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Bókun vs. Viator – are they the same?

The Bókun Team • August 15th, 2024

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Bókun and Viator, both are Tripadvisor companies, but we serve different purposes and operate independently. To help you understand it better, our customer support team is here to answer some of the most common questions we hear about Bókun in relation with Viator.

Who is Bókun?

Bókun is a powerful reservation system built for tour operators to manage and run their tours and activities business more efficiently. You can be selling your products on your own website, with online travel agencies (OTAs), local and regional resellers, travel agents, or through walk-ins, email or phone. And Bókun brings them all together to help you save time, optimize operations and grow the business.

A big focus of Bókun is on channel connections:

  • Connecting to OTAs like Viator, GetYourGuide and Expedia to manage the availability for the same product in one place,
  • Connecting to your website via a Bókun booking engine, API connections or website builder to sell online directly,
  • Connecting to thousands of suppliers and resellers on the Bókun Marketplace to diversify your sales, and more

Who is Viator?

Viator, on the other hand, is a leading online travel agency for tours, activities, and attractions in thousands of destinations worldwide . For travellers, it is a platform to search and book experiences from all around the world, and for operators, that means a global distribution platform to sell their products (at a fee payable to Viator). In return, Viator also offers support for the guest when it comes to booking, rebooking, refund, etc.

Managing your products and bookings on Viator can be done on your Viator Management Center, but we’ll recommend connecting with a reservation system like Bókun especially if you have more than one point of sales.

  • Ensure up-to-date live calendar availability across channels for instant booking
  • Avoid double bookings and maximise booking potential
  • Manage products and bookings from all channels in one place, i.e. Bókun

Bókun customers can also enjoy free Viator Listing Quality Checks every month by subscribing.

How do they work together?

While the Bókun and Viator teams operate independently within Tripadvisor, we work very closely—just like with our other partners—to serve our operators better. We may not be able to pinpoint an exact solution for an issue or question with Viator, but we can try to point you in the right direction to resolve any queries.

If you’d like to learn more about reservation systems and how to choose one, here are four questions to get you started . Ready to give Bókun a try? Set up a free Bókun trial account , get your business connected, and get more bookings today!