General Terms & Conditions

These General Terms & Conditions govern use of the What’s On Aotearoa website and its regional pages, including What’s On Ōamaru, and any products or services purchased or accessed through them.

In these terms, “we”, “us” and “our” refer to What’s On Aotearoa, which operates the platform and its regional pages.

Please read the terms relevant to a purchase or submission before proceeding. By making a purchase, booking, or listing submission after having a reasonable opportunity to review the applicable terms, you agree to those terms. If you do not agree, do not proceed with that transaction. Browsing the website alone does not create a payment obligation or remove any rights you have under law.

1. About the Platform

What’s On Aotearoa operates a digital discovery and listing platform across New Zealand. Where offered, we may also provide digital content, promotional services, and facilities for bookings and payments. Our regional pages operate under the What’s On Aotearoa platform.

Some offers are provided by us; others are provided by independent organisers, businesses or operators (“providers”). The relevant listing and purchase process should identify who provides the offer. Additional terms may apply to a particular purchase or activity, as described below.

2. Terms That Apply to a Transaction

The description, price, dates, location, inclusions, any material restrictions and cancellation conditions shown for a particular offer form part of its terms when purchased or booked. Please review them before completing payment. If there is a conflict between these General Terms and specific terms for an offer, the specific terms apply to that offer, subject to applicable law.

Terms introduced after a booking or purchase do not retrospectively remove rights under the terms accepted at the time. A provider’s cancellation policy cannot override rights that apply under New Zealand law.

3. Additional Terms That May Apply

(a) Audio Tours & Digital Content. If you purchase or access a self-guided audio tour or other digital content, the Audio Tours & Digital Content Terms apply.

(b) Self-Guided Activities. Where relevant to participation in a self-guided or outdoor activity, the Self-Guided Activity Risk Acknowledgement applies.

(c) Tours, Attractions & Third-Party Bookings. If you book or participate in a tour, attraction or experience supplied by an independent provider, the Tours, Attractions & Third-Party Bookings Terms apply, together with the provider’s cancellation and participation conditions disclosed before purchase.

(d) Business Listings & Vendor Participation. If you submit, purchase or manage a business or other commercial listing, the Business Listings, Vendors & Commission Terms may apply to your participation, subject to the terms presented and accepted for that service. Any arrangement for us to sell or take bookings on a provider’s behalf requires the applicable supplier agreement or other recorded acceptance; appearing in an informational listing alone does not create such an arrangement.

The price and terms displayed for any other item, event listing or service offered through the platform also apply to that particular purchase or submission.

Our Privacy Policy explains how personal information is collected, used, stored and shared. It should be read alongside these terms. Nothing in these terms authorises handling personal information contrary to applicable privacy law.

4. Platform Role & Scope of Responsibility

We publish listings and information, provide our own digital content where identified as its supplier, and may offer facilities for bookings and payments. Where a third-party booking is offered, we may act as a booking agent for the provider identified in the listing and purchase process. The provider supplies the relevant event, stay, tour, attraction, goods or other service. We may receive payment on that provider’s behalf where the arrangement allows it.

Unless we expressly identify an activity as one we operate, we do not provide on-site guides or supervision, operate the provider’s premises, control land access or site conditions, or manage the provider’s staff and safety procedures. The provider is responsible for the on-site service and its applicable legal duties. We remain responsible for our own services, representations, payment handling and any duties imposed on us by law.

An informational listing or an external link is not a booking. Where a purchase is made on a provider’s separate website, that provider’s checkout and terms apply to the purchase.

5. Bookings, Availability & Administrative Errors

Bookings through our platform may be offered in the future. If offered, the identity of the provider, total customer price and applicable cancellation conditions will be made available before payment. A booking is subject to the availability and confirmation conditions disclosed for that offer.

Despite reasonable care, genuine administrative or technical errors can occur, including an unavailable time or place, duplicate booking, incorrect date, or an obvious listing or price error. If an offer cannot be supplied as booked because of such an error, we may cancel the affected booking. We will notify you as soon as reasonably practicable and refund the full amount you paid for that booking through our platform, using the original payment method where practicable. We will not deduct a booking or processing fee from that refund. This clause does not give us an unrestricted right to cancel confirmed bookings for convenience, and does not limit any additional remedy required by law.

Please contact us promptly if a booking confirmation appears incorrect. We will investigate and explain the available correction or remedy.

6. Customer Cancellations, Provider Cancellations & Refunds

For a customer-initiated cancellation of a third-party booking, the provider’s cancellation policy disclosed for that booking before purchase generally determines whether a voluntary refund or change is available. Different providers may have different policies. We may help administer a permitted cancellation or make a discretionary goodwill offer, but we do not promise to fund a voluntary cancellation where the disclosed policy does not permit a refund. This does not affect any right to a remedy under applicable law.

If a provider cancels, cannot honour the confirmed booking or materially fails to supply what was purchased, contact us if payment was made through our platform. We will help resolve the issue and arrange any refund or other remedy required under the applicable terms and law. Any refund for an offer that cannot be supplied will include the full amount you paid for that offer through our platform, without a deduction for our costs of taking or processing the booking, subject to any additional remedy required by law.

See our Refund Policy for how to request a refund. Nothing in a provider policy or these terms removes rights under New Zealand consumer law.

7. Reliance on Information & Content Concerns

We take reasonable care with information we publish, but event details, conditions, access and availability can change. Check time-sensitive participation details and follow applicable venue, landowner and provider instructions. This request does not excuse an inaccurate or misleading representation by us, or any other responsibility we have under law.

We aim to use information and images from performers, event organisers, venues, providers and other official or authorised sources where reasonably possible. Content being publicly accessible does not, by itself, establish permission to reproduce it.

A party that supplies content to us must have the rights, licences, consents and permissions needed to authorise its publication and promotion as described in section 11.

You must provide accurate information and promptly notify us of material changes, including cancellations, postponements, changes of venue, pricing or booking arrangements.

If you believe content is inaccurate, unauthorised or infringes your rights, contact us with the relevant details. We may investigate and, where appropriate, amend, remove, disable access to or suspend content while we review it. We may also take these steps where we reasonably identify an accuracy, rights, safety or legal concern.

8. Consumer Law (New Zealand)

Nothing in these Terms & Conditions limits or excludes any rights or remedies you may have under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993, Fair Trading Act 1986, Privacy Act 2020 or other applicable law.

Any contracting out relating to services acquired in trade must satisfy the legal requirements and be stated in the applicable business-to-business agreement. It does not affect consumer rights.

9. Liability Framework

Independent providers remain responsible for the acts and omissions involved in supplying their own events, accommodation, goods, tours and other services. We do not control weather, environmental conditions, access decisions or a provider’s on-site operations. We are responsible for our own acts and omissions to the extent required by law, including our own digital content and any booking or payment services we provide.

Participation in self-guided or outdoor activities may involve risks explained in the relevant activity information and Self-Guided Activity Risk Acknowledgement. Nothing in these General Terms excludes or limits a responsibility that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited. The linked activity terms must be read consistently with this paragraph and applicable law.

10. Intellectual Property, Website Use & Content Restrictions

Website content, including original text, branding, images, audio, digital materials, layouts and listings, is subject to rights held by us and/or the relevant licensors, contributors, organisers, venues and providers. Publication of third-party content does not transfer its ownership to us.

Except as permitted by law or with the relevant rights holder’s permission, you must not commercially copy, republish, distribute or reuse protected content from the website, including by scraping or bulk extraction. Do not use automated means to interfere with the website or collect personal information unlawfully. Ordinary search-engine indexing of public pages and ordinary non-commercial sharing of links are permitted, subject to our published technical access controls.

We may proportionately restrict access where we reasonably believe there is misuse of the website or infringement of rights.

11. Submitted Content & Permission to Promote

(a) Content covered

“Submitted Content” means material you supply for publication or promotion through the platform, including event and business details, descriptions, posters, photographs, images, logos, videos, links and contact details expressly designated for public display.

Private account details, payment information, identity documents, confidential correspondence and contact details supplied only for administration are not Submitted Content licensed for public promotion.

(b) Promotional licence

By submitting content for publication or promotion, you grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide licence to host, store, reproduce, publish, display, distribute and adapt that content to:

• create and maintain your listing;

• promote the relevant event, business, club, organisation, activity or offer; and

• promote What’s On Aotearoa and its regional pages through discovery features, event roundups, campaigns and examples of listings available through the platform.

This permission covers channels we reasonably select for those purposes, including our websites, social media posts and stories, paid advertising, search advertising, newsletters, digital displays, printed promotional materials and media supplied to promotional partners.

Worldwide permission allows for online distribution and access outside New Zealand. It does not authorise unrestricted use of private personal information.

(c) Editing and formatting

We may rewrite descriptions, shorten text, crop or resize images, add accurate event information or branding, and combine content into promotional layouts or videos. We will take reasonable care not to materially misrepresent your event or offer, imply an unrelated endorsement, or infringe applicable intellectual property or moral rights.

(d) Ownership and permissions

You retain ownership of content you own. You confirm that you own the submitted material or have sufficient permission to grant this licence, including any necessary permission from photographers, designers, copyright owners and identifiable people featured in the material.

Where relevant, this includes appropriate permission from a parent or guardian for material featuring children. You must tell us before submission about any restrictions on use, attribution requirements or expiry dates. A restriction inconsistent with these terms applies only if we agree to it in writing before using the content.

You must not submit another person’s private information for public display without appropriate authority.

(e) Service providers and promotional partners

We may authorise service providers and promotional partners to use Submitted Content only as reasonably needed to carry out the purposes described in this section. Advertising and publishing platforms may also require licences under their own terms to host and distribute content.

(f) Promotional choices and purchased benefits

We choose promotional channels, formats, timing, targeting and expenditure, subject to the benefits expressly included in your purchased service. Permission to promote does not guarantee a particular amount of advertising, audience reach, engagement, attendance, enquiries or sales.

Our discretion does not allow us to withhold an expressly purchased promotional benefit without an appropriate remedy under the applicable terms and law.

(g) Duration, changes and removal requests

This licence applies while the listing or relevant promotion is active. After an event ends, previously published posts, campaign records and event roundups may remain as historical content. We will not knowingly advertise an expired or cancelled event as upcoming.

You may contact us to request removal or to stop future promotional use. We will stop new uses and remove or amend content under our control within a reasonable time, subject to legal requirements and any separately agreed ongoing service arrangements.

We cannot guarantee recall of printed materials already distributed, removal of copies independently shared by others, or immediate removal from third-party caches. We will take reasonable steps concerning placements we control. Necessary legal, transaction and backup records may be retained as described in our Privacy Policy.

12. Personal Information, Confidentiality & Our Own Marketing

(a) Collection and permitted uses

We collect personal information only where reasonably necessary for lawful purposes connected with operating the platform. Depending on your interaction with us, these purposes may include:

• processing submissions, purchases, payments and bookings;

• managing accounts, memberships, listings and customer support;

• communicating about your submission, service or transaction;

• checking authority to submit content and addressing accuracy or rights concerns;

• preventing fraud, protecting security and meeting legal obligations;

• understanding use of our services and improving the platform; and

• marketing our own platform and services where permitted by law and consistent with the purposes notified to you.

We will not treat submission of information as unrestricted permission to use it for any purpose. A materially different use requires an applicable legal basis and any notice or authorisation required by law.

(b) Public and private information

Information clearly requested for public listing or promotion may be published and promoted under section 11. Information supplied only for account administration, payments, support or confidential correspondence will not be published as promotional content without separate authority or another lawful basis.

If you are unsure whether a field is public, ask us before submitting sensitive or confidential information.

(c) Our own marketing

We may use relevant customer information internally to understand interest in our services, assess campaign performance and plan marketing for What’s On Aotearoa and its regional pages, where lawful.

Promotional emails, texts and other commercial electronic messages will be sent only where we have the consent required by law. They will identify the sender and provide a functioning unsubscribe facility. We will honour unsubscribe requests within the legally required timeframe.

You may unsubscribe from promotional communications at any time using the unsubscribe option included in the message. If you experience difficulty unsubscribing, continue receiving promotional messages after your request has been processed, or have any other concerns, please contact us directly using the contact details in section 15.

Making a purchase or submitting a listing does not, by itself, constitute express consent to unrelated promotional messages. Opting out of marketing does not prevent necessary communications about your account, listing, purchase, booking or legal matters.

(d) Service providers and other disclosures

We do not sell private customer information or supply it to unrelated businesses for their independent direct marketing.

We may nevertheless share relevant information with service providers needed to operate the platform, including hosting, ecommerce, payment, booking, form, communications, automation, analytics and advertising services. This may include Shopify and Meta as described in section 13 and our Privacy Policy.

Where a booking is made, necessary booking information may be supplied to the relevant provider to fulfil it. Information may also be disclosed where authorised or required by law.

We take reasonable steps to limit sharing to information relevant to the stated purpose and to assess appropriate safeguards. Some recipients, particularly advertising platforms, may process information for their own purposes under their applicable terms and privacy policies. Those arrangements are not described as purely internal use.

(e) Protection and retention

We take reasonable security measures to protect personal information against loss and unauthorised access, use, modification or disclosure. Access is limited to people and service providers who reasonably need it for authorised purposes.

No online system can be guaranteed completely secure. This does not remove our legal obligations, including any obligation to notify affected people and the Privacy Commissioner of a notifiable privacy breach.

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes for which it may lawfully be used, including applicable recordkeeping obligations, and then securely delete or de-identify it.

(f) Overseas processing

Some service providers may store or process information outside New Zealand. We remain responsible for meeting applicable New Zealand privacy requirements concerning those arrangements.

Where an overseas disclosure requires comparable privacy safeguards or specific informed authorisation, we will take the steps required by law. Acceptance of these terms is not blanket authorisation for overseas disclosure without appropriate safeguards.

(g) Information about other people

If you supply personal information about someone else, you must have lawful authority to provide it and ensure they receive any information you are required to give them.

We will also meet any notification obligations that apply to our collection of personal information from another source, unless a lawful exception applies. Your submission does not transfer our own privacy obligations to you.

(h) Access, correction and complaints

You may request access to, or correction of, personal information we hold about you, subject to the Privacy Act 2020. You may also contact us about marketing preferences, confidentiality concerns or a privacy complaint using the contact details in section 15.

Our Privacy Policy provides further details about collection, recipients, choices and privacy rights. We will make relevant privacy information available at collection, including whether requested information is mandatory or optional and the consequences of not providing it.

13. Shopify, Meta & Advertising Technologies

We use Shopify to operate our online platform and may use Meta services, including Facebook and Instagram, to promote listings and the platform, measure advertising performance and reach relevant audiences.

Our Shopify Facebook & Instagram customer data-sharing setting is Standard. Shopify describes Standard as using the Meta pixel to collect and share customer browsing behaviour. Enhanced and Maximum settings share additional customer information.

Standard does not mean that browsing information is anonymous or that no information is shared externally. Advertising technologies may use cookies, online identifiers and information about pages viewed or actions taken, and Meta may associate website activity with a person’s account in accordance with its own policies.

We do not promise that selecting Standard prevents every other disclosure by Shopify, Meta or separately installed applications. Other integrations and service arrangements must be assessed and described in our Privacy Policy as applicable.

The scope of information shared is determined by the tools enabled, their configuration, applicable provider terms, privacy controls and legal requirements. We do not have an unrestricted right to increase sharing of personal information.

We will provide relevant information about advertising technologies and available privacy choices in our Privacy Policy and any applicable website privacy controls. Where consent is required, we will obtain it before the relevant processing.

Before materially increasing data sharing or introducing a materially different use, we will update the relevant disclosures and obtain any authorisation required by law. A terms update alone does not provide permission where separate consent is required.

14. Changes to Terms

We may update these terms by publishing a revised version. The terms in effect when a purchase, booking or paid listing was made continue to govern that transaction unless a change is lawfully agreed or required.

Updated terms apply to future transactions and submissions after publication and a reasonable opportunity to review them. For a material change to an ongoing paid service, we will provide any notice or option required by law or the agreed terms.

Publishing revised terms does not retrospectively expand our rights to use previously submitted content or personal information where further agreement or authorisation is required.

15. Governing Law & Contact

These terms are governed by New Zealand law, subject to any mandatory rights that apply.

For questions, booking issues, content or rights concerns, complaints, or privacy access and correction requests, contact What’s On Aotearoa directly through the contact options provided on the platform.

Privacy enquiries should be marked “Privacy Officer”. Please provide a booking or listing reference where relevant, and only the personal information reasonably needed to identify and resolve your enquiry.

If a privacy complaint is not resolved, you may contact the New Zealand Office of the Privacy Commissioner. Nothing in these terms prevents you from exercising any right to approach a regulator, tribunal or court.

If part of these terms cannot be enforced, the other parts continue to apply so far as lawful.