Are you looking to book a tour guide or excursion? You probably stumbled upon Viator or GetYourGuide, the two largest online providers of travel experiences around the world. This post explores which of the two is best for you; the traveler.
Both Viator and GetYourGuide are online booking platforms offering tours and excursions from around the world. Both don’t organize tours themselves but resell experiences from local operators. The booking platforms earn a fee for every tour booked through them. At the same time, the local travel experience gets access to a large marketplace where they get easy access to the market.
Both platforms are easy to use. You type in your destination and dates, and with one click, you see what tours and excursions are available. You can also search more specifically for ‘small tour groups,’ ‘skip-the-line,’ or the specific tour you want to do. Fellow travelers give ratings to the experience, like what you know from Uber, Booking.com, or Airbnb.
At Avoid-Crowds.com, we work with both Viator and GetYourGuide. We earn a commission for every tour that is booked based on our recommendations. We are happy that both are reliable platforms and offer good consumer protection in case something goes wrong. While the platforms operate similarly, they are also very different. Viator.com has by far the most tours and excursions on its platforms. Meanwhile, GetYourGuide focuses strongly on consumer protection offering 24-hour free cancellation and flexible payment on (almost) all of its activities.
All about Viator
With over 23 million visitors per month, Viator is the largest online platform for tours and excursions. The platform was founded in 1995 and has been part of Tripadvisor since 2014. All tours and excursions you can find on TripAdvisor are, in fact, also coming from Viator.com. Viator and Tripadvisor are a powerful combination as Tripadvisor drives lots of traffic to Viator. This gives Viator an edge over its competition, like GetYourGuide.
Viator has endless tours and excursions on its website. You will always find what you are looking for no matter where you go. Sometimes the number of tours can be overwhelming but you can use handy filters to find what you are looking for.
Pros
- Easy-to-use platform
- More choice
- Reliable
- Lots of payment options
- Reserve now & pay later
Cons
- US-focused
- Not enough user feedback
- Cancellation policy set by local providers
- Payment options unclear on the homepage
All about GetYourGuide
GetYourGuide.com gets about 13 million visitors per month but is supported by local websites. The booking platform has fewer tours and excursions on offer than Viator. However, the quality tours are usually of higher quality: more reviews and higher scores. This makes finding the tour or ticket you are looking for easier.
What we like about GetYourGuide.com is that the booking platform focuses strongly on sustainable tourism: small groups and limited impact on the destination are favored over mass tourism. Not only does this help your destination, but it also makes for a better experience.
GetYourGuide.com has partnered with lots of large players in the travel industry. As a result you will be offered tours and excursions as part of your check in process at Emirates and AirFrance/KLM. Of course, when you book through your airline, that airline earns a commission your activity.
Pros
- Easy-to-use platform
- 24-hour cancellation on (almost) all tours
- Reserve now & pay later
- Lots of user feedback
- Reliable
- Lots of payment options
- Focus on sustainable experiences
Cons
- Focus on European travelers
- Less choice
Which platform is better, GetYourGuide versus Viator?
Both platforms operate similarly. Viator offers many more tours and excursions than GetYourGuide. If you search for ‘Dubai,’ Viator offers over 4,000 tours, while GetYourGuide.com offers only 400 tours. What we like most about GetYourGuide is that the platform focuses on sustainable travel and better experiences.
Which platform is bigger, GetYourGuide or Viator?
At first glance, Viator.com is much bigger than GetYourGuide.com. Viator.com gets about 23 million monthly visitors in the low season (October 22). GetYourGuide.com ‘only’ gets about 13 million visitors. But that comparison is only partially fair.
GetYourGuide uses local domains in countries like Germany (.de – 3.2 million), France (.fr – 3.1 million), Spain (.es 2.3 – million), or the UK (.co.uk – 4 million). Altogether, GetYourGuide and Viator are very similar in size. However, Viator is highly marketed through its parent company Tripadvisor which has a staggering 150 million visitors in the low season.
What is the difference between Viator, Tripadvisor and GetYourGuide?
Viator and GetYourGuide are very similar. Both are online platforms where local operators offer tours and excursions. You simply type in your destination and dates of travel and you can choose from countless activities. Meanwhile, Tripadvisor is a platform for user feedback on all sorts of travel activities including hotels, restaurants and activities.
