OTAs Explained: Viator, GetYourGuide, Expedia and How They Work

An OTA — online travel agency — is a website or app that sells other businesses' travel products to travellers and takes a commission on each booking. For a tour operator the relevant ones are activity marketplaces: platforms where travellers search for things to do and book them without ever visiting your own site.

You do not sell to the OTA. The OTA sells on your behalf, collects the money, keeps a share and passes on the rest — and the traveller's relationship is largely with the platform until the moment they meet your guide.

How the money moves

The traveller pays the platform, not you. The platform keeps its commission and remits the rest — and the timing is the part that catches new operators out, because payouts generally arrive on a cycle after the tour has been delivered rather than when it was booked.

So a booking made in March for an August departure is money you see after August. That is a working capital fact rather than a complaint, and it is why reconciliation matters: what arrives rarely matches what you expected line by line.

Commission for tours and activities commonly sits in the twenties as a percentage, varying by platform and by the terms you agree — what operators actually pay has the detail, including why published third-party figures should be treated with caution.

How connectivity works

Listing on a platform means keeping two things in step: what you have available, and what has been booked.

You can do that by hand — logging in, adjusting numbers — and plenty of operators start there. It works until the week you are busiest, which is exactly when a slow update sells the same seat twice. The alternative is a connection between your booking system and the platform, which sends availability out and receives bookings back automatically.

That mechanism is what a channel manager does, and it is normally set up through your booking software rather than directly with each platform. Worth knowing that connection quality varies between platforms even when two products both claim support.

The major platforms

Described by what they are rather than ranked, because which matters most depends entirely on your destination and your source markets.

Viator sits within the Tripadvisor group, which connects it to one of the largest pools of travel research traffic anywhere. Selling on Viator covers listing and ranking there.

GetYourGuide is Berlin-based and strong in Europe, with its own approach to supplier ratings — covered here, and compared with Viator here.

Expedia Group reaches travellers differently — activities appear while somebody is booking a hotel or a flight rather than while they are specifically hunting for things to do. That is a genuinely distinct position, and the supplier situation needs its own section below. Expedia Group also acquired Tiqets, an attractions and experiences platform, in a deal announced in December 2025 and since confirmed as closed — continued expansion in this category rather than a retreat from it.

Beyond the largest three sit regional and specialist platforms that frequently matter more than their size suggests, because they own a specific source market or product type. Which ones are worth your time is a question about where your travellers come from, not about global scale.

The Expedia question

Worth handling separately, because the available information genuinely conflicts and most content on this subject picks a side without saying so.

On one hand: Expedia's own partner pages currently host application forms inviting tour and activity suppliers to apply and be reviewed.

On the other: several industry sources report that Expedia stopped accepting new direct suppliers some years ago and instead sources activity inventory from Viator and GetYourGuide — a booking software vendor's own support documentation states that only operators with existing accounts can use its Expedia integration.

The practical answer: apply through Expedia's own partner page and find out, rather than relying on any third-party summary including this one. It costs a few minutes. And note that if your products already appear on Viator or GetYourGuide, they may reach Expedia travellers through that route regardless.

Pros and cons for operators

What they give you: access to travellers who would never find your website, credibility you have not had to earn yet — a stranger will book through a platform they recognise long before sending money to an unfamiliar business abroad — payment handling and customer service, and a fee charged only when it works.

What they cost you: the commission, obviously, but also the customer relationship — contact details are frequently masked, so the guest is the platform's until they have travelled with you. Ranking is controlled by rules you do not set, terms can change, and an operator whose season depends on one platform has handed a lot of control to a company that does not know their name.

The useful reframe is that commission is closer to customer acquisition cost paid on success than to an expensive sale. At 20–30% it is expensive per transaction and reasonable as marketing — provided you actually acquire the customer rather than merely delivering the tour.

OTA and direct together

The choice is not between platforms and your own bookings. Nearly every successful operator runs both, with the balance shifting over time.

Early on, platforms provide the discovery you cannot buy. Later, the aim becomes converting those guests into people who return directly — which is what makes the commission worth paying once rather than every time. Getting the mix right covers the economics, and growing without becoming dependent covers the strategy, including varying your exposure by product and season.

Related terms

• Channel manager — software keeping availability synchronised across every platform you sell on.
• Commission — the share of the booking price the platform keeps.
• Net rate — an alternative model where you quote a lower price and the seller sets its own retail.
• Payout cycle — how often and how long after delivery a platform remits your money.
• Rate parity — an expectation, in many agreements, that you do not undercut the platform's price elsewhere.
• Instant confirmation — a booking confirmed to the traveller immediately, which most platforms now favour heavily.

How Travelity fits

Travelity connects your availability to marketplaces through its channel manager, so a seat sold on a platform closes on the others and on your own booking widget at the same time. Every reservation lands in one place with its source attached, which is what makes net revenue by channel readable rather than reconstructed from three exports.

Frequently asked questions

What is an OTA in travel?

An OTA is an online travel agency — a website or app that sells other businesses travel products to travellers and takes a commission on each booking. For tour operators the relevant ones are activity marketplaces, which list your tours to an audience that would never have found your own website.

How do OTA commissions work for tour operators?

The traveller pays the platform, the platform keeps an agreed percentage, and you receive the remainder — usually on a payout cycle after the tour has been delivered rather than when it was booked. Rates for tours and activities commonly sit in the twenties as a percentage, and vary by platform and by agreement.

Does Expedia accept new tour and activity suppliers?

The public information conflicts. Expedia own partner pages currently host application forms for activity suppliers, while several industry sources report that it stopped taking new direct suppliers and instead sources activity inventory from Viator and GetYourGuide. Both can be true if intake is selective, so apply through Expedia own page rather than relying on any third-party summary including this one.

How does an OTA connect to my booking system?

Through a channel connection that exchanges two things — your availability going out to the platform, and bookings coming back in. That connection is what keeps a seat sold on one platform from being sold again on another, and setting it up is normally done through your booking software rather than directly.

Is it better to sell through OTAs or take direct bookings?

Both, in different proportions as you grow. Marketplaces reach travellers who would never find you and charge only when they succeed, which makes them reasonable customer acquisition rather than an expensive sale. Direct bookings keep the commission, so the sensible aim is converting guests acquired through platforms into people who return directly.

In short

An OTA sells your tours to travellers who would not otherwise find you, keeps a commission and pays you after delivery. Treat that commission as acquisition cost paid on success rather than as a tax, connect your availability properly so nothing sells twice, and work on converting platform guests into direct ones — which is the whole game.

Related guides

• Channel manager for tours: the complete guide
• OTA commission rates in 2026: what operators actually pay
• Viator vs GetYourGuide: which is right for your tours?
• Direct bookings vs OTA bookings: getting the mix right
• What is a channel manager for tours and activities?
• Tour and activity industry terms every operator should know