in writing, we will convert your Your Africa deposit into a travel credit to the value of 100% of the deposit paid (with the exclusion of certain government-issued permits such as gorilla permits and flights that require a separate application process), valid for 24 months, transferable to your spouse, partner, parent, sibling or adult child.
Reasons covered
- Illness or injury to you or a member of your travelling party, confirmed by a doctor
- Death of a member of your travelling party or an immediate family member
- Complications of pregnancy you were unaware of when booking
- Cancellation or major disruption of your international flights where the airline offers no compensation
- A government travel advisory against travel to your destination issued after you booked
- A court summons as a witness or other compulsory service, armed forces or emergency services recall
- Burglary, fire or flood at your home within 14 days of departure
What this is not
This is not insurance, and it does not replace travel insurance. It costs you nothing and you do not opt in. It applies to the deposit you paid to Your Africa. Amounts already paid to and retained by third-party suppliers under their own cancellation terms sit outside it, and we will always show you exactly what those amounts are.
How to use it: email [email protected] with your booking reference and your insurer’s written decline. We respond within [5] business days and issue your credit within [10].
What is protected, and what is not
We would rather you read this before you book than discover it afterwards.
| Scenario | What happens |
|---|---|
| Your Africa is placed into involuntary liquidation | The SATSA Bonding Scheme applies. It is a limited fund, not an insurance policy. Claims are capped at ZAR150 000 per incident [≈US$9 000 at current rates], the same amount is available per member insolvency, and ZAR900 000 [≈US$55 000 at current rates], is the maximum available across all incidents. Payouts are proportional, assessed individually, and paid through the liquidation process rather than immediately. |
| A lodge, camp or airline on your itinerary fails or cancels | We rebook you into a comparable alternative at no extra cost wherever possible. If no acceptable alternative exists, we refund the money for that service, subject to what the supplier releases. |
| We cannot confirm your itinerary after you have paid a deposit | We offer alternatives. If none suit you, you receive a full refund. |
| You cancel | Supplier cancellation terms apply, and they are set by the lodges and airlines, not by us. Our own schedule is in section "When You Pay". Where we can secure a waiver or a goodwill refund from a supplier, we pass it on. We never pretend that is guaranteed. |
| You cannot travel and your insurer declines | Deposit Assurance applies. See section "Your Africa Deposit Assurance". |
| War, pandemic, natural disaster or other force majeure | Outside both our protection and most insurance policies. We will leverage every supplier relationship we have to move your dates or recover value, and we will tell you the truth about what is recoverable. |
| Your travel insurer disputes a claim | Your recourse is with the insurer. We supply documentation, claims support letters and supplier confirmations to help you win it. |
Plainly: no operator in Africa can protect you against every outcome, and any page that suggests otherwise is selling you comfort rather than cover. What we can do is name our protections accurately, name their limits, and stand behind the part that is ours.
When You Pay
| When | What is due | Why |
|---|---|---|
| At booking | 30% deposit | Secures your lodges, camps, permits and internal flights. In peak season and for specialist products such as gorilla permits and flights, suppliers require more or full payment upfront. We tell you before you pay, not after. |
| 60 days before travel | Balance | Suppliers require settlement before arrival. For groups of 10 or more, 90 days. |
| Inside 60 days of travel | Full payment at booking | Standard across the industry for late bookings. |
Cancellation, stated honestly: 61+ days: If you cancel 61 days or more before departure, your deposit is non-refundable. 0–60 days: If you cancel less than 60 days before departure, we charge a 100% cancellation fee unless a supplier’s terms are more generous. Should your cancellation fall under our Deposit Assurance qualifications, please ensure you follow the process outlined. We encourage you to review our terms and conditions regarding Your Africa’s Deposit Assurance to familiarise yourself with the coverage.
Every quotation we send shows the cancellation position on your itinerary before you pay anything. If it is not clear, ask your Travel Architect to put it in writing.
If something goes wrong
Talk to your Travel Architect first. You have one named person, reachable by phone, email, and in-app services, for the life of your booking and while you travel.
While travelling: talk to your Travel Architect first. They are a real person, in Africa, in your time zone. Alternatively, email us on [email protected] and a team member will respond within 24 hours.
Formal complaints: report it at the time, then put it in writing within 30 days to the general manager, product and operations, at [email protected]. We acknowledge it, investigate with the supplier, and give you written feedback within 30 days.
Independent recourse: if you are not satisfied with how we handle it, you can escalate to SATSA directly through its complaint process. We are a member, we are bound by its code of conduct, and our standing is publicly listed. We would rather you had somewhere to go than have you take our word for it.
FAQ
Your booking is with a business unit of Tourvest Destination Management, a group with 19+ years of trading and audited financials, and you are covered by the SATSA Bonding Scheme as a client of a SATSA member in good standing. Section "Who you are actually paying" sets out the entity, the payment terms and how to get written confirmation.
Yes, and they are institutional. Your Africa is a business unit of Tourvest Destination Management, a division of Tourvest Holdings (Pty) Ltd. Tourvest is not founder-owned and it is not venture-funded. Its shareholders include one of South Africa’s largest financial services groups and a South African state-owned development finance institution, and more about Tourvest Holdings and its ownership structure can be viewed at Ownership Structure – Tourvest.
Tourvest was listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange from 1997 until 2008, when this consortium acquired the business and took it private. It has kept the robust governance structures of an independent board, annually audited financial statements, and institutional shareholders who require regular financial reporting.
What that means for you in practice is that the company holding your deposit answers to institutional and credible shareholders, with an independent board, not only to itself. Our shareholders do not guarantee individual bookings and we will not suggest otherwise. What they bring is scrutiny that a small operator is not subject to.
The SATSA Bonding Scheme applies in cases of involuntary liquidation. It is a limited fund with a ZAR150 000 cap per incident and a ZAR900 000 aggregate, paid proportionally through the liquidation process. Section "What is protected, and what is not" sets out exactly how it works.
Yes. Every SATSA member in good standing is automatically bonded. Search the SATSA membership directory for “Tourvest Destination Management”.
Yes, and we require it. Our protections and your insurance cover different risks. Insurance covers your circumstances changing. Ours covers the money you have paid us.
Most travel websites never tell you this. We think it is the first thing you should know. See section "Who you are actually paying".
Because it is not sitting in our account. It goes to the lodges, camps and airlines to hold your dates, and their terms bind us as much as they bind you. See Section "Your Africa Deposit Assurance".
Yes, through our secure third-party payment gateway, Peach Payments. Card payments may give you additional recourse through your card issuer’s chargeback rules. Card-issuer travel insurance is usually limited and rarely enough for Africa. Check it with your issuer before you rely on it.
We rebook you into something comparable at no extra cost wherever possible, or refund that service if nothing acceptable exists.
Yes. ATTA is the African Travel and Tourism Association, based in London.
Yes. Every enquiry gets a dedicated and named Travel Architect, and no payment is ever required to receive a full itinerary
Ask us anything about your money
We will answer in writing. Ask us who holds your deposit, ask us for our SATSA standing, ask us for supplier confirmations in your name. Any Travel Architect can produce all three.
