Since 2006, AlgarExperience has been on a mission to deliver excellence across boat activities in Portugal, including caves and coastline tours, parties, parasailing, and high-end experiences such as private boat charters. A combination of mergers and acquisitions, along with a growth strategy that includes OTAs as a key part, means the company expects over €12 million in revenue in 2026.
Pedro Bacalhau, founder and CEO of AlgarExperience, notes that the “vision for the future is to keep buying and building in the main destinations in Portugal, including the Madeira islands and Azores. To be a brand that moves people to come to Portugal. That's our main vision for the next five years, and after that, we want to go inland and not only deliver water activities.”
He continues, “Next, for the second phase of growth, we want to be the first multi-chain of experiences, like a chain of hotels, starting mainly in Portugal and then going to Spain and all of the Mediterranean.”
Here, we delve further into AlgarExperience’s business plans and how OTAs like GetYourGuide have been pivotal to its growth.
How many guests do you typically welcome a year?
Each time we buy a company, we grow, gaining not only the customers the acquired company had but also improving.
This year, we expect to welcome 250,000 customers. Last year, we welcomed over 150,000 customers. So, with new locations, more boats, more experiences, growing experiences, and more seats available, we expect significant growth.
What inspired you to partner with GetYourGuide?
We saw GetYourGuide as an important player in the market and as one that can attract customers early. So, not only customers who buy in the destination, but also those who buy when they're planning their trips.
We have a large booking window, which is really good, so we can evaluate year-on-year evolution, and GetYourGuide does a great job with that. Online was growing rapidly, and GetYourGuide had the best user experience and user interface for the customer.
Did you have any hesitations about working with GetYourGuide, and what convinced you to move forward?
I think it was a win-win deal, and it still is. The commission policy aligns with our expectations, so the only concern was that the OTA marketing would grow too much. But we managed to maintain a very comfortable margin because we also have strong marketing and direct sales, both offline and online.
So, I know some companies may be concerned, but then, we have to do our internal job to keep the share in balance.
What have been the most significant outcomes since joining GetYourGuide?
The biggest upsides have been volume and early bookings in the last two years. Another is that private charter bookings (we rent out private yachts) grew exponentially last year, and GetYourGuide grew a lot on that.
Also, having more customers from a diverse range of countries, since GetYourGuide is one of the main operators that a wide range of nationalities are exposed to.
Around 28% of total revenue comes from OTAs, and about half of that is from GetYourGuide. So, we have a good balance in shared income, with OTAs growing every year.
What’s the biggest challenge facing your sector today?
To provide a good experience for the customers and to provide more flexibility. GetYourGuide’s policies brought more flexibility to customers, so we just followed suit and maintained the same alignment, because after the pandemic, flexibility grew a lot.
GetYourGuide was a driver in that, and we are happy because they have the largest share of the online market. If you show this flexibility, all the competition is aligned, because they don't want to lose out. It’s good for the customer, and I think for us.
Do you have any advice or best practices for other organizations looking to grow through OTA partnerships?
Definitely have a revenue management strategy. That’s been a game-changer for the operation to improve quality and to improve the sector.
I think dynamic pricing is very important, like the hotels and aviation companies do. In North America, that's happening a lot, but not so much in Europe. So we increase revenue and can improve quality, while people who want to pay less just need to plan in advance.
How has digitization influenced your operations?
There was a time when we were writing down tickets for customers and hotels in our ticket shops. Local partners were phoning and creating tickets. We’ve used a booking system since 2012, so we were a bit of a pioneer in our region and worldwide, since it was around 2014 when they started to boom.
At first, we had direct bookings from our website and no integrations with OTAs. It was a big game-changer to use a booking system connected with the OTAs API.
Mainly, since moving online, our guests are younger, but it's changing a lot. Also, more full-day experiences than before, and in general, longer experiences.
What’s the most memorable request you’ve had from a guest?
We get a lot of things about proposals. Notably, we offer parasailing, and we had a request for a proposal in the air at sunset.
We made it happen.
Key Takeaways
- Ambitious expansion defines the brand’s trajectory. AlgarExperience expects to earn 12 million in revenue from 250,000 customers this year.
- Diversification ensures a healthy balance between direct and indirect sales. 28% of their revenue comes from OTAs, with around half of that coming from GetYourGuide.
- Extended booking windows allow for better forecasting. OTAs have driven more early bookings for the company.
- Smart financial planning has been a game-changer. They view a revenue management strategy as a key driver of growth.
- Better pricing strategies create more value for more guests. There’s an opportunity to treat revenue management as a growth tool, not just a pricing task.
