Late cancellation fees

A majority of all respondents – 60% of those who answered the question – agreed, with the idea of implementing a late cancellation fee for pre-booked tickets. A cancellation fee tended to be seen as fair and justified in view of limited availability, albeit with various safeguards in place to avoid people being penalised for events beyond their control. Encouraging people to cancel bookings they do not intend to use was seen as necessary to free up capacity.

Reasons given for not supporting a late cancellation fee included that flexibility is an important aspect of the current booking system and that a lifeline service should allow such flexibility as people’s plans will change. A ‘Farming or land management organisation’ respondent reported that as a business dealing with uncertainty on dates and inadequate capacity, their only option is to make advance bookings that they may have to cancel.