Civitatis.com is the #1 online travel agency (OTA) across Spanish-speaking markets, from Spain and Mexico to Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, and beyond. With more than 97k travel experiences over 4k global destinations — and over 5 million website visitors every month — it’s one of the most valuable sites for tour operators looking to expand their reach and fill their calendars.
As Civitatis’s top restech partner, we’ve seen just how much business our users win by leveraging their massive audience. We’ve put together this guide to show you how you can do the same: we walk through the steps to apply, explain how to optimise your listings, and discuss how Bókun makes managing Civitatis bookings effortless.
Our guide includes handy links so you can jump right over to Civitatis and kickstart the application process. Then, if you want to learn more about Bókun and how it works with Civitatis, we offer a 14-day free trial for you to explore our platform.
Let’s get started!
Applying as a Civitatis Supplier
Civitatis makes it easy to join their platform — all you have to do is complete the registration request form.
All you need to provide is:
- Your name and email address.
- Some company information — like company name, website, address, and tax ID number.
- Details about your travel experiences — destinations where you operate, types of travel services you offer, your category (like activities vs. transfers), cancellation policies, and if you have a booking system.
After you submit your application, you’ll hear back from the Civitatis team (typically within two working days).
If you’re approved, you’ll be able to begin building your product listings and receive bookings through Civitatis. If your application isn’t approved, the Civitatis team will explain why and what you’d need to adjust before reapplying.
What Tours & Activities Can You Sell on Civitatis?
Civitatis promotes a wide range of travel experiences across their platform, including:
- Guided tours (sightseeing tours, walking tours, bike tours, food tours)
- Day trips and excursions
- Water activities (boat tours, kayaking, diving)
- Adventure activities (zip-lining, hiking, ATV tours)
- Cultural experiences (museums, cooking classes)
- Wine tours and brewery visits
- Attractions and theme parks
- Multi-day tours
- Seasonal events and festivals
- Transfer services
The important thing to mention, though, is that Civitatis only partners with one provider per activity type in each location — so if there’s already a kayaking operator listed in Barcelona, they won’t add a second one.
This means your offerings need to stand out as the very best in your area to be featured. But the benefit is that if you win that exclusive spot, there’s zero competition — you earn all the visibility for that activity type.
Best Practices for Selling on Civitatis
Now, to really stand out on Civitatis and consistently win visibility, you should focus on the following when building Civitatis products:
- Why your experiences are unique and different. Don’t just list what you do; explain how you stand out from the competition and why travellers should choose your experiences. Maybe you have exclusive access, local expertise, or a unique angle that competitors don’t offer.
- Writing for the traveller (not the algorithm). Describe your travel activities the way you’d explain them to a friend who’s visiting your city for the first time. Don’t worry about using the right buzz words and stuffing keywords. Keep it natural and conversational.
- Attention-grabbing visuals. Use high-quality, clear, professional photos that show real moments from your tours — capture the experience, not just the location.
- Compelling descriptions. Write detailed descriptions that highlight what travellers can expect during their time with you. Also remember to include practical details like locations, drop-off or pick-up points, durations, and what to bring.
- Pricing competitively (but confidently). Research similar offerings in your destination to ensure your pricing is competitive. But remember, you don’t need to have the lowest pricing around; Civitatis customers are looking for quality experiences, not just the cheapest option. While you should price competitively, you shouldn’t undervalue what you offer.
- Keeping updated availability. This ensures travellers can see current booking information and prevents double bookings and cancellations. Using Civitatis with a booking management system like Bókun offers real-time availability updates so you don’t have to worry about this.
- Encouraging customer reviews. Civitatis (and other travellers) want to see that others have had positive experiences with you. You should always encourage customers to leave reviews — without being pushy — during and after their visit with you. Guides should ask for reviews during tours, but you can also display stickers or signs around your business, like at check-in or check-out points, and send review requests after travellers’ visits.
Fees to Sell on Civitatis
Civitatis operates on a commission-based model — no enrolment fees, no monthly or annual fees, and no fees to add products — so they only make money when you do.
They negotiate commission rates individually, so you’re part of that decision-making and can settle on a rate that works for both parties. This approach makes Civitatis accessible for tour operators of all sizes, from small local businesses to larger companies with teams around the globe.
Benefits of Selling on Civitatis
- You’re reaching travellers who are ready to book. If you want to reach Spanish-speaking travellers, Civitatis is where they’re shopping. And while Civitatis dominates Spanish-speaking markets, they’ve expanded into English, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Chinese. You can attract international travellers without needing to promote your tours across dozens of different platforms.
- Exclusive visibility. Unlike some OTAs that list multiple suppliers for the same activity, Civitatis carefully selects partners and features only one supplier per product type in each destination. This lets you easily win the business of anybody who’s looking for what you offer, in your area.
- Strong online presence. Civitatis ranks highly in Google search for thousands of travel-related queries, and they invest heavily in online marketing — which is how they’re able to garner millions of monthly visitors. When your tour appears on their site, you benefit from their massive reach without spending your own money on ads or SEO.
- No exclusivity requirements. You’re not locked into working only with Civitatis. You can also sell through other OTAs, your own website, and partners, and diversify your distribution however you want.
- 24/7 customer support. Civitatis’s support team is there for both you and your customers, and they’re available to help around the clock. This means fewer “I’m having trouble booking” emails for your team to manage.
Bókun <> Civitatis Connection
As mentioned, Bókun is Civitatis’ #1 restech partner — our platforms work together seamlessly so you can win bookings through Civitatis’s audience and manage back-office operations in Bókun.
Setting up the connection takes just a few clicks through your Bókun dashboard — no technical knowledge required. Once connected, you can use both systems in sync.
Here’s how the integration works:
- Bókun pulls in all bookings you win from Civitatis and displays them in your central calendar (with the bookings you earn from all other sales channels).
- Bókun sends real-time availability and inventory back to Civitatis so travellers can see your most current openings and avoid double bookings.
Without a connection like this, you’d have to manage Civitatis as a standalone system — logging in to check bookings and manually update availability (multiple times per day). The Bókun integration eliminates all of that; you can manage all bookings in one system, regardless of where they originated or how many channels you’re selling through.
Our integration is available in both our all-in-one tour operator software and our Channel Manager solution, so all of our customers can reap the benefits of using Bókun and Civitatis in tandem.
Getting Started
Apply to become a Civitatis supplier and start winning bookings from their expansive global audience. Then connect through Bókun to manage everything in one place. We offer a 14-day free trial with no credit card required — you can be up and running on both platforms within days.
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