This is a guest post by Oz Gonzalez, a tourism industry veteran with over 15 years of experience spanning major suppliers and startups. As a distribution channel specialist who has led sales missions across Mexico, Japan, and South Korea, Oz has developed deep expertise in helping activity providers optimize their online presence and maximize their revenue through strategic listing management.
Over my 15 years in tourism, I've had the privilege of helping experience providers transform their online presence and grow their business on GetYourGuide. From working with startups to established operators, I've seen firsthand what makes listings truly perform on OTAs.
In this guide, I'll share practical strategies that have helped providers achieve remarkable results. You'll learn why some listings consistently drive bookings while others struggle to gain traction, and how small changes in your approach can lead to significant improvements in performance.
The key to better conversions: Availability management
Let’s start with something that consistently drives results, regardless of your business size: availability management.
When a potential customer finds your listing but can't book their preferred date, we all lose – you, GetYourGuide, and most importantly, the customer who wanted to experience what you offer.
Here's a strategy that's proven particularly effective: Consider consolidating similar products into one comprehensive listing. Instead of creating separate listings for each variant, create one main listing that showcases different options.
When customers select their date, they’ll see all available options for that specific time. This means they can easily compare and select the option that best suits their needs. Once in the desired option, they will be able to see all the specific details related to it, such as pricing, inclusions, or duration.
Recommended read: Blocking and unblocking dates.
If you have a product with consistent availability throughout the week, it can stand as its own product. However, you could also include it as an option in a broader listing with less availability, which maximizes that product's chances of having something available when a guest selects their date.
Example in Practice: I recently managed a listing with two products:
Product A: Available regularly throughout the week with multiple check-in times.
Product B: Seasonal, available only on certain days.
Listing Product B on its own would likely frustrate customers when they discovered it wasn’t available on their preferred date, leading to lost sales. Instead, I created one listing for both products, offering them as options within the same booking flow. This way, if Product B wasn’t available, customers could still book Product A.
I recently tested this approach with a winter product, and the results were clear: bookings through GetYourGuide were 80% higher compared to other platforms.
Pro tip: Look out for GetYourGuide’s Likely to Sell Out insights—they are a great way to understand your high-demand time slots.
3 essentials for launch success
When you’re starting on GetYourGuide, focus on these three critical factors:
Review management
Reviews are crucial for building trust. When you consolidate multiple tour options under one listing, every review contributes to building your overall reputation. This approach helps you establish credibility faster than having separate listings with fewer reviews each.
Let me share a recent success story: A new New York City sightseeing provider launched on GetYourGuide in June 2024. By implementing these strategies, they achieved remarkable results:
- Within two months, bookings began gaining momentum
- By December, sales had grown 70%
- They secured a position among the top five sightseeing activities
- Most impressively, they gathered over 2,200 reviews with a 4.7-star rating
While we are on reviews, let’s talk about handling reviews. While negative reviews are inevitable, they present perfect opportunities to showcase your dedication to customer satisfaction.
Here's a real example: One of my providers received a negative review about waiting in the summer heat during boarding in NYC. Instead of getting defensive, they reached out to the guest and explained how they'd installed multiple shade tents to prevent this issue for future customers. This proactive solution turned a negative experience into a positive improvement story.
Strategic commission planning
Think of your initial commission rate as an investment in visibility. While there’s no one-size-fits-all rate, being competitive early on helps your listing gain traction. Remember, this is a short-term strategy that builds long-term success.
Smart pricing approach
Rather than lowering your retail price, consider using promotional discounts. When customers see the original price with a strikethrough and the discounted rate, it creates a compelling reason to book now.
This strategy has consistently proven more effective than simply setting a lower base price. You can use GetYourGuide’s special offers feature to boost bookings.
Title optimization: learn from what works
When reviewing listing titles and descriptions, my number one suggestion is straightforward: look at comparable listings that rank at the top of their page and have many reviews. Take inspiration from these proven performers – there’s no need to reinvent the wheel.
These listings have a track record of success, so study what makes them effective.
Make the approach your own while working within the character limits.
Pro tip: You can use GetYourGuide’s new AI content creator to help you get a draft for your title (and 12 more fields) quickly just by inputting your tour description.
Optimizing for long-term success
For ongoing success, study what works on our platform. Look at top-performing listings in your category, especially those with numerous reviews.
GetYourGuide’s data shows what customers are looking for, and we often optimize titles to improve performance. Pay attention to these changes – they're based on actual customer behavior.
Looking ahead
Success on GetYourGuide comes from understanding that we're all working toward the same goal: creating exceptional experiences for travelers. When you combine strategic listing management with excellent customer service, you build a foundation for sustainable growth on our platform.
Remember, these strategies aren't just theoretical – they're proven approaches that have helped providers like you achieve remarkable results.
Start implementing them today and fine-tune your approach for your specific market and offerings.
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