Tour Business Viator Opts for Quality Over Quantity With the Land Grab Ending
Photo Credit: A structure seen on a tour of Ammersee, a lake in Bavaria, Germany on August 24, 2019. Viator is introducing new standards for tour operators. Flickr.com / Norbert Rupp
Skift Take
With competitors like GetYourGuide, Klook, Airbnb and Booking.com strengthening their asrsenals, market leader Viator will enforce new quality standards that would make it more user-friendly and efficient. If these and other moves don't work, then look out for a new No. 1.
Founded 25 years ago, tours and activities business Viator's initial tactic was to emphasize a curated selection of top experiences in each destination, but Tripadvisor reversed that strategy three months later after acquiring the company in 2014.
At that juncture in November 2014, Tripadvisor decided that quantity would be the way forward as that was a push that some of its rivals were making.
But now, with some 395,000 tour products in the fold, there's a new pivot.
In a move announced Tuesday and reported by Arival, Viator introduced new product quality standards that would give more exposure to excellent tours and activities, and penalize and even delist others that it finds to be subpar.
In an open letter to operators from president Ben Drew, Viator detailed product quality standards that differentiate "excellent" vendors from merely "good" ones. For example,
