How to Become an OTA Supplier: Listing Your Tours on Viator, GetYourGuide & Klook (2026)

If you've decided it's time to get your tours in front of the millions of travellers who book through Viator, GetYourGuide and Klook, this is the guide that walks you through it — what each platform requires, how to apply, how long it takes, and what it costs. But before the step-by-step, there's a more important question most guides skip: should you list, and what do you actually gain by it? Listing on an OTA is easy — listing on an OTA profitably is the part that takes thought.

Why you can trust this guide

I spent six years inside the tour booking industry — at Rezdy, Checkfront and Regiondo — before co-founding Kong, a booking platform for operators. A big part of that work was helping operators get listed on the OTAs and connect their booking systems to them. I've seen the onboarding from the inside, watched which operators thrived and which quietly lost money, and learned where the friction and the fine print actually sit.

Kong is a direct-booking platform, not an OTA, so I've no reason to talk you out of Viator, GetYourGuide or Klook. They're powerful channels. My goal is to get you listed properly and keep you from the most common mistake: treating an OTA as your whole business instead of one channel in it.

What is an online travel agency (OTA)?

An online travel agency (OTA) is a marketplace that sells your tours and activities to its own audience and takes a commission on each booking.

For tours and activities, the big three are Viator (owned by Tripadvisor, strongest in North America), GetYourGuide (Europe-led), and Klook (dominant across Asia-Pacific). You list your experience, the OTA markets it to travellers you'd struggle to reach yourself, and when someone books, the platform keeps a percentage — typically 15–30% — and passes the rest to you. Becoming an OTA supplier (or merchant, in Klook's language) simply means registering your business with one of these platforms so your experiences become bookable on it.

For most operators, an OTA listing is the only online storefront they've ever had — and the reason is stark: in our 2026 study of 252 Malaysian operators, 74% of Malaysian tour operators have no website of their own (Kong, 2026, n=252).

TL;DR — the fast path to listing

The honest pros and cons of working with OTAs

OTAs are neither the saviour nor the villain they're sometimes painted as — they're a distribution channel with real advantages and real costs.

A commission on a booking you'd never have won on your own is found revenue — that's a fair trade. The cost only stings when an OTA takes a cut of a guest who would have booked you directly anyway.

How much more do operators actually get from OTAs?

The trustworthy figure is the trend, not a growth percentage. OTAs' share of tour and activity bookings rose to 37% in 2025, up from 33% in 2024 and 28% in 2023, while operators' own website bookings slipped from 29% to 25% (Arival's Global Operator Landscape, 4th Ed., 5,000+ operator responses). Important caveat, and Arival flags this themselves: that 37% is self-reported, and operators tend to over-count OTA bookings — treat it as a clear direction rather than a precise figure.

The "list and grow X%" stat exists — but read it with care. A study of 238 operators found revenue up around 36% in the 12 months after listing (and roughly 59% for operators under $100K). It's the cleanest number out there — but it was commissioned by GetYourGuide and Bokun, both of whom profit when OTAs look good. Take it as directional, not gospel.

The smarter way to think about the gain isn't a single percentage — it's blended cost and lifetime value: operators spread across 30–40 distribution partners often see their average distribution cost settle around 16–18%; a guest discovered through an OTA who returns directly makes that first booking far cheaper than the headline rate; and "direct" isn't automatically cheaper — acquiring a direct booking can cost 15% in good periods but 25–40% in slow ones once you count ad spend. The goal isn't to avoid commission; it's to lower your blended cost across all channels.

Before you apply: the OTA-readiness checklist

The operators who get rejected at onboarding, or who list and then earn nothing, are almost always the ones who weren't set up before they applied. Tick these off first:

• A booking system with real-time availability. OTAs sync availability to prevent overbooking. A paper diary will get you overselling and tanking your listing.
• Business registration and tax ID. All three require a legally registered business (GetYourGuide explicitly excludes unregistered private guides).
• Liability insurance. Mandatory on Viator and GetYourGuide — GYG typically wants €1–2 million in public liability cover.
• High-quality photos. Both an entry requirement and the single biggest conversion lever. Viator recommends 6–9 photos that look good on mobile.
• Clear per-person and group pricing — with commission built in. Don't list at your direct-booking price and absorb the commission.
• A cancellation policy you can absorb. Know each platform's refund terms.
• Any licences or permits your destination requires. Sort these before you apply.
• A habit of collecting reviews. Review volume is the heaviest ranking factor. (Here's how to get more reviews.)

How to become a Viator supplier

Viator is the largest OTA for tours and activities and, because Tripadvisor owns it, your listing also becomes bookable directly from your Tripadvisor page. It's the natural first platform for operators with a North American audience.

What you'll need: business registration details, tax ID, a liability insurance certificate (if requested), tour descriptions, and high-quality photos.

1. Register your businessGo to supplier.viator.com and sign up for free with your business name, contact details and email. If you already have a Tripadvisor business listing, use the same login — setup is faster. Upload your photos and tour descriptions.
2. Complete your profileFill in your company details, your booking-system information (if you use one), and a point of contact for Viator communication.
3. Submit your documentsProvide proof of liability insurance if requested, your business registration, and tax ID. Viator requires that you operate legally in your destination with proper licensing.
4. Respond to Viator's follow-upA Viator representative typically contacts you within 24–48 hours to confirm your account and discuss commission terms and your liability insurance.
5. Finalise your listingsOnce approved, build your tour listings in the Management Center (formerly the "extranet"). Add photos, set per-person pricing, and keep your availability accurate.

Timeline: roughly 1–2 weeks — Viator reviews applications manually. Commission and fees: 20–30% (typically 25%), plus a $29 per-product submission fee introduced in August 2025. Payouts: monthly (within 21 business days after the travel month), with a weekly PayPal option. Connecting your booking system: Viator integrates natively with 100+ systems including Bokun, FareHarbor, Rezdy, Ventrata and PeekPro; channel managers like TourCMS or Palisis can bridge others. Listing tip: keep titles under 62 characters, use 6–9 candid photos, enable real-time availability, and aim for a 4.7+ star rating.

How to become a GetYourGuide supplier

GetYourGuide is Europe's strongest OTA and the fastest of the three to join — its review is automated, so you can be approved in minutes. It's the natural first platform for operators with a European audience.

What you'll need: business registration, tax/VAT ID, mandatory liability insurance, activity details, and your reservation-system name (if you use one).

1. Start your applicationGo to supplier.getyourguide.com and click "Become a Supplier." The form takes around 15 minutes.
2. Enter your business detailsCompany name, registration number, tax/VAT ID, physical address, and your operating destination(s). GetYourGuide is strict about matching your registration to where you actually run tours.
3. Describe your activitiesWhat you offer, how often, and your capacity. Be honest about your scale — a solo operator running a few tours a week gets approved fine.
4. Flag your reservation systemGetYourGuide integrates with 250+ booking platforms — naming yours here lets the system connect automatically so you don't rebuild inventory by hand.
5. Upload your insurance and set your payout currencyPublic liability cover is mandatory (commonly €1–2 million). Pick the payout currency of your main operating bank account to avoid foreign-exchange losses.
6. Submit and get your decisionThe automated review typically returns a decision within minutes. Confirm the link in your inbox, then complete the mandatory supplier verification and your finance details — you can't submit products until both are done.

Timeline: often minutes for the approval decision; then as long as it takes you to build your listings. Commission and fees: 20–30%, confirmed by email after approval — a single published rate per operator with no hidden fees and no listing-review fee. Payouts: monthly by default (5th business day of the following month), or bi-weekly for an extra 2%. Worth knowing: GetYourGuide only accepts direct operators with a registered business — it excludes resellers, other OTAs, DMCs, unregistered private guides, self-guided audio tours, and transfers without an attached experience.

How to become a Klook merchant

Klook dominates Asia-Pacific demand and is the channel to prioritise if you draw guests from the region. Unlike the self-serve Western platforms, Klook onboards you through a person — a business-development manager who reviews your application, negotiates your rate, and helps build your listings.

What you'll need: business contact details, a completed business questionnaire, your business registration certificate, and any relevant licences.

1. Apply on the merchant portalGo to merchant.klook.com and create your account with your basic contact information.
2. Complete the business questionnaireDetail your company, the experiences you offer, your target markets and your operational capabilities.
3. Submit your documentsBusiness registration certificate and any licences or certifications your activity requires.
4. Work with your account managerKlook's business-development team reviews your application, confirms approval, and an on-the-ground account manager reaches out to negotiate your commission rate and send a content form.
5. Review and go liveKlook builds your listing from your content, shares preview links for you to check, then connects via API (where applicable), runs a test booking, and sets you live.

Timeline: the full onboarding typically takes 2–4 weeks — longer because it's relationship-led and individually negotiated. Commission and fees: individually negotiated, generally landing in the 15–35% range. What Klook handles for you: all payment processing and transaction fees, fraud protection, chargebacks, and customer service for platform bookings. Payouts are monthly, to your bank account or PayPal, and the merchant app handles QR e-voucher redemption on the day.

Do you need a channel manager?

The moment you list on more than one OTA, you face a sync problem: a booking comes in on GetYourGuide at 10pm; your Viator listing still shows that slot open; someone books it on Viator before you wake up — and now you're double-booked. That's the problem a channel manager solves.

A channel manager is software that syncs your availability, pricing and bookings across multiple OTAs (and your own website) from a single dashboard. List on two or more platforms and you need one, or you'll oversell. If you're weighing which one, our comparison of the best channel managers for tour operators covers real pricing, Klook and Traveloka coverage, and whether you need one at all.

Where direct booking fits — and where Kong comes in. A channel manager handles your OTA side. The other half of a healthy distribution mix is your direct channel — bookings on your own website, where you pay only payment processing (roughly 2–3%) instead of 20–30% commission, and where you keep the customer relationship. That's the gap Kong fills: a booking platform that lets operators take direct bookings on their own site, with the guest paying a 1.8% fee at checkout on online direct bookings only and operators keeping 100% — you connect your own Stripe or Xendit account and the money lands in your account. To be clear, Kong is not a channel manager and not an OTA; it's the direct-booking layer that should sit alongside your OTA listings, so the reach you build on Viator, GetYourGuide and Klook has somewhere commission-free to convert.

After you're listed: how to actually get bookings

Getting onto an OTA is the easy part. Ranking on it is the real game, and the levers are the same across all three:

• Reviews are the heaviest factor. More reviews and a higher rating push you up everywhere. (See how to get more reviews.)
• Conversion rate. Sharp photos, a clear honest title, specific inclusions, and instant confirmation all lift conversion.
• Real-time availability. Keep it open and accurate; platforms favour listings they can sell with confidence.

For the full breakdown of how OTA ranking works and how to keep OTAs from eating your margin, see our GetYourGuide vs Viator vs Klook comparison, and for the wider channel mix, our guide to getting more bookings for your tour business.

Start here: your first three steps

Getting listed doesn't have to be overwhelming. If you do nothing else, do these three things in order:

1. Get your four essentials ready — a booking system with real-time availability, your business registration and tax ID, liability insurance, and good photos.
2. Apply to one platform — the one that matches where your guests come from. North America → Viator, Europe → GetYourGuide, Asia-Pacific → Klook. Don't list everywhere at once.
3. Build your direct channel in parallel. Every booking you can take on your own site costs you ~2–3% instead of 20–30%.

An OTA is a channel, not a strategy. Listed well, on the right platform, it brings you guests you'd never have found — that's found revenue. The operators who win treat it as exactly that: one deliberate source of discovery, feeding a business they still own.

Frequently asked questions

Is it free to become an OTA supplier?

Yes — signing up is free on Viator, GetYourGuide and Klook. You only pay commission (typically 15–30%) on bookings that actually happen. The one extra cost to know about is Viator's $29 per-product submission fee, introduced in August 2025.

How long does it take to get approved?

It varies widely. GetYourGuide uses an automated review and often returns a decision within minutes. Viator reviews applications manually and takes around 1–2 weeks, with a representative contacting you within 24–48 hours. Klook runs a relationship-led onboarding through a business-development manager that typically takes 2–4 weeks.

What do I need to list on an OTA?

At minimum: a legally registered business with a tax ID, liability insurance (mandatory on Viator and GetYourGuide), high-quality photos, clear per-person and group pricing with commission factored in, a booking system with real-time availability, and any licences your destination requires. Having existing reviews also speeds up approval.

How much commission do OTAs charge?

Tours-and-activities commission generally runs 15–30%. Viator charges 20–30% (typically 25%) plus the $29 per-product fee. GetYourGuide charges 20–30%, confirmed by email after approval. Klook is individually negotiated and generally lands in the 15–35% range. Rates are often negotiable based on volume.

Do I need insurance to list on an OTA?

Yes for Viator and GetYourGuide — both require operators to carry their own liability insurance, and GetYourGuide commonly asks for €1–2 million in public liability cover. The platforms do not insure you or your guests.

Can I list on Viator, GetYourGuide and Klook at the same time?

Yes, and many operators do — each reaches a different audience, so listing on more than one usually adds bookings rather than splitting them. The catch is keeping availability in sync across platforms; once you're on more than one OTA, you need a channel manager or a booking system that syncs availability so you don't oversell.

What's the difference between a supplier and an affiliate?

A supplier (or "merchant" on Klook) is the operator who runs the experience and lists it to sell — you pay the 15–30% commission. An affiliate is a third party (a travel blogger or website) who refers travellers to the OTA and earns a smaller cut paid out of the OTA's own margin. If you see "8% commission" quoted for Viator, that's the affiliate rate, not what suppliers pay.

Do I need a booking system or channel manager to list?

You don't strictly need one to list on a single OTA — all three let you manage inventory directly in their portal. But you do need real-time availability to convert well, and the moment you list on two or more OTAs, a channel manager (or a booking system that syncs across platforms) becomes essential to avoid double-bookings.

Should OTAs be my main source of bookings?

No — they're best used as one channel in a wider mix, not your whole strategy. OTAs are excellent for discovery, but leaning on a single platform hands a marketplace control of your customers and your margin. The operators who grow profitably use OTAs for reach while building direct bookings on their own site (where they pay ~2–3% instead of 20–30%) and a strong Google Business Profile. See our guide to getting more bookings for how the channels fit together.