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:
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.
You can also start a 14-day free trial of our booking management software, Bókun, to explore the features and Marketplace. Our platform is highly customisable and easy to learn, and we work with tour operators in all stages of growth to promote online visibility and drive revenue.
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:
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 of $49 per month and have extremely low (1.5%) booking fees (many other platforms charge 3%+). 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.
Our core features include:
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.
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.
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.
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.
Bókun also offers clear reporting tools so you can keep tabs on:
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:
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.
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.
Here’s how our pricing works:
Try Bókun’s online booking system for free (no credit card required!) and upgrade to Bókun Pro 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.
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.
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.
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 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).
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 — merged with Rezdy — 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.
Checkfront has over 100 booking management tools, but here are a few of the most noteworthy ones:
Checkfront has three plans:
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.
Regiondo is similar to Bókun in features and functionality; both platforms have:
Regiondo doesn’t tell you much about their pricing online. But here’s what we can say:
Regiondo doesn’t disclose the prices for packages or how they differ, so it’s hard to compare options.
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.
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.
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 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.
TrekkSoft features include:
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:
Start a 14-day free trial of Bókun (no CC required!) to grow your business and bookings online. We’re available to help design your site, connect sales channels, and determine the best strategies to hit your short and long-term goals. Our platform is intuitive, user-friendly, and customisable, so you can easily learn the ropes and tailor Bókun to support your users and workflows.
Online Booking Engine • Channel Management
Inventory & Resource Management
B2B Marketplace • Reporting • Websites