Why everyone in travel is getting excited about tours and activities
As the last major sector to be brought into the digital distribution ecosystem, there is now a rush to grow business in tours and activities says EyeforTravel’s new The Changing Face of Tours and Activities report.
From the big online travel players, to airlines, to hotels, to a host of start-ups, tours and activities are seeing huge interest and investment according to EyeforTravel's report, which is free to download now. This is because advances in technology and platforms have opened up the market and all of the aforementioned players are eyeing the area as a major growth opportunity.
TripAdvisor, believes we are at a turning point in the tours and activities market. "It's an exciting time to be in the attractions space – it's entering a significant growth phase as it continues moving online. It's TripAdvisor's largest long-term growth opportunity outside of hotels," says Laurel Greatix, Director of Communications. Indeed, the report notes that the Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) for the company's hotel revenue from 2013 to 2016 was 10% but its non-hotel revenue grew 85% a year.
Key to tapping into the growth will be mastering technologies, principally mobile and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). Tours and activities booking engine GetYourGuide has seen a phenomenal shift towards mobile bookings. "Only four years ago, less than 5% of our customers booked tours and activities via mobile devices. This year we expect more than 50% of bookings to be mobile driven," says Johannes Reck, the company's CEO. Smartphone access to tours and activities is critical, as around half of consumers continue to book during the vacation itself according to EyeforTravel research, and consumers are getting better and cheaper access to data as they travel.
APIs are the second main technology transforming the space as they allow a much wider variety of brands to access inventory and offer this to their customers. In the case of tours and activities these are typically, response-request systems that allow developers to access inventory and present it to end users through incorporating HTML code. The ease of integration means many more players across the industry can sell tours and activities direct to the consumer. There are now more than 50 APIs that can be used to access torus and activities inventory, including Viator, Expedia, Musement, Trip.com, Rezdy, BeMyGuest, mTrip, Trekksoft, G Adventures, GetYourGuide and TourCMS to name just a few.
This is creating an exciting mix of new and established companies rushing into the space and expanding consumer access to tours and activities, which will push the sector to become a major growth engine in travel and tourism.
This entirely free report from EyeforTravel can be downloaded by clicking here. The report investigates:
- The current state of the tours and activities market.
- The technical challenges of incorporating tours and activities into a digital travel product.
- New start-ups and disruptors.
- How OTAs, hotels, and airlines are including tours and activities.
- Technology and how it is shaping the future of this market.
Also make sure to check out all of EyeforTravel's free reports and white papers by clicking here.
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