The Top Brands in Tours & Activities

Everyone has heard of Apple and Amazon, but how many travel experiences brands are widely recognized? We examined just how much travelers know – or don’t know – about the biggest players in the Best Part of Travel

Our little industry – tours, activities and attractions – is poised to surpass US$260 billion in global gross bookings in 2024. It’s the third-largest sector of travel. It’s also one of the most diverse and dynamic: there are upwards of a million operators and in-destination experience providers all over the world.

And yet, approach a typical consumer on the street, and they will be hard-pressed to name many – if any – companies in our sector. While many could quickly list a litany of airline, hotel and travel booking website brands, we wondered to what extent consumers are aware of the biggest businesses in travel experiences.

In our most recent 2023 survey of U.S. travelers, we asked respondents whether they had used – or were at least aware – of a select group of travel and tours and activities brands. Here’s what we found:

    1. Traveler awareness of tours & activities brands is less than half that of major online travel brands.
    2. More than half of all travelers are aware of some multi-attraction city passes, hop-on-hop-off bus tour brands and online travel agencies (OTAs) that specialize in tours & activities, but there is still a lot of brand-building to do.
    3. Younger, affluent travelers driving awareness and use of tours & activities and the brands that operate and sell them.

Here are the brands we measured: 

  •   Airbnb
  •   Big Bus Tours
  •   City Sightseeing
  •   CityPass
  •   Expedia
  •   Fever
  •   GetYourGuide
  •   GoCity
  •   Gray Line
  •   Groupon
  •   Headout
  •   Musement
  •   Tiqets
  •   Tripadvisor
  •   Viator

Tours & Activities Top Brands: Key Findings

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