Tours and activities tips

G Adventures launched a new brand on this week, targeting solo travelers interested in group tours and looking to connect with others.

GetYourGuide debuted more tools on Tuesday to help its over 30,000 travel experience operators improve the number of bookings they generate through the online travel agency.

As Klook celebrates its 10 anniversary this month, the online travel agency for experiences is undergoing a significant strategic evolution.

The playbook for selling flights and hotels is pretty well known. But selling experiences—where the growth is now — is still being figured out.

GetYourGuide, an online travel agency for tours, activities, and experiences, has been the target of ongoing protests by World Animal Protection, an activist group.

The latest data from Viator, an online travel agency for travel experiences, offers a window into evolving travel habits.

“Experiences” are becoming a growth engine for the travel sector. An expanding segment of travelers are demanding immersive, cultural interactions at destinations as an alternative to checklist visits of famous sights.

Tiqets navigated the pandemic better than some rivals thanks to a strategic investment from Airbnb.

In 2019, ToursByLocals received $33 million from a private equity firm and had plans for a full rebranding of its website. Then came the pandemic.

You can’t go too far in travel industry circles without hearing that activities and experiences represent one of the biggest (and often untapped) opportunities for multiple businesses across the industry. 

Viator, a TripAdvisor brand, has partnered with Amazon.com to integrate its vast inventory of tours, activities, and experiences into Alexa-enabled devices in hotel rooms. This marks the experience sector’s first major push into voice-activated travel bookings.

Headout, which runs an app to help travelers book experiences, said Friday it had acquired Dabble, a startup that helps companies use artificial intelligence (AI) more effectively.

TUI Care Foundation, a charity linked to the European tourism giant TUI, announced a marine conservation program on Thursday in the Dominican Republic. 

Booking Holdings has been engaged in building a “connected trip” — where travelers might book a flight accommodation and attraction on Booking.com — over the past few years.

Ben Drew, president of Tripadvisor’s travel experiences brand Viator for the past four years, announced on Tuesday that he would leave the company on April 12 for “a new opportunity in a new industry.”

German vacation rental platform HomeToGo has partnered with Komoot, a route planning and navigation app for outdoor activities such as hiking, cycling, mountain biking, and running.

GetYourGuide launched a suite of tools for tour and activity operators on Tuesday. The company, which has raised roughly $1 billion in funding, aims to make it easier for solo and mom-and-pop entrepreneurs to sell their walking tours, cooking classes, and other services through its online travel app.

It was another busy week for travel startup funding, and this time it was all early rounds with lower amounts.

GetYourGuide has been rolling out its largest brand advertising campaign in the online travel agency’s history, with plans to run national TV ads during the March Madness basketball tournament and the Academy Awards.

After a sleepy holiday season, it was the biggest week in a while for startup funding in travel. 

European low-cost carrier easyJet announced a new partnership Monday with global tours and activities business Musement for customers to add experiences to their flight or holiday packages.