You’ve always wondered whether it’s really necessary to have more connections with online travel agencies—also known as OTAs—for your travel and activities business, or whether you should rely solely on direct bookings that come through your website. If you decide to use third-party distribution channels, how many OTAs should you choose, and why shouldn’t you limit yourself to just 2–3 OTAs for your business?
OTA Partnerships for Your Business: An Overview
There are many OTAs in the tourism sector. Some are primarily location-specific, such as Civitatis; others are activity-specific, such as Adrenaline Hunter; and finally, there are those that cover multiple activities and locations, such as Viator and GetYourGuide, among others. OTAs spend a significant amount on marketing and have a much wider reach to customers compared to a tour operator’s website.
OTAs account for approximately two-thirds of all online bookings. Therefore, it’s difficult to get more bookings without having OTA connections for your business. But, of course, alongside OTAs, travel agents, resellers, and even your own website play a crucial role in increasing bookings. Many companies are reluctant to work with these online distribution channels for fear of having to pay too high a commission and, as a result, not earning a sufficient profit margin.
There are various strategies you can employ when working with an OTA, including negotiating the commission they charge. However, when operating in such a competitive industry, it’s never a good idea to limit yourself to just 2–3 OTA partnerships. Instead, you can maximize revenue and reach more customers if your business is listed on multiple online distribution channels.
Suffice it to say that online travel agencies are a crucial factor in an ideal online distribution strategy. And if you limit yourself to just a few OTAs, you’ll likely lose out on more bookings and market reach.
Why Should You Have More OTA Connections?
In the travel industry: the more, the better. When an entrepreneur’s ultimate goal is to offer the best experience to their customers, there’s no denying that the experience begins the moment a booking is made.
And as you become more accessible to your customers, it’s only natural to seek out more OTA connections for your business. Here are some of the many reasons to have more OTA connections:
- Greater exposure (visibility): Through OTAs, you’ll gain greater exposure to travelers from around the world. You’ll achieve greater visibility by making yourself known to customers who are heading to your location on vacation.
- Increased traffic: Believe it or not, OTAs can drive traffic to your website. Travelers browsing an online travel agency are often curious to visit the service provider’s website and explore the level and quality of the product being offered.
- More bookings: The more exposure your business has, the more bookings you’ll get. Additionally, your ranking on OTAs will also play an important role here, ensuring that your customers can find you more easily.
- The Right Customers: No matter what type of business you own, being listed on various online travel agencies will attract the right kind of audience, allowing you to serve your customers in the best possible way.
- Better ratings, better reviews: OTAs allow customers to read reviews and learn about the services you offer, which encourages them to book with you. While a significant number of customers check reviews before booking their vacations, positive reviews will make you more visible through higher ratings on OTAs.
Given the points above, it’s not possible to achieve optimal performance on some OTAs. It’s recommended to have a smart strategy for your business’s online distribution and, as a result, seek out more OTA partnerships. Without proper distribution management, you’re likely to miss out on significant revenue-generating opportunities.
Now, how can you easily manage more OTA connections?
Managing multiple OTA connections for your business can be a challenging task, requiring you to constantly monitor inventory availability. It seems that a smart decision would be to opt for OTA management software that simplifies the distribution of your availability.
A Channel Manager will also reduce instances of underbooking and overbooking with instant availability updates across all channels.
Even if you’re focused on getting more bookings from OTAs—and thus increasing your visibility—don’t overlook the fact that direct bookings are just as important. That’s why you should work on both fronts simultaneously to drive more direct bookings through your website.
What are the most important OTAs you should work with?
Here’s our list of the most well-known OTAs you should work with to increase your bookings.
Viator
Viator is a TripAdvisor company—a leading global provider of tours and activities for travelers, offering online and mobile access to thousands of curated travel experiences, including tours, attractions, shore excursions, and private guides, in more than 1,500 destinations worldwide.
Viator also offers tours and activities to more than 3,000 affiliate partners, including some of the world’s leading airlines, hotels, and online travel agencies. Viator is headquartered in San Francisco and has regional offices in Sydney, London, and Las Vegas. Viator: Travel with an edge.
GetYourGuide
GetYourGuide compiles and curates all the things to do around the world so you can spend less time researching and more time doing. From Africa to Oceania and back again, we make it easy for you to find and book an activity that will make your trip or day the best it can be.
Tiqets
Tiqets is an innovative ticketing platform that’s revolutionizing the way visitors discover, purchase, and use tickets for museums, shows, and attractions. With instant and mobile tickets, the company offers travelers a hassle-free experience. Since its founding, the company has successfully partnered with major venues in top tourist destinations.
Musement
Musement is a cross-platform digital booking service that allows travelers to find and book activities, guided tours, museum and attraction tickets, city passes, and much more around the world.
Musement is available in 7 languages, with approximately 500,000 visits per month from 30 different countries, and this number is constantly growing. Musement is available in 7 languages, with approximately 500,000 visits per month from 30 different countries, and this number is constantly growing.
An award that smells of volcanic soil, high-altitude wine, and the hard work of the people who make it all possible…
