Encountour Trip Leader Agreement:

This document outlines some of the specific responsibilities and expectations of the Trip Leader position.  If you are selected as a Trip Leader, this document will serve as an agreement between you and Encountour LLC, henceforth referred to as “Encountour”.  Should you have any questions about this agreement, please feel free to email or call and we will do our best to help.

Encountour relies heavily on you as a Trip Leader for the overall success of the trip, and we are committed to preparing you for your leadership role.  We will work closely with you throughout the process of assembling a group from your campus, preparing your group for the trip, and leading the group in Guatemala.  It’s very important to us that you feel comfortable with every stage of the Trip Leader process.  But we can only help where we know that help is needed, so healthy two-way communication is vital.  We therefore ask that you do your best to keep us and your Campus Rep informed with your comments, questions, or concerns as they arise.  

Participants on your trip will look up to you as someone in a leadership role.  We therefore expect that you will behave in a manner befitting this role.  As a Trip Leader, you must act in a responsible manner and exercise reasonable behavior and good judgment in all of your official duties leading up to the Encountour trip, and at all times during the Encountour trip.  Specifically, drugs and other illegal activities will not be tolerated at any point during the Encountour trip.  If Encountour does not believe that you are acting in a responsible manner or exercising good judgment and reasonable behavior, then we reserve the right to dismiss you as a Trip Leader at any time, and you will not be entitled to any monetary compensation, except that which has already been applied to your Encountour trip fee. 

As a Trip Leader, you are contracted to work with Encountour in assembling a group from your campus, preparing your group for the trip, and serving as a leader on the trip itself.  As a Trip Leader, you are not an employee of Encountour, and Encountour is not legally responsible for your decisions and/or actions. 

Trip Leaders will receive Trip Credits according to the following schedule:

1.-For all Trip Leaders: Free excursion participation if 10 participants or more sign-up for that excursion.  Participants must register for the excursion and pay in full.

2.-For all Trip Leaders: Four separate $100 bonus payments if the Trip Leader follows all stipulations required to earn each bonus, as outlined in the Trip Leader Financial Incentive document. 

3.-For all Volunteer Trip Leaders and Adventure Trip Leaders: $75 for each participant from your group (not including yourself) that registers and submits his/her full trip payment.

As a Trip Leader, it is very important that you not only recruit a group, but also serve in a leadership capacity and participate in the trip itself.  If you are not able to participate on the Trip for any reason, then you will not be entitled to payment according to the above schedule.  Instead, you will receive $25 for every participant from your group who pays in full for their trip.  If you do not participate in the trip, you will not receive any Trip Credit beyond this $25 per person payment, and you will not be entitled to bonus payments or free participation in excursions.

Please note that if your group is not able to reach its minimum number of required participants (as defined in the trip brochure), then it will not be confirmed, and you will not be entitled to any Trip Credit.

However, it may be possible for Encountour to combine participants from your group with another small group that is traveling during the same time.  If we are able to combine two trips together and you participate as a Trip Leader during the trip, then you will receive your full Trip Credit (as outlined in the schedule above) for every participant that you recruited who pays in full and participates in the trip.  You will not be entitled to any bonus payments, or to any Trip Credit for participants from another group who are combined with your trip.

Once all participant payments have been received, we will apply your Trip Credits towards the price of the Encountour trip.  If you earn more Trip Credits than the cost of the Encountour trip, then we will hold the remaining Trip Credit until you have successfully completed your duties as a Trip Leader.  Once you have led the trip and have been judged by Encountour to have successfully performed your duties, we will issue you a check for any remaining Trip Credit.  If Encountour determines that you have behaved in an irresponsible manner, or did not adequately perform in a leadership capacity during your trip, you will not be eligible for any remaining Trip Credit.  This decision will be made according to the exclusive discretion of Encountour.    

If the trip is cancelled for any reason other than a failure to reach a minimum number of required participants, a natural disaster, or a U.S. State Department warning, then Encountour will write you a check equivalent to the number of Trip Credits that you have earned, or equivalent to the price of the trip, whichever is less.  If the trip is cancelled due to a natural disaster or a U.S. State Department warning, then Encountour will write you a check for an amount equivalent to the trip deposit.

As a Trip Leader, you will be participating with the rest of your group, so you must submit a Participant Application and agree to the terms of the Participant Agreement along with the rest of your group.

The laws of the state of New York shall govern the validity of this agreement, the construction of its terms and the interpretation of the rights and duties of the parties hereto. Any controversies arising out of the terms of this agreement or its interpretation shall be settled in New York City, New York in accordance with the rules of the American Arbitration Association, and the judgment upon award may be entered in any court having jurisdiction thereof.