Tourism Contingency Plan. Traveling through Central America can certainly be a dream vacation. At Mayan Gateway, we think of everything so that you can travel and enjoy your vacation to the fullest without worrying about anything.
Provides security to travelers through defined actions and procedures to be carried out in the event of failure or harm by service cuts or natural or human phenomena by providing a solution and keeping the continuity of the operations. The procedures are principally oriented to prevent actions aimed at avoiding and/or reducing risk situations.
Scenario | Our Response | Who to inform | Observations |
The airline loses your bags | Contact the airline to know when they are going to send the suitcase and tell them which hotel to send to. | 1. Office 2. Airline 3. Hotel staff | Although our trips do not always include international flights |
Roadblocks and/or protests | If there are roadblocks of which the authorities, and therefore us, do not know about ahead of time. We coordinate the transfer of the passengers to another vehicle or return to the point of origin to avoid long waits on the road | 1. Office 2. Drivers 3. Guides | We stay informed in order to reschedule transfers or routes |
Vehicle breakdown | If any mechanical failure occurs, our drivers have support vehicles to assist or replace the primary, if necessary | 1. Office 2. Support vehicle | The vehicles we use are of recent models and are checked regularly to keep them in optimal condition. |
Accommodations issues | We work with a wide network of hotels and accommodations in all countries and have open, fast and direct communication with them in order to find solutions to any issue that may arise. If the problem is serious, such as a permanent lack of water and the hotel is not able to provide a solution, we would relocate the guests to another hotel with availability. | 1. Office 2. Hotel staff and/or optional accommodation | For safety, we make the reservations and re-confirm with them well in advance to avoid any inconvenience. |
Health issues | Call or provide information from the nearest pharmacy, doctor or medical center (depending on need) | 1. Office 2. Health center or drugstore | We know the pharmacies and health centers near the destinations in all countries so that our guests have quick access to them. |
On trips injuries | If someone is injured during tours, hikes or treks, guides can call another guide to return with the injured person. In many hikes and treks, horses and mules may be available to assist in the the return of the guest. | 1. Emergency center 2. Office 3. Assistance guide/person | In any case of accident or injury, we would coordinate your transfer to the nearest health service center. |
Lost or stolen documents or important values | We provide the contact of your nearest embassy or consulate and transfer you there. If the embassy or consulate is within the urban limits, the transfer will have no extra cost. Otherwise, we will only charge the minimum cost. | 1. Office 2. Embassy or consulate | We recommend bringing the phone numbers of your embassy in each of the countries you are going to travel with |
Delay of International Flight | If the delay of a flight could cause the inability to make the scheduled transfer to the next destination on your travel itinerary, we will assist you in making a reservation at a nearby hotel, if necessary. We will also re-organize or cancel the activities that are affected due to the delay of a flight | 1. Office 2. Driver 3. Hotel | We are always checking your flight status to know if there is going to be any delay. We schedule the tours and transfers with a reasonable margin of time, because we always avoid night transfers for security reasons. |
Personal Emergency | If, due to any personal emergency, the traveler must return to their country, we will help them to organize a transfer to the airport from which their return flight leaves. | 1. Office 2. Driver 3. Airport | We always listen and advise our travelers along the way, so you can freely ask for our guidance |
*Hurricanes and Earthquakes | In the strange and uncommon event of these magnitudes, we would be forced to change and/or cancel the itinerary or some section of it for security. If the event occurred while travelers are already at the destination, we would coordinate transportation to the next destination. Or if necessary transportation to the nearest international airport so they can take their flight home. | 1. Office 2. Guides/drivers 3. Hotels 4. Airports | In these isolated, but possible incidents, organization, and assertiveness are imperative to provide the best solutions to our customers. If due to any personal emergency, the traveler must return to their country, we will help them to organize a transfer to the airport from which their return flight leaves. |
The situations described above are beyond our control because they depend on airlines, nature or situations that are not possible to foresee.
Central America has a high level of vulnerability to natural disasters (earthquakes, floods, etc.). And unfortunately, it is not in our hands to control or prevent those. To reduce any risk, as much as possible, the destinations that we offer you are in areas with less risk in each country, and we do not do tours at times or places in which the authorities inform that are prone to flooding. Also, the hotels and accommodations we use have safe and adequate facilities to offer you comfort and safety.
As a specialized travel agency in the Central America area, Mayan Gateway knows the area closely. So, our tourism contingency plan focuses on identifying and avoiding possible risks before they occur. The personalized itineraries we design for you are based on our direct knowledge of the places and safe activities. They are made to avoid the risk-prone part of the route in all countries, so you can relax and enjoy your vacation time.
We work only with certified guides and highly qualified personnel for each step of your trip.
We maintain direct and continuous communication with both our guests, drivers and guides to be ahead of any eventuality. For that, we recommend our travelers to install Whats app (a free app) on their phones. As we can create a group with our office, drivers and guides. You will have WiFi in all of the hotels and most of the restaurants and coffee shops, so you don’t need a cell phone or SIM card of the country.
With the actualized and continuous knowledge of people living in the area, we determine a risk management strategy and plan the route of your trip so that we avoid any possible risk.
We maintain and demand of all our collaborators the highest safety standards for our travelers, so that they can fully enjoy their time traveling.
For the safety of our travelers, we strongly recommend you buy personal and travel insurance that includes cancellation. As this is not included in the price. Visit World Nomads or Travelex to get a quote.
Country | Dependence | Number | International Telephone Code |
🇨🇷Costa Rica | Tourist information Emergencies Police Fire Department and Paramedics Ambulances Electric Company Red Cross Airport information | 192 911 117 118 128 123 128 441-0744 | +506 |
🇲🇽Mexico | Tourist information Emergencies Police Red Cross Fire Department Ambulances General Information Health and security Attorney General’s office | 078 911 066 / 089 / 060 065 / 5557-5757 / 5395-1111 068 / 5768-3700 5601-7631 / 3869-0660 040 080 01 800 7028770 | +52 |
🇧🇿Belize | Tourist Office of Belize Emergencies Red Cross Ambulance Fire Service Police Belize Coast Guard Marine Radio Channel Hyperbaric Chamber San Pedro | 011-501-223-1913 911 227-3319 / 227-3617 90 / 223-3292 911 / 90 911 / 227 22 22 225 21 25 16 226 28 51 / 604 75 99 | +501 |
🇭🇳Honduras | Honduran Tourism Institute National Police Red Cross Firefighters Permanent Contingency & Civil Protection Consumer’s Office Public Ministry | 2222-2124 119 195 / 227-7575 198 / 2220-7670 113 115 221-3099 / 221-3099 | +504 |
🇳🇮Nicaragua
| Nicaraguan Tourism Institute Red Cross Firefighters National Police Civil Defense Dept. of seismology and volcanology Legal Medicine Migration and Foreigners | 2254-5191 128 115 118 2277-3822 2249-2761 2268-6149 2251-2271 / 2251-2272 | +505 |
🇬🇹Guatemala
| Tourist assistance Volunteer Firefighters Municipal Firefighters National Civil Police Red Cross Public Ministry Customer Service and Assistance Department General Directorate of Migration | 1500 122 123 110 125 / 2381-6565 2411-9191 1544 2411-2411 | +502 |
🇸🇻El Salvador | “CORSATUR” – Tourist information office Tourism Police Ministry of Health and Social Assistance Red Cross Ministry of External Relationships Consumer Protection Agency Attorney General’s Office | 2243-7835 ext. 165 & 166 911 / 2298-9982 / 2298-9984 2221-1001 2222-5755 / 2222-5155 2231-1000 Monday to Friday 910 2523-7000 / 2523-7001 | +503 |