The tourism and hospitality industry has experienced significant changes in recent years with technology adoption taking center stage. This shift is most prevalent in how tours and attractions are distributed to consumers and presents an opportunity for operators to get creative with distribution and experiment with new sales channels.
Online travel agencies (OTAs) like Expedia, Viator and GetYourGuide have traditionally been the go-to channels for tour operators to reach their audience. While OTAs offer extensive customer reach and visibility, in this modern age of technology they are not the only means of distribution for operators to consider. As such, many tour and attraction operators are exploring alternative distribution methods to diversify their revenue streams and gain greater control over their business.
This article explores several innovative and effective distribution channels alternatives to consider when building or reviewing your own distribution strategy.
What’s in this Article:
- Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) Platforms including Digital Marketing Solutions
- Work with Hotels & Connect with Concierge Solutions
- Explore Influencer and Affiliate Marketing
- Leverage Local Tourism Boards and DMOs
- Utilize Subscription, Gifting and Membership Channels
- Consider Working with Cruise Operators
- Utilizing Technology and AI
Seven Alternative Distribution Methods Beyond OTAs
1. Increase Direct Bookings with Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) Platforms and Digital Marketing Solutions
In today’s competitive landscape, seeking ways to get your products directly to the consumer, a.k.a. via direct bookings, by leveraging platforms and digital marketing strategies will enable you to take greater control of your business and reduce your dependency on OTAs.
Fundamentally, these direct channels have different approaches and can be adopted in parallel. They also share a common outcome: to not only enhance customer relationships and brand visibility but also offer cost-effective alternatives to OTA commissions, which can cut significantly into profits.
Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) Platforms
One of the most compelling approaches is to invest and improve your own direct-to-consumer (D2C) engagement. By selling directly through your own websites, social media platforms, or dedicated mobile apps, you as the operator can maintain full control over pricing, branding, and customer experience.
- Benefits of D2C:
- Reduced Costs: Avoiding OTA commissions, which can be as high as 30% — even higher with opt-in programs like Viator Accelerate —significantly boosts profit margins.
- Customer Relationships: Operators can gather customer data, enabling personalized marketing and improved customer service.
- Branding: Direct sales platforms allow you to present your brand identity without being diluted by OTA branding on your product listings.
- Challenges:
- Traffic and Visibility: Driving traffic to a direct booking platform can be challenging without the broad reach of OTAs.
- Technical Requirements: As part of your online booking or reservation system it’s important to ensure the booking engine feature meets your requirements. It may be you need to consider upgrading your reservation system or bolting on technology to your existing tech to make developing and maintaining a user-friendly website or app a smooth process for you as well as your customers.
Digital Marketing and Social Media Ads
No one can deny social media channels have become one of the most effective, but difficult to navigate, ways of attracting customers. Digital marketing plays a crucial role in driving traffic to D2C platforms and ensuring visibility in a crowded marketplace. Targeted digital marketing campaigns, engaging content creation, and social media ads are powerful tools to attract potential customers and drive bookings.
- Digital Marketing:
- Targeted Campaigns: Working with professionals in the field, such as these marketing agencies focusing on tours and attractions, will enable you to build data-driven strategies to create ads that reach specific audiences based on demographics and interests.
- Content Creation: Engaging content such as blog posts, short form video content and reels can highlight your product and ultimately drive bookings.
- Social Media Ads:
- Engagement: Platforms like Facebook and Instagram offer tools to create visually appealing ads that resonate with targeted users.
- Cost-Effective: Social media ads allow for budget control and real-time performance tracking, optimizing results without overspending.
Together, a strong D2C platform and effective digital marketing strategies give operators the tools to enhance customer engagement, increase bookings, and reduce reliance on OTAs. Learn more about social media strategy for tour operators here.
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2. Work with Hotels & Connect with Concierge Solutions
Concierge services, both within hotels and through dedicated concierge apps or platforms, present a valuable alternative distribution channel for tours and attractions. These services cater to travelers seeking personalized experiences and local recommendations, making them an effective way to reach a targeted audience of travelers who are already in your destination and looking for things to do.
- Hotel Concierge Partnerships:
- Increased Trust: Hotel guests often trust the recommendations provided by concierge staff, leading to higher conversion rates for bookings.
- Tailored Experiences: Concierges can offer customized tours and attractions that align with the specific interests of their guests, enhancing customer satisfaction.
- Exclusive Offers: Operators can provide special deals or packages exclusively available through hotel concierges, creating a sense of exclusivity which drives bookings.
- Dedicated Concierge Platforms:
- Wider Reach: Online concierge platforms and apps can extend the reach of local tours and attractions beyond hotel guests to a broader audience of travelers.
- Personalized Recommendations: These platforms often use algorithms or customer preferences to suggest personalized experiences, increasing the likelihood of bookings.
- Ease of Use: The convenience of booking through a concierge app, often with a few clicks, appeals to modern travelers who prioritize ease and efficiency.
By leveraging concierge services, whether in-person at hotels or through digital platforms, tour operators can tap into a highly targeted and engaged audience, often willing to spend more on premium experiences. There are different ways of accessing concierge services either through speaking to your reservation system or connectivity provider, or by looking at systems such as RezGo, Alice, American Express or Quintessentially depending on your regions and experience type.
3. Explore Influencer and Affiliate Marketing
In the age of social media, influencer and affiliate marketing have become powerful tools for promoting tours and attractions. These strategies involve leveraging the reach of individuals or platforms that have a strong following among potential customers.
- Influencer Marketing:
- Engagement: By partnering with influencers who align with the brand’s values and target audience, operators can reach potential customers in a more authentic and engaging way.
- Content Creation: Influencers often create content that highlights the experience in a relatable way, driving interest and bookings.
- Affiliate Marketing:
- Commission-Based: Affiliates earn commissions only when they drive bookings to you, making this a cost-effective way to expand reach.
- Broader Audiences: Affiliate networks help you to access new customer segments that you may not have access to through other channels.
While influencer and affiliate marketing can be highly effective in driving consumers to your business, it is essential to know your chosen partners well. Research the customer/follow base carefully to ensure they resonate with your target audience, and more importantly, that you can maintain the integrity of your brand.
Read this Guide to Influencer Marketing in Travel and Tourism for more details on how to get into influencer marketing and for a targeted audience approach.
4. Leverage Local Tourism Boards and DMOs
Local tourism boards and destination marketing organizations (DMOs) are crucial in promoting regional tours, activities and attractions. These organizations often have established marketing channels and a deep understanding of the local tourism landscape.
- Collaborative Campaigns
- Operators can collaborate with tourism boards on campaigns that highlight regional attractions, often at a lower cost than traditional advertising.
- Listings and Referrals
- Many tourism boards maintain websites or visitor centers where they list local tours and attractions. Being featured here can lead to direct bookings.
- Events and Trade Shows
- Participating in events (such as Arival!) or regional trade shows organized by DMOs can provide exposure to a wider audience, including travel agents and other industry professionals.
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5. Utilize Subscription, Gifting and Membership Channels
Subscription-based services, gifting and membership programs often have large databases of loyal customers and can provide you with an almost instant customer base and provide consistent revenue during off peak or shoulder periods when attracting customers is more difficult. Providing offers to certain groups such as military or emergency services is a good way to engage new audiences.
- Membership Programs
- Signing up to a membership model where customers pay an annual fee for discounts, exclusive tours, or early access to bookings builds loyalty and encourages repeat business.
- Gifting Programs
- Gifting programs, such as Virgin Experience Gifts, offer travelers (or their savvy friends and family) to give experiences rather than things. Signing on to these programs can help you reach a new or different audience.
- Subscription Programs
- By including your business in a subscription program such as a travel perk club, you are accessing engaged customers who are financially incentivised to make best use of their program.
- Multi-attraction Passes
- Multi-attraction passes offer travelers access to multiple attractions for a set price. Users can choose from various landmarks, tours, and activities, often saving money compared to individual tickets. In addition to major global players like CityPass or GoCity, you can often find specialist companies and regional passes managed by your local tourism board or DMO are a good source of in-destination customers.
Many attractions use subscription-based services and membership programs to build loyalty, ensure consistent revenue, and attract new audiences. Examples include the National Trust, Disney Parks and Resorts, and the San Diego Zoo, which offer annual memberships with benefits like unlimited entry, discounts, and exclusive events. Multi-attraction pass programs incentivize tourists to visit multiple attractions, such as the Empire State Building and Metropolitan Museum of Art. Six Flags and Legoland offer similar membership models, alongside discounts for military personnel, expanding their reach.
These models provide a steady income stream during off-peak periods while building a community of engaged customers who are more likely to become repeat visitors through value-driven experiences.
6. Consider Working with Cruise Operators
Partnering with cruise lines offers operators an important distribution opportunity for any operator in a cruise port market: cruise passengers seeking exciting shore excursions and things to do during their voyage.
Tour and attraction operators can access cruise lines by partnering with companies that specialize in shore excursions:
- Global Tour Operators (GTO) connects local operators with major lines like Carnival and Cunard.
- Intercruises Shoreside & Port Services collaborates with lines such as P&O Cruises and MSC Cruises to manage excursions and port logistics.
- Shore Excursions Group works with lines like Norwegian and Princess Cruises, offering curated tours
- Excursions Ltd. partners with premium brands like Cunard and Regent Seven Seas for luxury experiences.
Joining industry organizations like Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) can help operators network with cruise planners and access exclusive shore excursion opportunities. These partnerships allow operators to reach a steady flow of cruise passengers by offering tailored experiences, boosting visibility, and driving consistent bookings.
However, cruise lines can require high commissions, up to 40%. It’s advisable to develop products specifically designed for cruise passengers that enable you to offer your experiences at a competitive price while still remaining profitable.
7. Utilizing Technology and AI
The adoption of technology, particularly AI and machine learning, can open new avenues for distributing tours and attractions. AI chatbots, for instance, can be integrated into websites or social media platforms to assist with bookings, answer customer queries, and provide personalized recommendations, all in a way that from a consumer perspective feels very much like a human interaction.
- AI-Powered Chatbots: Software such as the customer engagement AI chatbot from TOMIS, Satisfi Labs or the guest communication tool by TourOptima (formerly Curated Planet) can handle customer interactions providing natural commercially driven conversations around the clock, making it easier for travelers to book tours at any time.
- Personalized Marketing: You can use AI to analyze customer data the customer data you have as well as profiling users of your website to offer personalized suggestions, increasing the chances of bookings.
- Furthermore, the use of virtual reality (VR) can give potential customers a taste of the experience, potentially leading to higher conversion rates.
Learn more in the Arival Guide to AI in Experiences, as well as the Arival Guide: The Power of Chat. Join us at the next Arival event, where utilizing technology and AI is sure to be a top focus of the keynote and breakout sessions.
The Power of Alternative Distribution
While online travel agencies remain a dominant force in the distribution of tours and attractions and having an OTA distribution strategy is fundamentally important, you could be losing out on the potential for innovation and eventually lose out on audiences who search in non standard ways.
Exploring alternative distribution methods such as direct-to-consumer platforms, digital marketing and social media advertising, hotels and concierge solutions, affiliate and influencer marketing, cruise lines, membership / subscription models, and AI technology, you can diversify your exposure, increase revenue streams, reduce your dependency on OTAs, and build a more resilient business.
In an increasingly competitive market, these strategies offer a way to stand out, reach new audiences, and create lasting relationships with customers.
About the Author
Martin Harlow is an expert in distribution strategy and connectivity, who has held multiple senior leadership roles in well-known hospitality brands. Martin is Managing Director of MH Strategic Solutions Ltd offering expertise and consultancy support to the industry in the field of distribution, connectivity strategy and technology implementation.
Follow Martin on LinkedIn
Learn More about Distribution with Arival
Learn more about distribution in the latest Arival Guide to OTAs & Digital Distributors. Join us at an upcoming Arival event to learn more about building your distribution strategy, and connect with some of the key OTA and alternative distribution representatives in person. Arival Insider Pro Access members can also go deeper by watching this session with article author Martin Harlow on-demand: Getting Your Distribution Ducks in a Row.
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