Terms of Use

Effective date: 1 January 2026

Website: globalhospitalityinstitute.org

Brand: Global Hospitality Institute

Legal entity: Globaalne Külalislahkuse Instituut OÜ

Contact email: [email protected]

1. Introduction

These Terms of Use, referred to as the Terms, govern your access to and use of the Global Hospitality Institute website, learning platform, courses, memberships, community areas, digital downloads, exams, certificates, and related services.

Global Hospitality Institute is referred to in these Terms as GHI, we, us, or our.

By accessing our website, creating an account, purchasing a course, enrolling in a program, joining a membership, downloading a product, participating in an exam, joining a community area, or otherwise using our services, you agree to these Terms.

If you do not agree to these Terms, you should not use our website, platform, products, or services.

2. About Global Hospitality Institute

Global Hospitality Institute provides online hospitality education, professional development content, digital learning resources, memberships, community access, exams, and certificates.

Our learning services may include free courses, paid courses, certification programs, memberships, downloadable resources, templates, toolkits, exam preparation products, community features, and related educational materials.

Our courses, memberships, downloads, community areas, checkout pages, learner accounts, and related platform functions may be hosted through Thinkific and other third party service providers.

3. Eligibility

To use our services, you must be legally able to enter into a binding agreement in your country of residence.

If you are under the age of legal majority in your country, you may only use our services with the consent and supervision of a parent or legal guardian.

By using our services, you confirm that the information you provide is accurate, complete, and up to date.

4. Account registration

Some services require you to create an account. You agree to provide accurate information when creating your account and to keep your account information updated.

You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your login details and for all activity that occurs under your account.

You must not share your account, login details, course access, membership access, downloadable products, exam access, or certificate access with another person.

You must notify us immediately if you believe your account has been accessed without authorization.

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts that contain inaccurate information, are used in breach of these Terms, are used for fraud or misuse, or create risk for GHI, our users, or our platform.

5. Products and services

GHI may offer various products and services, including but not limited to:

  1. Free courses

  2. Paid courses

  3. Certification programs

  4. Memberships

  5. Digital downloads

  6. Templates and toolkits

  7. Exam preparation products

  8. Final exams and assessments

  9. Certificates

  10. Community access

  11. Email communications and learner updates

The exact content, inclusions, pricing, access period, and features of each product or service will be described on the relevant product page, checkout page, course page, or membership page.

We may update, improve, replace, remove, or discontinue products, lessons, downloads, membership benefits, community features, or other services from time to time.

6. Course access

When you enroll in a course, you receive a limited, personal, non exclusive, non transferable right to access the course for your own learning and professional development.

Unless otherwise stated, course access is provided through the online learning platform and requires an active account.

You may not copy, download, reproduce, record, distribute, share, sell, license, publish, upload, or otherwise make course content available to any other person, except where we have expressly allowed downloads for personal use.

We reserve the right to update course content at any time. Course content may change to improve quality, accuracy, structure, learner experience, or relevance.

7. Memberships

GHI may offer membership products that provide access to selected courses, resources, community areas, benefits, or other content during an active membership period.

Membership inclusions will be described on the relevant membership page or checkout page.

Membership benefits may change over time. We may add, remove, replace, or modify membership benefits, provided that we do so in a reasonable manner.

Some products may not be included in membership, even if they are offered by GHI. This may include certain exam preparation products, templates, special downloads, administrative fees, future programs, or other separately priced products.

Your access to membership content normally continues only while your membership is active and paid, unless otherwise stated.

If your membership is cancelled, expired, unpaid, refunded, charged back, or terminated, your access to membership benefits may end.

8. Subscriptions, renewals, and cancellation

If you purchase a subscription based membership or product, you authorize the applicable payment provider to charge the relevant fees at the stated billing frequency until the subscription is cancelled.

You are responsible for cancelling your subscription before the next billing date if you do not wish to be charged again.

Cancellation normally stops future billing. It does not automatically create a refund for amounts already charged, unless required by law or expressly stated in our refund policy.

If a payment fails, access may be suspended, restricted, or cancelled until payment is completed.

9. Pricing and payment

Prices are shown on the relevant product page, checkout page, or order page.

Prices may be shown in euros or another currency, depending on the product, checkout settings, payment provider, or user location.

We may change prices at any time. Price changes do not affect purchases already completed, unless they relate to future subscription renewals and applicable law or platform functionality allows such changes.

You are responsible for any taxes, bank charges, card fees, currency conversion fees, or other costs that may apply to your purchase.

Payments are processed by third party payment providers. We do not intentionally collect or store full payment card details.

10. Refunds

Refund rights, if any, are governed by the refund terms displayed at the time of purchase, these Terms, and applicable law.

Because many GHI products are digital products, online courses, downloadable resources, templates, exam products, memberships, or immediately accessible online services, refunds may be limited once access has been granted, content has been accessed, a download has been made, an exam has been attempted, or a membership period has started.

Unless otherwise required by law or expressly stated in writing by GHI, the following are generally non refundable:

  1. Digital downloads after access has been provided

  2. Templates, toolkits, and downloadable files after access has been provided

  3. Exam preparation products after access has been provided

  4. Final exam access after an exam has been started or attempted

  5. Certificates after issuance or certificate review has been completed

  6. Administrative fees, including retake fees, after processing has started

  7. Membership fees for a billing period that has already started

  8. Courses where a substantial part of the course has been accessed or completed

We may consider refund requests at our discretion where there are exceptional circumstances, technical issues caused by our platform setup, duplicate payments, or other reasonable grounds.

To request a refund, contact us at [email protected] with your name, account email, order details, and reason for the request.

11. Exams and assessments

Some courses or programs may include quizzes, exams, assessments, scenario based questions, or other learning checks.

You agree to complete exams and assessments honestly and independently, unless the assessment instructions expressly allow collaboration.

You must not copy, record, share, publish, sell, distribute, photograph, screenshot, upload, or disclose exam questions, answers, scenarios, explanations, or assessment materials.

You must not use another person to complete an exam on your behalf, complete an exam for another person, use unauthorized assistance, or attempt to manipulate exam results.

We reserve the right to review exam attempts, investigate suspicious activity, withhold certificate approval, cancel results, reset access, suspend accounts, or permanently remove access where we reasonably suspect cheating, misuse, fraud, or breach of these Terms.

12. Certificate issuance

Where a course or program includes a certificate, certificate eligibility depends on the requirements stated for that course or program.

Requirements may include completing lessons, passing quizzes or exams, achieving a minimum score, completing required activities, and passing any manual verification or review process.

Certificate issuance may not be automatic. GHI may manually review exam attempts, learner records, completion status, or other relevant information before approving a certificate.

We may withhold, revoke, correct, or cancel a certificate if we reasonably believe it was issued in error, obtained through misuse, obtained through dishonest conduct, affected by technical error, or issued in breach of these Terms.

Certificates issued by GHI confirm completion of the relevant GHI course or program. They do not guarantee employment, promotion, visa approval, immigration eligibility, academic credit, professional licensing, regulatory approval, or recognition by any employer, government body, educational institution, or third party.

13. Educational purpose only

GHI content is provided for educational and professional development purposes only.

Our content is not legal, financial, medical, immigration, tax, regulatory, employment, or professional licensing advice.

Hospitality practices, laws, regulations, standards, employment rules, and operational requirements may vary by country, property type, company, and situation. You are responsible for applying professional judgment and seeking appropriate advice where needed.

14. Community rules

If you access a GHI community area, discussion area, comment area, group, forum, or similar feature, you agree to participate professionally and respectfully.

You must not post, upload, send, or share content that is:

  1. Abusive, threatening, harassing, discriminatory, hateful, or defamatory

  2. Obscene, offensive, sexually explicit, or otherwise inappropriate for a professional learning environment

  3. False, misleading, fraudulent, or deceptive

  4. Spam, advertising, solicitation, or self promotion without permission

  5. Confidential, private, or personal information that you do not have permission to share

  6. Infringing on intellectual property, privacy, or other rights

  7. Harmful to the platform, including malware, phishing, malicious links, or attempts to bypass security

  8. In breach of any applicable law or regulation

We may moderate, edit, remove, restrict, or delete community content at our discretion.

We may suspend or terminate community access where users breach these Terms, disrupt the community, misuse the platform, or act in a way that we consider inconsistent with a professional learning environment.

15. User content

You remain responsible for content you post, upload, submit, or share through our website, platform, course areas, community areas, forms, or communications.

By submitting user content, you confirm that you have the necessary rights to share it and that it does not breach the rights of any third party.

You grant GHI a limited, non exclusive, worldwide, royalty free license to use, host, store, display, reproduce, and process your user content as necessary to operate the platform, provide the services, manage the community, respond to support requests, protect users, and enforce these Terms.

We are not responsible for user content posted by other users. Views expressed by users do not necessarily reflect the views of GHI.

16. Intellectual property

All GHI content, including courses, lessons, videos, scripts, text, graphics, images, templates, toolkits, downloads, exams, questions, scenarios, certificates, branding, logos, website content, page layouts, documents, and other materials, is owned by GHI or licensed to GHI.

GHI content is protected by copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws.

You receive only a limited right to access and use GHI content for your own personal learning and professional development.

You must not:

  1. Copy, reproduce, distribute, share, upload, sell, rent, license, or publish GHI content

  2. Use GHI content to create competing courses, training materials, exams, templates, toolkits, or services

  3. Remove copyright notices, branding, watermarks, restrictions, or ownership notices

  4. Record, screenshot, scrape, download, or extract content except where expressly allowed

  5. Share downloadable products with others

  6. Use GHI content for commercial training, classroom delivery, company training, or consulting without our written permission

  7. Use GHI trademarks, brand names, logos, or certificate designs without written permission

Any unauthorized use of GHI content may result in suspension, termination, legal action, and claims for damages.

17. Acceptable use

You agree not to misuse our website, platform, products, or services.

You must not:

  1. Use our services for unlawful, fraudulent, harmful, or abusive purposes

  2. Attempt to gain unauthorized access to accounts, systems, content, or data

  3. Interfere with the security, functionality, or availability of the website or platform

  4. Use bots, scraping tools, automated systems, or data extraction tools without permission

  5. Circumvent access controls, payment requirements, membership restrictions, or download restrictions

  6. Share login details or allow unauthorized access to paid content

  7. Misrepresent your identity, qualifications, exam results, certificate status, or relationship with GHI

  8. Upload malware, malicious code, spam, phishing links, or harmful content

  9. Use our services in a way that damages GHI, other users, Thinkific, service providers, or third parties

  10. Breach any applicable law, regulation, or third party right

18. Affiliate and referral links

GHI may operate affiliate, referral, or partner programs.

If you access our website through an affiliate or referral link, we may track the source of your visit, signup, or purchase for the purpose of managing referral attribution and partner arrangements.

Referral partners and affiliates are not employees, agents, representatives, or legal partners of GHI unless expressly agreed in writing.

Referral partners and affiliates must not make false claims, misleading promises, unauthorized discounts, employment guarantees, certificate guarantees, income claims, or statements that misrepresent GHI products or services.

We reserve the right to reject, reverse, withhold, or cancel referral attribution, commissions, or partner status in cases of fraud, misuse, self referral, misleading promotion, policy breach, chargebacks, refunds, or suspicious activity.

19. Third party platforms and links

Our website and services may include links to third party websites, platforms, resources, social media pages, payment processors, analytics tools, or other service providers.

We are not responsible for third party websites, services, policies, content, security, availability, or practices.

Your use of third party services may be subject to their own terms and policies.

20. Thinkific platform

Our learning platform is hosted through Thinkific. Thinkific provides technology for course hosting, learner accounts, checkout support, memberships, community areas, and related functions.

Your use of the learning platform may also be subject to Thinkifics applicable terms, policies, and platform rules.

We are not responsible for outages, interruptions, technical limitations, account issues, payment issues, platform changes, or service disruptions caused by Thinkific or other third party providers, although we will make reasonable efforts to support users where possible.

21. Availability and technical issues

We aim to keep our website and services available, but we do not guarantee uninterrupted, error free, or continuous access.

Access may be affected by maintenance, updates, internet issues, platform outages, third party service disruptions, security incidents, payment issues, user device issues, browser issues, or other factors outside our control.

We may temporarily restrict, suspend, or modify access for maintenance, security, operational, legal, or technical reasons.

You are responsible for ensuring that you have a suitable internet connection, device, browser, software, and email access to use our services.

22. Changes to services

We may update, improve, modify, suspend, replace, or discontinue any part of our website, products, courses, memberships, downloads, exams, certificates, community areas, pricing, or services at any time.

Where a change materially affects paid access that you have already purchased, we will aim to act reasonably and provide an appropriate alternative, extension, replacement, or other practical solution where appropriate.

23. Suspension and termination

We may suspend, restrict, or terminate your account, enrollment, membership, community access, exam access, certificate eligibility, or access to any service if:

  1. You breach these Terms

  2. You fail to pay applicable fees

  3. A payment is refunded, reversed, disputed, or charged back

  4. You share account access or paid content with others

  5. You misuse exams, certificates, downloads, or community areas

  6. You infringe intellectual property rights

  7. You engage in fraud, abuse, harassment, cheating, or harmful activity

  8. We are required to do so by law or by a service provider

  9. Continued access creates legal, security, operational, reputational, or commercial risk

Suspension or termination does not automatically entitle you to a refund.

We may also delete, restrict, or disable content connected to accounts that breach these Terms.

24. Disclaimers

Our website, content, products, and services are provided on an as is and as available basis.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, we do not guarantee that:

  1. Our services will meet your specific expectations or objectives

  2. Our content will be error free, complete, or fully up to date at all times

  3. Access will be uninterrupted or free from technical issues

  4. Completing a course will result in employment, promotion, salary increase, visa approval, professional recognition, business success, or third party acceptance

  5. Certificates will be accepted by any employer, institution, authority, regulator, or third party

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits rights that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law.

25. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, GHI, its owners, directors, officers, employees, contractors, instructors, affiliates, partners, and service providers shall not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, punitive, or similar damages, including loss of profits, loss of opportunity, loss of data, loss of business, reputational damage, or business interruption.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, our total liability for any claim connected to our services shall be limited to the amount you paid to GHI for the specific product or service giving rise to the claim during the six months before the claim arose.

Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations of liability. In such cases, our liability will be limited to the maximum extent permitted by law.

26. Indemnity

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless GHI, its owners, directors, officers, employees, contractors, instructors, affiliates, partners, and service providers from any claims, damages, losses, liabilities, costs, and expenses arising from:

  1. Your breach of these Terms

  2. Your misuse of our website, platform, products, or services

  3. Your violation of any law or third party right

  4. Your user content

  5. Your unauthorized use or sharing of GHI content

  6. Your conduct in community areas or communications with other users

27. Privacy

Our use of personal data is explained in our Privacy Policy.

By using our services, you acknowledge that we process personal data as described in the Privacy Policy.

28. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of Estonia, unless applicable consumer protection laws in your country require otherwise.

Where a dispute cannot be resolved informally, the courts of Estonia shall have jurisdiction, unless applicable law requires another jurisdiction.

29. Dispute resolution

If you have a concern or complaint, you agree to contact us first so we can try to resolve the matter informally.

Please contact us at [email protected] with your name, account email, order details where applicable, and a clear explanation of the issue.

We will review the matter and respond within a reasonable time.

30. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal requirements, platform setup, pricing, policies, or business operations.

When we update these Terms, we will revise the effective date at the top of this page.

Where required, we may notify users by email, platform notice, checkout notice, or other appropriate means.

Your continued use of our website or services after updated Terms are posted means that you accept the updated Terms.

31. Severability

If any part of these Terms is found to be invalid, unlawful, or unenforceable, the remaining parts will remain in effect.

The invalid, unlawful, or unenforceable part will be interpreted as closely as possible to the original intention, to the extent permitted by law.

32. No waiver

If we do not enforce a right under these Terms, this does not mean that we waive that right.

Any waiver must be made in writing by GHI.

33. Assignment

You may not assign, transfer, or delegate your rights or obligations under these Terms without our written permission.

We may assign, transfer, or delegate our rights or obligations where reasonably necessary for business operations, restructuring, service delivery, legal compliance, or transfer of the business.

34. Contact us

If you have any questions about these Terms, please contact us at:

Global Hospitality Institute

Legal entity: Globaalne Külalislahkuse Instituut OÜ

Email: [email protected]

Address: Harju maakond, Tallinn, Kesklinna linnaosa, Tuukri tn 19-202, 10120, Estonia