What GetYourGuide and Viator commission really costs a boat-tour business

GetYourGuide doesn't publish a single commission rate. It varies with the country you operate in, and you're told the exact figure after you sign up. For tours like boat trips, operators usually talk about something between 20% and 30% on the big marketplaces, but the number that matters is the one in your contract, and what it takes out of a whole season.

If you sell on GetYourGuide or Viator, or you're thinking about it, this post walks through how the commission is taken, what it adds up to over a season, and where these platforms honestly earn their cut. The last section covers how to grow direct bookings without breaking the terms you signed.

How GetYourGuide and Viator commission works

On both platforms, listing a tour is free and you only pay on bookings that actually happen. The two platforms do the maths differently.

On GetYourGuide, you set the price and the platform keeps its share of each sale, paying you the rest. Its supplier page says the rate depends on your country of operation and is shared after sign-up. Payouts come monthly at no extra cost, or "bi-monthly" for a small surcharge. In practice, the money from a busy July can land in your account in August.

On Viator, it works the other way round: you enter your net rate, and the price the guest sees is built on top of it. Viator updated its supplier agreement in August 2026. Under the new terms, Viator and its partners can decide the final retail price shown to guests, while what you're paid stays tied to the net rate you entered. Viator doesn't publish a single commission rate either, so ask for yours before you go live.

Work out your own real rate from your payout statements, not from averages online: take the sales amount, subtract what you were paid, and divide the result by the sales amount.

What commission adds up to over a season: a worked example

On one ticket, commission looks small. €10 out of a €40 ticket, and you shrug. Add up the season and it looks different. The figures below are an example; put in your own price and guest numbers and run the same sum.

Example: a 30-seat boat, one tour a day, €40 per person
August: 31 days × an average of 24 guests = 744 guests
250 of them come through a marketplace: 250 × €40 = €10,000 in sales
At 25% commission, August costs you: €2,500

The whole season, May to October, 900 marketplace guests: €36,000 in sales
At 20% commission: €7,200
At 25% commission: €9,000
At 30% commission: €10,800

This isn't an argument for leaving the marketplaces. But you should know which guests you're paying that money for. If you're on Viator, run the same sum on your net rate: the commission may not seem to come out of your pocket, but it pushes up the price the guest pays.

Commission comes off revenue, so it comes out of your profit

Fuel, crew, mooring and insurance cost the same whoever the guest is and wherever they booked. Commission is taken from the full ticket price, before any of those costs. Cost per guest here means the full cost of one trip, lunch included, divided by the guests on board; the commission line follows GetYourGuide's model, where it comes off your price.

Example: €40 ticket, average cost per guest €22
Guest who paid cash on the quay: 40 − 22 = €18 left
Guest who paid by card on your own site: 40 − card fee (depends on your bank) − 22 = about €17 left
Guest who came through a marketplace (25%): 40 − 10 − 22 = €8 left

Same boat, same lunch: one guest leaves you €17–18, the other €8. The rate says 25%, but in this example it takes more than half your profit. When fuel prices rise, the share of your profit that commission takes grows with them.

There's also a commission many operators pay without noticing. If you can't take card payments on your own site, it's tempting to send a guest you found yourself, on Instagram or at your stand on the quay, to your GetYourGuide page so they can pay. You found the guest, and you still pay the marketplace. How to stop doing that is in our post on taking commission-free bookings on your own site.

What the marketplaces do well

To be fair to them: GetYourGuide and Viator bring you guests you'd struggle to reach on your own. Picture a German couple on their first visit to Kaş, in Turkey. From their hotel room they search "Kaş boat trip", and the platforms often show up in those results. They don't know you, may not speak your language, and are wary of typing their card number into a site they've never heard of. Reading reviews in their own language and paying in an app they already trust puts them at ease.

The platforms earn their cut most clearly in these cases:

• The start and end of the season: filling seats in May and October that would otherwise go empty.
• First-time foreign visitors: guests who've never heard of you and won't be strolling the marina.
• A new business's first reviews: building trust on the platform. Bear in mind those reviews stay on the platform; they don't add to your Google rating.

An empty seat earns you nothing. The extra cost of filling it is often little more than a lunch, so filling it at 25% commission usually makes sense. The problem starts when the marketplace stops being an extra sales channel and becomes your main one.

Where the marketplaces hurt

Beyond the commission, there are three things to weigh.

The guest belongs to the platform, not you. GetYourGuide's supplier terms include clauses that prohibit sending marketing messages to guests who came through the platform, or steering them to book outside it. If such a guest wants to pay you directly, you're expected to send them back to the platform. If they book again next year through GetYourGuide, you pay commission again.

The price isn't fully yours to set. GetYourGuide's terms include a clause asking that the price and availability on the platform be no worse than on your own online sales channels. Selling cheaper on your own site can therefore run into the contract; whether such a clause can be enforced also depends on where you operate.

The rules can change under you. As Viator's August 2026 update shows, when a platform revises its agreement, pricing and payment terms can change with it. If most of your sales come from one platform, every change there lands straight on your season.

These clauses get updated over time. Read the current text in your own supplier account; what's here is a general summary, not legal advice.

How to bring guests to your own site without breaking your contract

The aim isn't to poach the marketplace's guests. It's to stop guests you found yourself from ending up in a commission channel.

1. Make the link on your Instagram profile your own booking page. Your followers already know you; there's no reason to send them to your GetYourGuide page.
2. Show your own site as the website on your Google Business Profile. A guest searching the map for a boat trip in your harbour should reach you directly.
3. Reply to WhatsApp enquiries with your own link. A guest who messages you to ask the price is your guest.
4. Use your own QR code at your stand on the quay. A guest you met on the quay shouldn't cost you commission.
5. Keep in touch with guests who book direct. You can stay in touch with them, within privacy law. Before you send them promotions later, get their consent in advance, as most privacy and marketing rules require; check the details with a lawyer or your local data-protection authority.

For a guest who asks the price on WhatsApp, a reply like this works:

Hello, thank you for your message! Our daily boat trip leaves the harbour at 10:00 and returns around 18:00, lunch included. The price is €40 per person. You can see available dates and book with your card here: [your site]. Your ticket will arrive by email right away.

If a marketplace guest asks on board, "Could I pay you directly next time?", the answer your contract allows is to point them back to the platform:

Thank you, we're glad you enjoyed the trip, and we'd love to have you back! As you booked with us through GetYourGuide, please book again the same way.

To take card payments on your own site, you need an online card-payment account, such as a virtual POS or merchant account from your bank. Divide the yearly cost of your own site by the commission you pay per marketplace guest, and you'll see how many direct guests it takes to cover it. Lostromo takes no share of any sale; it runs on a one-time setup and a flat monthly fee, and the money goes straight to your bank account. You can run that sum yourself with the figures on our pricing page.

Frequently asked questions

Should I leave GetYourGuide altogether?

For most operators, no. GetYourGuide is good at finding foreign guests who don't know you and at filling early-season seats. What needs to change is sending guests you found yourself there, and growing direct sales. At the end of the season, work out the profit each channel left you separately, and decide on the numbers.

Can I sell cheaper on my own site than on GetYourGuide?

It's risky. GetYourGuide's terms include a clause asking that the platform's price be no worse than on your own online channels; check the current text in your account. Keeping the same price on your own site is the safest route. On a direct sale, what you gain comes from not paying commission, not from discounting.

Are there costs besides the commission?

There can be. GetYourGuide pays out monthly for free, so your money waits a while. The platform's cancellation and refund rules can override yours, and who refunds when bad weather cancels a trip depends on the contract. Ask your accountant how tax and invoicing work on commission charged by a company based in another country.

Can I negotiate a lower commission rate?

The rate is set by contract, but you can try talking to your account manager or supplier support. Have your sales figures and reviews ready. Nothing is guaranteed, and the rate can change again later. The surest way to pay less commission is to sell the guests you find yourself through your own site.