Destinations

The State of Tours and Activities 2018

Destinations

The State of Tours and Activities 2018

February 2018
51 min read
Margot Bigg, Rebecca Stone, and Seth Borko

Skift Take

Optimizing a fragmented and traditionally offline model is obviously going to take time. However, we expect key players in the tours and activities space to increasingly try new strategies not only to increase scale, access to distribution, and consumer reach, but also to enhance in-destination experiences for travelers and locals alike.

Report Overview

In this report, we take a deep dive into the current state of the tours and activities space. We highlight the online booking platforms and software providers, given their growing prominence. Our analysis of the distribution landscape includes a proprietary dataset of platform inventory on a geographic basis. We also look at emerging trends in the space, including the rise of Airbnb's Experiences product and peer-to-peer tours, as well as how the Chinese and Indian outbound markets fit into the bigger picture. We then discuss some of the opportunities and challenges in the space, both for marketplaces and for tours and activities suppliers. Throughout, we provide key insights from industry leaders on how players across this emerging segment tap into its potential and propel growth.

What You'll Learn From This Report

  • Venture capital investment trends in tours and activities
  • An overview of the distribution and technology landscape given increasing use of online booking platforms and software providers
  • Skift Research’s proprietary analysis of select online travel agency inventory with estimated market shares
  • Challenges and opportunities in areas such as advance bookings and mobile
  • A discussion of how suppliers are using technology to increase reach and access
  • How experiential travel has resulted in the rise of new hybrid traditional-experiential tour models
  • The viability of peer-to-peer platforms, such as Airbnb’s Experiences
  • The market potential for tours and activities in China and India
  • Skift Research’s outlook for usage of technology, peer-to-peer tours, optimizing booking windows, venture capital investments, and platforms expanding reach