Tour operator software simplifies reservation management and lets you receive online bookings from various sales channels. Upgrading to these solutions (vs. using traditional spreadsheets to manage tour reservations) offers several benefits:
- It makes it easy for customers to book and modify tour reservations — on their time — around your availability.
- It opens the door to sell your tours and activities across many booking sites (in an organised way), which many teams struggle to do when working in spreadsheets.
- It simplifies reservation management, providing a single source of truth to manage availability and bookings across (online and offline) channels.
- It frees up time from mundane tasks and prevents errors like overbookings.
- It creates opportunities to expand and generate revenue from partnerships.
However, comparing software in this category can pose challenges because solutions have overlapping features and functionality and follow different pricing structures.
So, to clear things up, we compiled this comparison guide with seven of the most popular tour operator and activity booking software; we have options for all business sizes, and we’ll cover features, notes from customer reviews, and information on pricing, so you can move forward with the best choice for your business.
Start a 14-day free trial of Bókun, our booking management software, to explore its features and Marketplace. Our platform is customizable and user-friendly, supporting tour operators at every growth stage to boost online visibility and drive revenue.
Bókun: Flexible Online Booking Platform to Organise, Digitise, and Grow Your Business
Bókun (a Tripadvisor brand) is a great solution for tour operators that want to upgrade from managing business operations in spreadsheets, as it provides a much more organised way to bring your business online and expand your reach across booking platforms.
You can easily create a custom, bookable website and connect Bókun with dozens of sales channels (such as Viator) to manage everything in one place.
What sets Bókun apart from competing tour operator software is our:
- Preferred partnership status with leading online travel agencies, Viator and GetYourGuide
- Seamless connection with Viator; you can add products to Bókun from your Viator account in seconds, and if you make changes to products in Viator, the updates will push to Bókun. Bókun also offers extra benefits for Viator customers, like free product checks.
- Integrations with 13 common payment processors spanning the globe, like Stripe, PayPal, Google Pay, and Apple Pay, so you can easily accept online payments. We also work with Klarna and provide payment plan options through Google.
- Expansive Marketplace of suppliers and resellers; allowing you to connect with other tour and activities operators in your area, resell complementary tours, receive new bookings through partners and manage existing partner channels amongst the likes of Civitatis, Musement and Tiqets.
- Completely customisable (but easy to build) websites; create a site that best represents your brand and offerings, add extras like social widgets, connect with analytics tools to track site activity, and start receiving bookings online.
- CRM that allows you to filter against geography, tour, date, and other criteria so you can remarket to existing customers.
- An API to create custom integrations and connect Bókun with external booking systems allowing you to take bookings across multiple channels.
- Dynamic pricing so our system can automatically adjust pricing based on set parameters to maximise sales margins.
In addition, we designed Bókun with intuitive, user-friendly features, so anyone — even those who aren’t tech-savvy — can build sites, add products, and navigate our platform and mobile apps.
We also offer personalised support and growth plans to help you get started and determine the best expansion opportunities.
Above all, teams choose Bókun for our pricing. We offer the most affordable pricing of all top booking software. We charge a flat rate subscription starting at $49 per month and have extremely low booking fees. Plus, we don’t charge fees on offline bookings or bookings from Viator.
Let’s review our features so you know what to expect before getting started.
Features
Our core features include:
One-Click Website Builder
Create a tailor-made website from our library of templates and choose your domain, and then you’re off and running. You can get as detailed as you’d like in your website design (the Advanced Website upgrade is included in all paid plans), so you can add custom branding elements, colours, fonts, widgets, menu items, and so on.
If you already have a website, you can connect your domain to Bókun and use our embed code to make your site bookable.
Channel Management
Use Bókun as a single source of truth: connect Bókun to other online booking sites, like Viator, GetYourGuide, Klook, Civitatis, and more, to receive and track all reservations in the Bókun dashboard.
You can also use Bókun to manage and track offline bookings, like walk-ins or phone reservations (without fees). You simply create the reservation in Bókun and add the attendees’ information, and then you can track in-person payments through Bókun.
Note: You can also send customers a link to pay online; payments through online links are subject to our standard 1.5% fee.
Product Management
Add your tours and activities in Bókun and include all the details about booking (e.g., control how many people can book, provide details about pick-up/drop-off, add cancellation policies, etc.). You can even create custom booking forms to gather information from attendees before they arrive. Our site walks you through the details, so creating new products is simple.
Products (called Experiences in Bókun) can be instantly connected to your online travel agencies (OTAs) and widgets using a sales channel. You can also edit and update your availability in Bókun to ensure bookings are made at approved times.
Your inventory and availability update across all sales channels as users make reservations, and you can see new bookings as they roll in.
Bókun Marketplace
The Bókun Marketplace is one of the most game-changing features for tour and activity providers because it facilitates partnerships with other similar businesses in your area.
You can find similar tour companies to resell your products and/or list complementary tours and activities alongside your offerings. This allows you to expand your visibility to customers booking tours or activities with other providers in your area.
For example, if you sell a wine tasting, you could partner with a nearby cycling tour to promote the tasting on their site. Similarly, you can list complimentary tours from other providers on your website or checkout page and receive a commission if someone books a partner’s tour.
Our marketplace has been a powerful tool to grow bookings for many of our customers. Notably, it’s also been useful to tour companies not interested in growing their own bookings (perhaps they’re already at max capacity) but interested in growing revenue from other means; they can pull revenue from partnerships. In addition, we have a number of resellers — from car rental companies, to hotels, to luggage storage companies — that all use our Marketplace to find inventory to sell to their customers.
Reporting
Bókun also offers clear reporting tools so you can keep tabs on:
- Upcoming (and previous) reservations — with details about reservations, like the number of attendees and customer info
- Revenue and income
- Reseller activity and commissions
Our customers have noted that it’s tedious and difficult to calculate or keep track of these things when managing bookings themselves in a spreadsheet or a calendar. Our reports are also customisable so you can zoom in on specific dates, look at data from individual sales channels, view reservations and revenue by product, and more.
These insights can help you pinpoint your most successful times of the year, popular tours, and which sales channels drive the most business. Then, you can use this data to develop growth strategies.
What this looks like from the customer perspective…
Overall, Bókun streamlines booking processes, which provides a better customer experience — this means your business is available on more booking sites, it’s easier to book, and it eliminates overbookings. Plus, you’ll have happier customers that leave more positive reviews and return to utilise your service again.
Here’s how Bókun changes the way customers interact with your business:
First, customers can find you quickly and easily via your website, reseller, or other online booking site. They don’t have to call or send an email to get in touch; they can immediately find an available time to book with you.
Bookings automatically populate on the Bókun side, so you’re notified of new reservations. Bókun also emails the customer to let them know they’re booked. Any booking details will appear in this email for customer reference.
Bókun sends the customer an online ticket that they can either print out or keep handy on their mobile device; then, getting checked in when they arrive is easy. (You can customise the appearance of this ticket with QR or bar codes and brand logos, too.)
Customers cancel their reservation online; there’s no back-and-forth with your team. We also send you a notification to keep you in the loop.
After the customer’s tour, Bókun can automatically send a follow-up email to thank them for their business and gather feedback (you can include links to specific review sites). This helps you learn about the customer experience and offer promotions for repeat customers.
Feedback
Bókun earns positive reviews for its affordable pricing and ease of use — we make it simple for tour operators to organise reservation management, receive online bookings, and expand their business. And our platform doesn’t require hours of training to learn.
Our customer support team also receives praise from current users — we can help through onboarding or just answer questions when you have them, and we offer free support for all users.
Aside from availability, Bókun’s Marketplace is another favourable feature amongst reviewers. Whether you want to expand your reach by finding others to resell your products, increase revenue by reselling others, or create lasting partnerships, Bókun Marketplace has resources to accomplish your goals.
Our Marketplace considers your location and products and recommends nearby tour and activity operators who may be good partners. You can message and manage all partners through the Bókun portal, and our platform even lets you set the terms in which partners can sell products (what products or how many reservations they can sell, etc.), so you have control of your bookings across all channels.
Pricing
As mentioned, pricing is a key reason teams choose Bókun over competitors. Customer reviews note that we offer all the same features as other platforms but at a fraction of the cost.
Bokun is designed to work for all operators at every growth stage, from one- to two-person teams and larger established businesses.
Here’s how it works:
- We have three plans: START ($49/month), PLUS ($149/month) and PREMIUM ($499/month).
- We charge industry-low bookings fees of 1.5%, 1.25% and 1%, per plan, for direct online, OTA and reseller sites. These can be covered by yourself or passed onto the customer.
- We waive Bokun booking fees on all Viator and offline reservations
- You can customise Bókun via third-party apps from our app store
Try Bókun’s online booking system for free (no credit card required!) and upgrade to a Bókun subscription to build your custom site, connect with OTAs, and explore our Marketplace. Our team can help you make the transition and grow your business online.
6 Alternative Online Reservation Management & Tour Booking Software
FareHarbor
FareHarbor (a Booking.com brand) is a popular online booking tool for large and growing tours and activities providers.
They market themselves to businesses big and small — with hands-on support and a customisable booking dashboard.
Let’s review their features and pricing.
Features
- Customisable booking dashboard
- Product management
- Staff management
- Bookable website and reservation management system
- Partnerships with popular sales channels and payment providers — FareHarbor is a Booking.com brand and they partner with Viator and Expedia. They also partner with payment processors like Stripe and PayPal.
- Integrations with popular business applications, including CRMs and online waiver solutions.
- Reporting
- Mobile apps for iOS and Android
They also have extras like upsells for customers (can offer bundles or establish membership programs) and a complimentary website-building service. FareHarbor’s team can build you a custom site from templates and even optimise the site for SEO — the only caveat is that you’re limited to their teams’ designs and don’t have much control over customisation.
Pricing
FareHarbor does not charge a subscription fee, and many of the extras are free, as well. The catch is the high booking fees — 6%.
Rezdy
Rezdy is an online booking engine for tours and activities businesses around the globe. Starting in Australia, they’ve expanded their reach across dozens of countries (and merged with Checkfront and Regiondo, below ).
Features
- Online booking engine
- Live availability to prevent overbookings
- Automated communications to send your customers notifications before and after their tour
- Channel management
- Reseller tools to resell partners’ tours and make commission
- Payment processing — Rezdy partners with Stripe and PayPal but also works with Google or Apple Pay and offers an online payment solution (RezdyPay).
- Integrations to connect Rezdy with other software solutions
- Reporting
Pricing
Rezdy offers three plans: Foundation ($49/month), Accelerate ($99/month), and Expansion ($249/month). Each package includes different features and perks, but they recommend starting with the Accelerate package to get your business online and connect with partner channels.
On top of the base cost, Rezdy also charges a variable booking fee on each reservation.
Rezdy offers a free 21-day trial for teams that want to test the platform.
Checkfront
Checkfront merged with Rezdy and is a cloud-based activities booking platform for companies in Europe and North America. The platform features help you grow your online presence and maximise resources and operational efficiencies.
Features
Checkfront has over 100 booking management tools, but here are a few of the most noteworthy ones:
- Reservation system with self-service bookings.
- Online payment options — Checkfront integrates with popular payment processors but also connects with your POS and lets you send custom invoices.
- Real-time, customisable booking dashboard
- Custom form builders and waivers to send to customers before their tours
- Channel management
- Integrations and developer API
- Reporting
Pricing
Checkfront has three plans:
- A (very limited) free plan to introduce you to the platform.
- A standard plan with two pricing options — you can pay a flat fee of $125 per month, or 3% on every booking.
- A Managed plan where you receive a dedicated account manager, onboarding support, and training — these quotes are based on what you require from the software.
Regiondo
Regiondo (now merged with Rezdy) is an online booking software “made for the leisure industry” — they work with tour operators and attractions like zoos and museums to support online reservations and high-volume ticket sales. They’re prevalent in Europe (Germany and Italy, specifically) but have expanded their reach across other countries.
Overall, the platform is pretty easy to use, and they don’t have an overwhelming number of features; it works well for teams just establishing their online presence and tour or activity providers looking to expand.
Features
Regiondo is similar to Bókun in features and functionality; both platforms have:
- A one-click website builder to create custom sites — the difference is that Bókun includes the website builder and domain in the base price, while Regiondo charges an extra $49/month for this feature.
- Online booking systems
- Product management
- Availability management
- Connections with OTAs like Viator and GetYourGuide.
- Touch POS to manage walk-up reservations and payments
- Payments through Stripe
- Marketing tools to offer discount codes and request reviews
- Mobile apps with tools like ticket scanning
Pricing
Regiondo doesn’t tell you much about their pricing online. But here’s what we can say:
- They offer two types of programs — you can choose to be an operator or a reseller. If you want to do both, you must sign up (and pay for) for both programs.
- Within each program are multiple packages: entry-level, mid-level, and advanced. Features are dispersed among packages, so teams often choose the mid-level or advanced package to unlock all they need.
Regiondo doesn’t disclose the prices for packages or how they differ, so it’s hard to compare options.
Peek Pro
Peek Pro is an online booking solution that is usually recommended for growing or larger tours, activities, and travel companies — they offer essentials to manage online reservations, but the focus of their platform is on growing revenue.
Features
Peek Pro tour operator software has many of the features you’d expect (that we see with competitors above): an online booking system with a customisable calendar, connections with POS systems to manage in-person bookings, product management, reporting dashboards, integrations, and API.
In addition, Peek Pro offers online waivers and check-ins (“Kiosk Mode”) to save time upon arrival, automated messaging with customers, and user portals where customers can edit reservations without contacting your team. They also provide flexible payment options where users can split payments, pay by invoice, use Apple Pay, and even tip employees.
Pricing
PeekPro doesn’t disclose information about pricing online, and we’ve heard various feedback — some users say PeekPro charges a $199 set-up fee, but the platform is free to use after that. However, like FareHarbor, PeekPro has pretty high booking fees (some users report it’s 6%).
Based on user feedback and PeekPro’s offerings, we can infer that the platform leans on the more expensive side.
TrekkSoft
TrekkSoft is an online booking and reservation management platform for European tour providers that want to sell across channels and scale operations — it’s marketed for adventure and sightseeing tours, bus tours, and destination getaways.
Features
TrekkSoft features include:
- Customisable website builder
- Online booking engine
- Channel management to connect with other online booking sites and travel agents
- Reseller network so you can partner with other tours and travel businesses in your area
- Native POS and mobile apps so you can manage bookings from anywhere
- Integrations with Stripe, PayPal, Payoo, Google Pay, and Apple Pay to accept online payments
- Back office reporting tools
Pricing
TrekkSoft has three packages, and they divvy features between plans, but all three options include the core tools mentioned above.
Here’s how the plans work:
- You can try TrekkSoft’s free plan — this has no base cost, but you pay higher booking fees (5% for direct bookings, 3% on bookings from OTAs, and a 2.5% transaction fee for all payments through the payment gateway). This package also comes with personalised setup and training for a one-time charge of €799.
- TrekkSoft offers a starter plan for €140 per month — this includes access to the (entire) partner network and calendar synchronisation tools. By choosing the base plan, you can enjoy lower booking fees — 2.5% on all bookings and a 2.5% transaction fee on all payments.
- Lastly, TrekkSoft’s Ultimate plan costs €280 per month — this includes business intelligence tools, access to the API, and extra bells and whistles. This plan has even lower booking fees: 2% on every booking with 2.5% transaction fees.
Start a 14-day free trial of Bókun (no CC required!) to grow your business and increase online bookings. We offer support in designing your site, connecting sales channels, and identifying strategies to meet both short- and long-term goals. Our intuitive platform is easy to learn and fully customizable, enabling you to tailor Bókun to fit your users and workflows.