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Bókun & Google Things to do Partners (How It Works + Benefits)

Bókun is proud to be an official launch and technology partner of Google Things to do. Our channel management solutions feature native integration with Google Things to do, making it simple to join the program, connect accounts, and promote your tours and activities to a vast audience.

Our guide explains:

The benefits of Google’s Things to do program
How to set up the Bókun & Google Things to do integration
The benefits of using Bókun & Google Things to do together

Benefits of Google’s Things to do program

Google Things to Do (GTTD) is Google’s version of an online travel agency (OTA), similar to Viator or GetYourGuide. It gives tour operators a free way to promote tours and activities to the millions of people who use Google to plan trips.

Google prominently displays the recommended “Things to do” in the Travel app, Google Maps, and at the very top of search engine results (even above Google ads) — showcasing your business to the specific users actively searching for things to do in your area.

Searchers can quickly scroll through the recommended options, view ticket prices, reviews, and availability, and start booking directly on Google. This reduces friction during the booking process and improves the customer experience from the first touchpoint.

Tour operators looking to grow their customer base understand that selling on Google and appearing at the top of search results offers invaluable benefits.

Besides boosting visibility and discoverability, many tour operators value Google’s TTD program because it:

Is commission-free, allowing operators to keep 100% of their booking revenue.
Increases direct bookings by linking your website (vs. an OTA profile) during setup, directing travellers back to your site to complete bookings. Bókun’s website builder helps tour operators easily create a website to take advantage of this benefit.
Helps garner online reviews. Google directs users to your booking website or OTAs to leave reviews. Additionally, Google requires Things to do participants to create a Google Business Profile, making it easy for travellers to verify businesses and leave reviews after visiting.

Plus, Google’s algorithm prioritises businesses with positive reviews, pushing highly-rated tours higher in search results and making your business more attractive to potential customers.

How to enrol in Google Things to do via Bókun

Enrolling in Google’s TTD program can be tricky, involving a lengthy application process and product reviews, unless you integrate through an approved connectivity partner like Bókun.

In addition to Bókun, Google partners with other booking and channel management software brands to save time during enrolment and setup. View the complete list of Google partners here.

Joining Google’s program is simple once you start with Bókun.

Here are the steps:

Create a Google Business Profile (if you don’t already have one).
Select your business category, such as tour operator or travel agency.
Disable the “Products” feature in Google.

Then, in Bókun:

Go to the “Sales tools” tab and select “Google Things to do” from the list.
Switch the Google Things to do toggle “on” to send your data to Google.
Specify where Google should direct customers when they click to book your tours. You have three options:
- Bókun Website: Select this if you use a website built with Bókun. Ensure your experience page URL matches the URL in your Bókun website editor.
- Bókun Product Page Widget: This option directs customers to a dedicated widget featuring your tour details. Ensure your company profile includes an uploaded logo, as it will serve as the favicon.
- Custom Link: Use this if you have a unique, bookable page URL for the product on another website.
Choose your preferred booking channel, such as your website or OTA profile. Ensure the selected channel is connected to a payment provider.

At this point, the systems are successfully linked.

Next, you can choose the product(s) you want to promote on Google and submit them for publishing.

Before publishing, confirm that your product meets Google’s eligibility criteria to avoid penalties or removal from Google Things to do.

You can find more information on these requirements in the Bókun Help Center article:
Google Things to do: Is your product eligible?

We recommend adding your experience’s location as a point of interest (POI) so it’s featured alongside other local attractions in Google’s Things to do results. For example, if you offer a guided tour of popular NYC attractions and your last stop is the Empire State Building observatory, you can designate the Empire State Building as the POI. This improves visibility and helps you get discovered more often by interested searchers.

You can easily edit experiences once they’re published and listed on Google. Bókun even lets you edit experiences in bulk by following these steps:

Go to “Sales tools” > “Google Things to do”
Select multiple products
Click on “Actions” > “Edit experiences”

Benefits of using Bókun & Google Things to do together

Google requires Things to do suppliers to connect a booking platform during onboarding, which is why you can bypass the traditional application process by using an approved partner.

With Bókun, you can quickly meet this requirement and join Google’s Things to do program in just a few clicks. From there, you can submit products for review and start promoting experiences across Google’s platforms.

Aside from this streamlined setup process, Bókun’s Google Things to do integration offers several benefits for tour and activity providers:

Improved booking management: Bókun centralises bookings from various channels, including Google Things to do, simplifying management. This allows operators to view, manage, and update all reservations in one platform, reducing overbooking risks and automating administrative tasks.
Automated availability updates: Bókun’s real-time integration with Google ensures availability updates are reflected across both platforms instantly. This eliminates manual updates, minimises the risk of double bookings, and provides customers with accurate, up-to-date information, enhancing their experience and satisfaction.
Simplified product management: Bókun’s product builder lets you design eye-catching listings and guides you through the process. You don’t have to rebuild listings in Google or manage products in multiple places. Easily create or edit Google listings and make bulk updates from the Bókun hub. Our seamless, real-time integration ensures consistency between your Google listings and website, preventing confusion during the booking process.

Bókun solutions for tour operators & the travel industry

We offer two primary software solutions for tour operators: an all-in-one tour operator software and a channel management solution. Both are designed to help businesses organise operations, expand their reach, and increase bookings.

Bókun Tour Operator Software

Our top-rated tour operator software provides a comprehensive suite of tools to manage all aspects of your behind-the-scenes operations, including bookings, products, resources, customer experiences, revenue reporting, and more.

Bókun’s robust functionality not only simplifies day-to-day processes but also allows you to consolidate your tech stack and reduce operational costs.

In the spirit of reducing costs, we pride ourselves on our affordable, accessible pricing, which allows us to work with tour operators at all growth stages — from small, independent operators to larger, established businesses.

Our START plan includes all core features listed below for $49/month, and we offer the lowest booking fees among competitors (1.5% for online bookings). We waive Bókun booking fees on Viator reservations and never charge to manage offline listings.

We also support scalability with our PLUS and PREMIUM plans; these include added features like sub-vendor management and Zapier API, additional onboarding support, and a yearly review to ensure Bókun is optimised for your processes and goals.

Our 14-day trial (no credit card required) lets you explore our platform and features risk-free. During the trial, you can build products, browse OTA integrations and the Bókun Marketplace, connect with Viator, and add offline listings. After the trial, you can choose the plan that makes the most sense for your needs.

Our tour operator software’s core features include:

Website builder: Tour operators can create a branded, bookable website with our user-friendly website builder — no coding knowledge required. Learn more about selling tours online here.
Booking engine widgets: Our booking engine allows customers to book tours directly through your website, simplifying the booking process and ensuring 24/7 availability.
Channel management: We integrate with numerous online travel agencies (OTAs), including Viator, GetYourGuide, Expedia, and Google Things To Do, allowing tour operators to manage bookings from various platforms in a single, centralised calendar.
Bókun Marketplace: This unique feature connects tour operators with over 27K travel partners, including resellers and suppliers, providing opportunities to expand distribution networks, create tour packages, and forge new revenue streams.
Product management: Bókun enables businesses to create and manage detailed tour listings, including descriptions, images, pricing, availability, and add-ons.
Resource management: Our software allows tour operators to schedule staff, allocate equipment, and optimise resource usage, ensuring smooth operations for businesses with multiple tours and resources.
CRM: Bókun includes a native CRM system to store customer information and booking history. This system facilitates personalised marketing efforts and provides insights to improve customer experiences.
Automated communications: Bókun automates email communications, including booking confirmations, reminders, follow-ups, and marketing messages, saving time and ensuring consistent customer communication.
Customer portals: Our system allows customers to modify reservations independently. They can access portals through booking confirmation emails to view, reschedule, or cancel reservations.
Reporting dashboard: Bókun provides comprehensive reporting tools that allow businesses to track bookings, revenue, sales channel performance, product popularity, customer bookings, and other key performance metrics, enabling more strategic decision-making.
Mobile apps: Our mobile apps for iOS and Android allow tour operators to manage bookings, access the booking calendar, and utilise ticket scanning tools on the go.

We also offer an app store where you can purchase add-on modules — like TipDirect and PaxFlow — to support our core features.

You can learn more about Bókun’s booking module and our partner Marketplace in the quick demo below:

Start your 14-day free trial!

Bókun Channel Manager

The Bókun Channel Manager is designed for businesses with an existing reservation system. It acts as a middleman, connecting the existing system with OTAs and other sales channels, centralising bookings, and updating availability across all platforms. This solution primarily benefits businesses looking to expand their online presence without replacing their current booking system.

Our channel management solution offers the following:

Integrations with existing systems: The Channel Manager integrates with various existing reservation systems, allowing businesses to maintain their current workflow while expanding their distribution network.
Centralised booking management: The solution aggregates bookings from all connected channels, providing a single view of all reservations.
Real-time availability updates: The Channel Manager automatically updates availability across all connected channels in real-time, reducing the risk of overbookings and ensuring customers have access to accurate information.
OTA connectivity: Similar to the all-in-one software, the Channel Manager connects with numerous OTAs, expanding the reach of tour listings and providing access to a broader customer base.
Bókun Marketplace access: The solution grants access to the Bókun Marketplace, enabling businesses to connect with travel partners, resellers, and suppliers to enhance distribution further and generate new revenue opportunities.

You can learn more about our channel management solution by scheduling a free demo.

Further reading:

Growing your distribution network with Bókun

Bókun makes it easy for tour operators to join Google’s Things to do program and enjoy the perks of selling tours on one of the most popular search engines.

In addition, we’re a Tripadvisor brand, which means that tour operators can benefit from Tripadvisor’s vast network and resources. We also offer partnerships with Viator and GetYourGuide.

Our OTA partnerships earn you extra benefits, such as enhanced product visibility, as you test online sales channels and grow your distribution network.

Our preferred partnership with Viator allows us to offer free submission checks (on 12, 24, or 48 products, depending on your subscription) and waive Bókun booking fees on Viator reservations. Users selling on Viator can also auto-import products to Bókun to list tours on their website.

Bókun is one of the most popular, cost-effective solutions for tour operators digitising their business and selling online for the first time. Our platform is user-friendly, so learning the features doesn’t require any formal training, and we offer a plethora of options to sell tours online and grow your business.

Start your free trial of Bókun to explore our offerings.

You can also continue reading about Bókun in our guides below: