Attractions Slow to Move on Google Things to Do

As the world’s largest search engine advances quickly in our industry, most visitor attractions and museums are slow to follow – leaving the door wide open for OTAs

Google continues to move quickly with Things to do (GTTD). The initiative, which offers ticket options, prices and links directly within Google search results pages and the business listings of visitor attractions, museums and other ticketed activities, is now live on Google Maps.

Visitors can now see attraction ticket offers directly through Google Maps. However most visitor attractions and museums remain unaware of GTTD, or are taking no steps to take advantage of the new service to grow more direct traffic and bookings. 

According to Arival’s latest research report Nine Attractions Trends for 2022, just 15% of visitor attractions and museums in North America and Europe are currently integrated with GTTD, while 59% are either not aware or not taking any steps. 

Visitor attractions, or points of interest (POIs)—which include amusement parks, cultural attractions, monuments, museums, zoos and other ticketed experiences—are central to Google’s strategy. GTTD is built around POIs, listing ticket options, prices and links directly from the attraction’s listing on search, and now on Google Maps. 

OTAs (online travel agencies) and tour operators with tours that include those points of interest can build their own listings around these POIs to increase their visibility in search. 

Attractions have an opportunity to claim the “Official Site” listing and drive traffic directly to their website. However, if attractions don’t begin integrating directly, OTAs and other ticket resellers could gain the advantage in the channel. 

How to List on GTTD

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Visitor attractions and operators can only connect to GTTD through a Google partner, which includes several booking systems, channel managers, marketing agencies and other partners. 

See “Who’s Connected to Google Things to do” to learn more about GTTD and see the full list of partners. 

Join us at Arival Las Vegas, where we’ll hold in-depth workshops on Google Things to Do. These hands-on sessions will help you learn about GTTD, connect with partners and get your attraction or experience listed. 

Nine Key Visitor Attraction Trends in 2022: Get the Full Report (It’s Free)

This new research report from Arival and Tiqets, based on a survey of more than 100 visitor attractions, delves into key trends shaping the visitor attractions sector of travel and tourism. This free report measures the state of the recovery, the adoption and digital readiness among visitor attractions across Europe and North America, and provides key benchmarks and guidance on technology, distribution, marketing and more. 

Get the full report here. It’s free with an Insider Free membership. 

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