Six Travel Affiliate Programs: A Head-to-Head Comparison
Travel affiliate programs are commonly associated with travel blogs and travel influencers but they can also provide hotels, tour operators and other travel businesses with additional income. Here we will look at six popular travel affiliate programs, highlighting their key features for hotels looking to generate ancillary revenue. GetYourGuide and Viator are probably the best known in this field but primarily focus on reaching consumers directly (B2C). We will also cover programs from TourDesk and the booking systems like FareHarbor, Bókun and Rezdy.
The first two are similar and better known as B2C companies with platforms where travelers can go to book local tours and activities. TourDesk is better known by companies in the hospitality sector than by individual consumers, as the primary focus is on B2B business although consumers can also visit the platform directly to book tours and activities. The FareHarbor affiliate program revolves around connecting in-destination customers with tours and activities.
GetYourGuide
GetYourGuide was founded in 2009 and is an online booking platform for tours, activities and attractions around the world. As a GetYourGuide affiliate, you get a trackable link to promote on your site, content, email lists etc. When a user clicks your link and makes a booking, the sale will be attributed to you with a commission.
GetYourGuide affiliate program users can optimize their earnings through an analytics suite, automatic widgets and integrations to fit their content.
Viator
Viator highlights free signup to their program and no traffic or follower minimums but the same goes for the other programs, so this is not a USP. They also highlight over a million reviews, which helps users to navigate and choose options. Their affiliate program is for “anyone who loves travel”, for example content creators and travel service providers.
Viator affiliates can earn passive income by sharing a link with clients that use it to book on their own. Tour descriptions, photos, reviews, prices and more are available through APIs.
TourDesk
TourDesk was originally founded to connect local tour operators with hotels around the world, bringing a new source of revenue for the hotels and tour operators. For hotels, it can be a significantly more convenient way of assisting their guests with finding and booking day tours and activities in the area. For tour operators, it means more visibility for their products, through the local hotels. The system offers different touchpoints to the guests: front desk staff can help guests find and book tours and activities in the local area, pre-arrival emails allow hotels to reach guests earlier in the funnel, introducing this additional service that they may not be aware of.
TourDesk can also work for other types of travel businesses, such as travel bloggers and airlines. Icelandic airline PLAY has been a TourDesk partner for a year now, selling tours to travelers coming to Iceland and visiting many other PLAY destinations, such as Dublin, Marrakech, Porto, Toronto and Hamburg.
In short, TourDesk streamlines booking processes for tours and activities while also integrating seamlessly with existing booking systems. The seamless integration is a differentiator compared with the affiliate programs from FareHarbor, Bókun and Rezdy, that require resellers also to use their booking systems.
FareHarbor, Bókun and Rezdy
FareHarbor, Bókun and Rezdy affiliate programs are dependent on hotels using their booking systems. Their affiliate programs are based on connecting website visitors with things to do related with the content in question.
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