How to compete with Viator and GetYourGuide as a small outfitter

Search “kayaking tours Kona” on Google. The first three organic results are Viator, GetYourGuide, and TripAdvisor. The outfitter who actually runs the trip on the water? Page two, if they’re lucky.

That’s the challenge every small tour operator faces. OTAs have massive domain authority, enormous ad budgets, and thousands of pages targeting every activity keyword in every destination. Trying to compete with Viator on a head-to-head keyword match is a losing fight.

But you don’t have to win that fight. You have to win the ones they can’t show up for.

The real cost of OTA dependence

Viator charges operators 20 to 25% commission on every booking. GetYourGuide takes 20 to 30%. That’s not a marketing cost you choose to pay. It’s a tax on every customer who finds you through their platform.

On a $150 rafting trip for a group of four, that’s $120 to $180 going to the platform. Multiply that across a season and you’re talking about tens of thousands of dollars in commissions. For a small outfitter running tight margins, that’s the difference between a profitable year and a break-even one.

OTAs captured a third of all tour and activity bookings in 2024, up from 24% in 2019. They’re taking a bigger share every year. Operators who build their entire business on platform bookings are handing over more revenue and more control with each season.

The goal isn’t to abandon OTAs entirely. They bring real customers, especially international travelers who would never find you otherwise. The goal is to build a direct booking channel strong enough that OTAs become a supplement, not your lifeline.

Own your brand search

When someone searches your business name, you should own every result on that page. Your website, your Google Business Profile, your social accounts, your review pages. If a customer searches “Mountain River Outfitters” and the first result is your Viator listing instead of your website, you’re paying 20% commission on someone who was already looking for you.

Check this right now. Google your business name. If your Viator or GetYourGuide listing outranks your own website, that’s the first problem to fix. Make sure your homepage is properly optimized for your business name, your Google Business Profile links to your website, and your site has enough content authority to outrank a third-party listing.

This is the lowest-hanging fruit in direct booking strategy. Every customer who finds your actual website instead of your OTA page is a booking at zero commission.

Win the searches OTAs can’t

Viator ranks for “kayaking tours Kona.” They’re not going to rank for “kayaking the Keauhou coast in December — what to expect” or “best time to see manta rays from a kayak in Kona.” They don’t create that content. They can’t, because they don’t run the trips.

That’s your advantage. Location-specific, experience-specific content that only someone who actually operates in the area can write. Condition reports. Seasonal guides. Trip comparisons that go deeper than any platform listing.

Build your local keyword strategy around the long-tail queries that platforms ignore:

• “[Activity] [specific location] [month]”
• “Best time to [activity] in [area]”
• “[Activity] conditions [river/trail/site] this week”
• “Is [activity] worth it in [season]”
• “[Your area] [activity] for beginners vs experienced”

Each of these pages targets a searcher further along in their decision process. They’ve moved past “kayaking tours Kona” and into the specifics. They’re more likely to book, and they’re finding content that no OTA can match.

Make direct booking the obvious choice

Once someone’s on your website, booking direct should feel easier and better than going to Viator. That means:

Price parity or better. If your direct price is the same as Viator after their markup, you’re leaving money on the table. Many operators price direct bookings 10 to 15% below their OTA price. You’re not discounting. You’re keeping the margin that would have gone to the platform. A $150 trip on Viator can be $130 on your site, and you still make more per booking.

A booking process that works on a phone. Over 70% of activity bookings happen on mobile. If your booking widget is clunky, slow, or takes five steps to complete, people will leave and book on Viator where the checkout is fast. Invest in a booking system that works.

Something the platform can’t offer. Direct operators can offer pre-trip materials, custom group accommodations, package deals, loyalty perks, or simply a direct line to the guide. Viator can’t do any of that. Make these benefits visible on your booking page. “Book direct and get” is a simple message that works.

Build an audience you actually own

Every booking through Viator is a customer Viator owns. You don’t get their email. You can’t follow up, invite them back next season, or ask for a review on your Google profile.

Direct bookings give you a customer list. That list turns into an email newsletter. That newsletter turns into off-season marketing, repeat bookings, and referrals. Over three to five years, an email list of past customers is one of the most valuable marketing assets a small outfitter can build.

Start collecting emails from every direct booking and every walk-in. Send a post-trip follow-up with photos and a review request. Send a seasonal email before your peak season opens. This costs almost nothing and builds a channel that no algorithm change or commission increase can take away from you.

Use OTAs strategically, not desperately

The smart play isn’t quitting OTAs. It’s using them on your terms.

Use OTAs for discovery. International travelers and first-time visitors search on platforms. Let OTAs introduce those customers to your business. Your job is making sure the next time they search, they find your website directly.

List your less popular trips or time slots. Fill those slow Tuesday afternoon departures through OTAs where you’d otherwise have empty seats. Keep your peak Saturday morning slots for direct bookings where you keep the full margin.

Track your OTA-to-direct ratio. If more than half your bookings come through platforms, your direct channel needs work. A healthy target for most small operators is 60 to 70% direct bookings, with OTAs filling the remaining 30 to 40%.

Encourage OTA customers to go direct next time. A card in the gear bag, a mention from the guide, a follow-up email. “Next time, book with us directly at [your website] for the best price.” You can’t offer discounts to redirect OTA bookings (that violates most platform terms), but you can make your direct channel visible and worth remembering.

The operators who build their own channel win

Viator and GetYourGuide will keep growing. Their ad budgets will keep getting bigger. Their share of generic search results will keep expanding. That’s the reality.

But a small outfitter with a fast website, strong local content, good reviews, and a working direct booking process doesn’t need to beat Viator on their terms. You need to be the obvious choice for the customer who’s past the browsing phase, the one who knows where they want to go, what they want to do, and just needs to find the right operator.

Content that speaks to that customer is content Viator will never write. That’s your edge. The question is whether you build it or keep paying 25% to a platform that will.