Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Baron Luxury Tours (“Baron”, “we”, “us”, “our”) is committed to protecting the personal information of the travelers we serve. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, why we collect it, how we use and share it, and what rights you have over it. It applies to every interaction with our website, our WhatsApp number, our phone lines, and our tour leaders on the road.

We comply with UAE Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021 on the Protection of Personal Data (the “PDPL”) and, where applicable to our European travelers, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

2. Information We Collect

To plan and run a tour for you, we typically collect:

• Contact details — full name, phone number, country of residence, preferred language.
• Travel-document details — passport number, passport expiry, date of birth, nationality, visa information.
• Booking details — tour selected, departure date, party size, room preference, dietary requirements, accessibility needs.
• Payment information — we use third-party processors (Stripe, our bank’s payment gateway) and do not store full card numbers on our own systems.
• Communications — the content of your messages to us on WhatsApp and phone calls. We may keep call notes for service quality.
• Website analytics — pages visited, time on site, device and browser type, approximate location, and referring source. This is collected through cookies (see section 9).

3. How We Collect Your Information

We collect information when you:

• Submit a booking form, contact form, or any other web form on our website.
• Send us a WhatsApp message or phone call.
• Provide travel documents during the booking process.
• Pay a deposit or balance, through our bank or payment processor.
• Travel with us, where we may collect feedback or incident notes from our tour leaders.
• Browse our website, through standard cookies and analytics tools.

4. Why We Use Your Information

We use your personal information to:

• Confirm and manage your bookings.
• Issue tickets, vouchers, and documentation required by hotels, airlines, cruise lines, and visa authorities.
• Communicate with you about your tour, including itinerary updates, payment reminders, and pre-departure information.
• Provide on-tour support, including emergency contact and concierge services.
• Send you marketing about future tours, only where you have opted in.
• Improve our website and services through aggregated, non-identifying analytics.
• Comply with our legal obligations, including tax records and dispute resolution.
• Protect our rights, our staff, and other travelers from fraud or harm.

5. Legal Basis for Processing

We rely on the following legal bases under PDPL and GDPR:

• Contract — processing needed to deliver the tour you have booked.
• Legitimate interests — running our business, improving our service, and preventing fraud.
• Consent — for marketing communications and for any optional cookies on our website. You may withdraw consent at any time.
• Legal obligation — complying with UAE financial, tax, and travel-industry regulation.

6. Who We Share Your Information With

We share your information only as needed to deliver your tour, run our business, and comply with the law. The categories of recipient are:

• Suppliers — hotels, airlines, cruise lines, ground transport companies, attractions, and local guides who need your details to provide their service.
• Payment processors — Stripe, our bank, and other providers we use to take payment.
• Visa and embassy services — where we assist with visa applications on your behalf.
• Insurance providers — where insurance is part of your package.
• Government authorities — where required by law, for example traveler manifests, tax records, or law-enforcement requests.
• Professional advisors — accountants, lawyers, and auditors who help us run our business.

We never sell your personal information to third parties for their own marketing purposes.

7. International Data Transfers

Our tours operate across Europe, South America, the Baltic region, and the Far East. Delivering your tour necessarily involves transferring your personal data to hotels, airlines, and ground operators in those regions. Where data is transferred outside the UAE, we ensure the recipient is contractually bound to protect the data to a standard at least equivalent to PDPL requirements, including the use of Standard Contractual Clauses where available.

8. Marketing Communications

We send marketing WhatsApp messages only to travelers who have opted in, either by ticking a consent box on our booking form or by requesting marketing through our website. Every marketing message includes a clear way to unsubscribe. Opting out of marketing does not affect our service to you for existing bookings.

9. Cookies & Tracking

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies to function, to remember your language preference, and to measure how visitors use the site. We distinguish between:

• Strictly necessary cookies — required for the website to work. These cannot be turned off through our site.
• Analytics cookies — help us understand which pages are popular and which are not, so we can improve the site. We use aggregated, non-identifying data only.
• Advertising cookies — set by Meta (Facebook), Google, and TikTok where you have consented, to measure the effectiveness of our advertising and to show relevant tours to people who have shown interest.

You can refuse non-essential cookies through your browser settings or through the cookie banner displayed on your first visit.

10. WhatsApp Communications

WhatsApp is our primary channel for traveler communication. When you message us on WhatsApp, your phone number and the content of your messages are processed by Meta Platforms, Inc. under their own privacy terms. We store your conversation thread in our CRM for the duration of your booking and for a reasonable period afterwards for service quality and dispute resolution.

11. Data Retention

We retain personal information only for as long as needed to deliver your tour, to meet our legal obligations, and to defend potential claims. In practice:

• Booking and travel records: 7 years from the end of the tour (UAE tax records).
• Marketing data: until you unsubscribe, then deleted within 30 days.
• Website analytics: 26 months (Google Analytics default).
• WhatsApp threads: 24 months from the last message.
• Passport copies: deleted within 90 days of the tour ending, except where retention is legally required.

12. Your Rights

Under UAE PDPL (and GDPR where applicable), you have the right to:

• Access the personal information we hold about you.
• Correct any information that is inaccurate or incomplete.
• Request deletion of your information, subject to legal retention requirements.
• Restrict or object to certain processing.
• Receive your data in a portable, machine-readable format.
• Withdraw consent at any time for processing based on consent.
• Lodge a complaint with the UAE Data Office or your local data-protection authority.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details in section 16. We respond to verified requests within 30 days.

13. Children’s Privacy

Our services are intended for adult travelers and for families travelling together. We do not knowingly collect information directly from anyone under the age of 18 except through their parent or guardian who is making the booking. If you believe we have collected information from a child without appropriate consent, please contact us and we will delete it.

14. Data Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information against loss, misuse, unauthorised access, or disclosure. These include encrypted data transmission, access controls, regular system updates, and staff training. No method of transmission over the internet is fully secure, however, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. In the unlikely event of a data breach affecting you, we will notify you and the UAE Data Office as required by law.

15. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or in the law. The effective date at the top of this page indicates the most recent revision. Where changes are material, we will notify travelers we hold contact details for in advance.

16. Contact Us

For any privacy matter, including requests to exercise the rights above, please contact us:

• WhatsApp: +971 50 877 4877
• Phone: +971 50 877 4877
• Address: Baron Luxury Tours, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to escalate to the UAE Data Office or, if you are an EU resident, to your local data-protection authority.