Viator vs GetYourGuide: which OTAs to use and what they cost
Online travel agencies sell your tours to travellers you can't reach alone, for a commission: start with the one or two your visitors use.
Compare the main booking sites
| Site | Strongest with | What it costs you (2025–2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Viator | North Americans and English speakers. It also sells on Tripadvisor | A non-refundable US$29 per product submitted, then a commission of commonly 20–30% |
| GetYourGuide | European travellers | No listing fee; a commission set by country, shared once you sign up: plan for up to 30% |
| Civitatis | Spanish and Portuguese speakers | No setup fee; a commission agreed with you. It sells at your public price |
| Airbnb Experiences | Small, host-led experiences | Typically 20% |
Through Viator, your tours can also reach Booking.com and Expedia (2025).
Choose where to start
- 1
Check where your visitors come from
Your destination's arrivals by nationality tell you which sites they use.
- 2
Start with Viator
It also sells your tours on Tripadvisor, where travellers compare tours.
- 3
Add one for your next biggest group
GetYourGuide for Europeans, Civitatis for Spanish and Portuguese speakers, Klook for Asia, Airbnb for small, personal experiences.
- 4
List your 2–5 best tours first
Times, languages and a private version as options of one listing, never as copies.
- 5
Connect every site to your booking system
A channel manager shares your live availability with every site, so nothing sells twice and travellers get instant confirmation.
Have these ready before you apply
- 1A bank account in the business's name
- 2Exact descriptions
What's included, meeting point, duration, accessibility.
- 3Real photos, the best one first
8–12 from a real departure: see Design a tour.
- 4A price that pays after commission
The highest commission you accept built in: see Price a tour.
Viator and Tripadvisor: sign up at supplier.viator.com with your Tripadvisor login. A free Tripadvisor listing comes with the account, but it is a profile of its own: claim it, fill it in and link your Viator tours to it, so travellers can book them there too (2025).
Move your tours up the list
Relevance
A title that leads with the place or main attraction, and a description that matches what travellers search.
Reviews
Many, recent and good. Viator adds your Tripadvisor reviews to its own (2025). See Get more reviews.
Availability
Dates open a year ahead, and a new departure when one sells out.
Reliability
No cancellations from your side: GetYourGuide can remove tours that cancel too often (2026). See Booking policies.
A higher commission helps, but won't put you on top by itself (Viator, 2024). To launch a tour, use the sites' introductory offers rather than cutting your price.
Know how each site prices and pays
- Viator sets the price travellers see since 1 August 2026: you give it your net rate and a recommended price. See Price a tour.
- Payouts come after the tour: GetYourGuide's monthly at no cost, or twice a month for a fee (2026); Viator's on the schedule your account shows. Plan your high season's cash: see Numbers and cash flow.
Commissions change: GetYourGuide moved some operators from 20% to 30% in July 2025 (Arival). Count each site's bookings and what you keep from them, every month.
In TourTask
The channel manager connects Viator, GetYourGuide and Civitatis to your live availability; through it, Viator and GetYourGuide sell only tours with instant confirmation. To sell at your public price, choose Custom markup with a Markup of 0 for each: see Channel prices and the channel manager's features.