Arival’s Post

I would like to invite you to a conversation, as I am genuinely interested in your perspective, whether as an operator or as a traveler. Flights adjust their prices. Hotels adjust their prices. Even your airport ride adjusts its price. That is dynamic pricing. Tour operators are still behing and this has to change! According to this Arival article: https://lnkd.in/ewmtAqnF most tour operators still use static pricing. The price is set once and remains the same, whether the departure is full or half empty, peak season or low demand. But on the distribution side, pricing and visibility are already dynamic. This is how it works in practice: The Online Travel Agents (OTA's) platform controls the retail price the traveler sees. The operator receives a fixed or reduced net payout. Visibility increases when commission increases. Viator states that operators can gain more exposure by raising commission through its Accelerate program. The retail price does not change, but the operator earns less per booking. When similar products compete, higher commission can result in more promotion. Reviews still matter. But they are no longer the only driver of visibility. At the same time, most operators are still pricing like it is 2005. That creates a structural gap. At 25 to 40+ percent commission in competitive markets like Cancun, the math becomes tight. The tour itself often carries little to no margin. So revenue shifts elsewhere. Add-ons. Photo packages. Retail stops. Ever wondered why you get dragged through a souvenir shop with a sticker or name tag on your shirt? The platform owns the customer. The operator carries the cost. OTA share of experiences bookings continues to grow, while direct bookings decline. The distribution layer is consolidating control over discovery and conversion. What concerns me the most: there is a perception gap! Viator states that the operator name is shown on every product page. That is accurate, but you will have to search for it and vacationers don't do that. They want a quick solution to their query. Many if not all travelers still remember the platform more than the company that delivered the experience. I have debated with people that were/are convinced that Viator operated their tour! We run two tour companies. One ranks number one on TripAdvisor in its category. The other sits around fourth or fifth. From the operator side, the gap is clear. Reputation matters. But commission and platform mechanics matter more. This is the system today. It is not static. It is just uneven. And it will change. P.S. While platforms compete on pricing and visibility, this is what the experience actually looks like on the ground; KTM guides waiting at the hotel lobby, ready before the guest even arrives.