Field notes
Field Notes for Tour Operators
Rankings, reviews, pricing, distribution. Working notes on how the tours-and-activities marketplaces actually behave, written for the operators listed on them.
Marketplaces
01How to become a Viator supplier: the complete listing guideWhat it takes to list tours on Viator — from insurance and licensing through sign-up, the management center, commissions, and how a new listing earns visibility.02How to become a GetYourGuide supplier: the operator’s guideWho qualifies, how sign-up and verification work, what the supplier portal expects, and the numbers you should watch once your activity goes live.03The Viator partner program explained: three programs“Viator partner” means at least three different things — suppliers, affiliates, and travel agents — each with its own economics, portal, and login. Here is how to tell them apart.04Viator vs GetYourGuide: an operator’s comparisonHow the two big activity marketplaces differ on audience, commission, supplier tooling, reviews, ranking, and payment terms — from the seller’s side, not the traveler’s.05Tripadvisor for tour operators: how it actually worksWhat Tripadvisor is for an activity supplier in 2026 — the free listing, the popularity ranking, and how bookable experiences flow through Viator.06Airbnb Experiences for tour operators: is it worth adding?Airbnb relaunched Experiences in 2025 as a curated channel with Originals and a quality bar — here is what that means for a professional operator deciding whether to add it.07How Viator Reviews Work: A Guide for Both SidesHow Viator collects and screens reviews, why they’re tied to Tripadvisor, and what an operator can actually do to build and defend a rating.
Economics
08OTA commission rates for tour operators, explainedWhat the major activity marketplaces actually charge, why the rates vary, and how to work out your true cost per booking.09Tour pricing strategy: a practical guide for operatorsHow to build a price from your real costs up, position it against competitors, and adjust for season without racing to the bottom.
Distribution
10The Viator travel agent program, and what it means for operatorsHow agents earn commission booking experiences for clients on Viator — and why the same listing content, reviews, and search position decide whether they ever find yours.11How to sell tours online: the full distribution mapEvery channel a new operator can sell through — your own site, the big OTAs, resellers, hotels, and Google — with a sane order to switch them on.12Direct bookings vs OTAs: the honest economicsCommission saved is not profit gained. A clear look at what direct sales really cost activity operators, and why killing your OTA listings rarely works.13Travel Affiliate Programs: What Tour Operators Should KnowHow Tripadvisor, Viator, Expedia, Booking.com, and GetYourGuide affiliate programs push traffic to your listings — and what it costs you underneath.14Google Things to Do: How the Surface Works for OperatorsA mechanical guide to the one Google surface that puts your tickets, prices, and same-day availability directly inside Search and Maps.
Operations
15Tour operator software: the stack you actually needA stage-by-stage map of the software categories a tour business needs as it grows, what each one does, and how the pricing models really work.16Tour booking software: how the reservation layer worksA deep dive on the booking engine itself — availability, resource management, OTA connectivity, widgets, pricing models, demo questions, and migration traps.17How OTA APIs and connectivity actually work for operatorsA plain guide to how availability and pricing sync between your booking system and marketplaces like Viator and GetYourGuide, and why it affects visibility.18Tour guide license: which US cities actually require oneA city-by-city guide to where a US tour guide license is still required in 2026, what each exam and fee involves, and where free-speech rulings ended the rule.
Reputation
19How to respond to negative reviews: an operator playbookSpeed, structure, and platform rules for answering bad reviews on Tripadvisor, Google, and the OTAs — with realistic example replies you can adapt.20Positive review response examples for tour operatorsWhy answering your five-star reviews is worth the time, plus example responses you can adapt for Google, Tripadvisor, and the OTAs.