European Tours and Activities Market Expanding But Vast Majority of It is Offline

A new PhoCusWright study on the tours and activities market pegs the overall size of the tours market in Europe at $51 billion, according to Viator, a sponsor of the study.

In 2011, a PhoCusWright study of the U.S. tours and activities market pegged its size at $27 billion, although only a fraction of the highly fragmented market would be addressable by tours and activities companies.

Similarly in Europe, the report, When They Get There (and Why They Go): Activities, Attractions, Events and Tours in Europe, estimates that only 25% of tours and activities transactions in the five largest European countries were processed online in 2012, but that percentage would rise to 30% in 2015.

That provides plenty of upside for tours and activities companies such as Viator and GetYourGuide, although it could be slow-going until travelers get the ability to book these tours using their mobile devices and there is real-time availability when travelers are already positioned at their destinations.