Never met the man but my hunting partner has several times and says he is a really decent guy to chat with.
Given all that, I think he is off base on this topic. He does make a good point about clients being responsible for their own travel insurance though.
I think what the cruise ship industry has done is reasonable, if less than perfect. If they could not provide the service contracted (the cruise) they gave a credit for 100-125% of the cost of the cruise, to be used again future sailings (any sailings). i.e. I believe the credit is for the value of the cruise, not necessarily one cruise for another. People who have booked later cruises are not bumped to accommodate those whose cruise did not sail. Seems reasonable as a baseline for outfitters to follow that model.
I understand the point he made about yearly operating expenses before the trip, but that is the outfitters business model and his risk, and suggesting the client eats that cost is unreasonable. That would be like the farmer who wants the processor to pay for his expenses when he has a crop failure with not crop to sell!
I suspect any outfitters who do not work with their clients towards a reasonable solution, in spite of what their lawyers advise is their legal requirement, will suffer significant bad press and their business will suffer, as it should.
