Hosts / Suppliers Apex Expeditions Product Quality Standards

1. Introduction: Apex Expeditions is dedicated to reimagining the future of adventure travel. Our mission is to provide travelers with the best options to experience a destination. To achieve this, we have introduced rigorous product quality standards to ensure our marketplace offers the highest quality of bookable experiences.

2. Purpose: Our quality standards are designed to ensure that product listings provide travelers with accurate, up-to-date information about experiences, facilitating a seamless booking journey. These standards act as benchmarks for offering travelers an exceptional customer experience from discovery to post-experience review.

3. Product Quality Levels: To maintain the integrity of our platform, products must meet and maintain a "Good" quality level to remain active. Products that achieve an "Excellent" quality level will be rewarded with a Badge of Excellence on Apex Expeditions.

4. Detailed Criteria Explanation:
Future Availability: Products must have at least one bookable future date. All future dates cannot be marked as non-operating.
Complete Product Details: Products should be polished, detailed, and attractive. This includes:
- Meeting & pickup details
- Categories & themes
- Itinerary
- Unique selling points
- Inclusions & Exclusions
- Guide and language details
- Essential traveler information
- A valid business listing that matches the product location
Quality Photos: At least 2 clear, professional, and relevant photos. Real traveler photos are preferred. Blurry, stock, unrelated, or unauthorized photos are not acceptable.
Supplier-Driven Cancellation Rate: Cancellations initiated by the supplier should be rare and must fall below the specified percentages. Exceptions include traveler-initiated cancellations, weather-related cancellations, force majeure, or at the traveler's request.
Average Star Rating & Reviews: Ratings and reviews are aggregated from Apex Expeditions and other platforms.
Instant Confirmation: Products should either be connected to a reservation system or offer instant confirmation.
Mobile Ticket Acceptance: Products should accept mobile tickets.
Standard Cancellation Policy: Products should adhere to a standard cancellation policy.
Booking Cut-off: Products should either be connected to a reservation system or have a booking cut-off of less than 4 hours.
Rejected Booking Rate: The rate at which an operator rejects a booking before confirmation should be below 2%. This includes bookings that take too long to confirm.

5. Integrity of Product: Product content should accurately represent what's included in the price and the type of experience travelers will expect. Manipulating product prices, using inappropriate language, or misleading travelers in any way is strictly prohibited.

6. Post-Sale Operational Standards: Once bookings are received, the traveler experience should meet high standards. This includes timely communication, avoiding unnecessary changes or cancellations, and providing exceptional service.

7. Courtesy to Travelers and Community: Operators and their staff must act with utmost respect towards travelers. Disrespectful behaviors, including harassment, threats, or discriminatory language, will result in removal from the platform.

8. Non-Discrimination: Operators must not discriminate based on race, color, ethnicity, national origin, gender, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital status. Any form of discrimination is strictly prohibited.

9. Major Incidents: Products may be removed from the platform due to major incidents, including unsafe operations, regulatory violations, traveler injuries due to safety failures, or crimes committed by operators or their employees.