Some travel businesses are built around novelty. Evan Evans Tours is built around staying useful. Over more than 90 years, the company has kept reshaping how it sells, how it serves guests, and how it plans for the road ahead.
Founded in 1933, Evans Evans Tours is London’s longest-running sightseeing operator, offering premium guided tours across the UK capital and the English countryside. The company has always been willing to adapt across decades of change, and 18,000 five-star reviews suggest that has paid off.
Alexis Peppis, Head of Sales, sees the same dynamic mindset in its GetYourGuide partnership today. “We were early adopters and could see the strength in partnering with an OTA,” he says. “GetYourGuide aids us in getting more bookings from more countries and cultures. They’re specialists in globalization.”
For Evan Evans, this has meant more than adding another sales channel. It’s helped bring new products to a wider audience and give long-established tours a clearer path to the next phase of growth.
That story is especially evident in three areas: how new products launch, how guest feedback is turned into action, and how the business approaches responsible tourism over the long term.
What makes the partnership work?
Alexis says the relationship works because it is active, close, and useful at ground level. Evan Evans has worked with GetYourGuide for many years, and he describes the platform as “very supplier-friendly.”
That counts because the partnership is not limited to distribution; it’s about strategic alignment. Through the supplier portal, Evan Evans can better understand their customers and stay ahead of travel trends.
In his view, that level of insight helps unlock opportunities that Evan Evans might have struggled to realize on its own. “GetYourGuide is a giant beast of a company,” he says. “It can open doors where Evan Evans perhaps couldn’t. They enable us to tap into partners and content creators.”
What happens when Evan Evans launches something new?
One of the clearest benefits is speed. Alexis says GetYourGuide can drive bookings almost immediately when a new product lands well. “When we launch a new tour, and we’ve hit the zeitgeist on the head, we can instantly see bookings come in from GetYourGuide almost within the hour of a product going live,” he says.
That’s crucial because it gives the team fast confirmation that a product is connecting. It also helps create momentum early. “As the reviews start coming in, their algorithms kick in, and you get this wonderful positive feedback loop with more and more bookings,” says Alexis.
How does data shape what Evan Evans does?
Alexis describes the relationship as consultative, in part, because Evan Evans can use the rich analytics information available through the platform.
“GetYourGuide provides a lot of data through their portal, including customer demographics,” he says. That gives the team a clearer view of which products appeal to which markets, and that insight feeds into practical decisions.
“It’s valuable, especially when we look at languages for guides, whether it’s live or pre-recorded,” says Alexis. “Seeing that customer data enables us to select the right languages and organically grow our multilingual offering.”
That is a useful detail because it shows the partnership affecting decisions behind the scenes, not just sales volume. For a long-established operator, growth doesn’t only come from adding more products. It also comes from matching the right product to the right audience more precisely.
What do 18,000 five-star reviews tell the team?
Alexis says Evan Evans has more than 18,000 five-star reviews, and he links that performance to a long-standing habit of listening to guests and acting on what they say. He points to GetYourGuide’s AI tools as a useful part of that process.
“We’ve also recently been using GetYourGuide’s AI review analysis to better deep-dive on the thousands of reviews we receive,” he says. “There is a tool in the GYG portal that does this with a click of a button — extremely easy and time-saving.”
The value is not just speed. It is what the team can do next. “There are a lot of learnings,” says Alexis. “Some can be very simple, such as better explaining our departure points and timings. Thanks to GetYourGuide’s portal, the system allows us to update and fix that immediately. Other feedback may take time, but it’s always acted upon.”
Even after over 90 years in operation, this shows a business that is still listening closely and still adjusting to modern needs.
How is Evan Evans approaching sustainability and overtourism?
Alexis says Evan Evans is “working toward net-zero,” and that ambition shapes how the company thinks about transport and planning. He says the business uses fully electric vehicles whenever possible, with diesel still used where long-distance charging infrastructure is not yet available.
He also says Evan Evans is pushing beyond its own operations. The company is working with the government to lobby for and develop more electric charging points.
The overtourism point is just as present in the team’s mind. Alexis gives one clear example from the Cotswolds. “We do Villages of the Cotswolds as a small group tour,” he says. “We could easily fill a coach or double-decker, but we go for a small Sprinter-style coach to have less of an impact, so we’re not taking up a massive space.”
Mapping out the next century
Evan Evans is cruising towards 100 years in business. That history gives the company prestige and experience, but Alexis makes something else clear: longevity only counts if the company keeps moving.
GetYourGuide helps on the commercial side by widening reach, supporting launches, and making customer insight easier to act on. Evan Evans is using that support to shape a future that is not only about volume, but about product fit, guest clarity, and more careful choices on where and how to grow sustainably.
Alexis puts the longer view simply: “The future is continually providing a quality service and continually beating the drum about how great the UK is as a destination.”
Key takeaways
- Founded in 1933, Evan Evans has stayed relevant for more than 90 years by continuing to adapt how it sells, launches, and improves its tours.
- GetYourGuide remains a key growth channel, helping Evan Evans reach more countries and cultures and bring new products to a wider market.
- New launches can gain traction fast. Alexis says bookings can start coming in through GetYourGuide almost within the hour when a product lands well.
- Customer demographics and market data help the team make practical decisions, including how to grow its multilingual offering.
- More than 18,000 five-star reviews reflect a long-standing focus on guest feedback, with GetYourGuide’s AI review analysis helping the team spot issues and act faster.
- Responsible growth is part of the plan. Evan Evans is working toward net zero, using electric vehicles where possible, and keeping products like its small-group Cotswolds tour lighter on local communities.
- Alexis’s advice is clear: use the partnership for more than sales. Use it to test new products, learn from guest behavior, and keep improving the experience.
