The OTA promises more visibility and raise of Bookings in exchange of a higher commission rate. To whom this program is addressed to? Is it a chance to grow your business or is the beginning of a race on commission?

Earlier this month Viator introduced Viator Accelerate Program – a program that allows tour operators to increase commission rates in return for more visibility on the Viator listings. Plus, you will raise your Viator reservations by 15%.

In few words, if you share your margin with Viator you will get more views and perhaps your product will raise more reservations.

During its pilot program in United Sates suppliers like Airboat Adventures reported an increase in bookings by 166% in 30 days. (Source: Arival Travel)

Accelerate Program also gives access to analytics and insights that display metrics about visibility vs top competitor.

The question is: In long terms will that be an Arms Race?

In the past years TripAdvisor and Viator made it easy for tour operators to become a supplier, since there were no criteria required to subscribe or upload products on the platform. Only lately, the criteria were updated (registration fee etc) in order to control the numerus offered products.

In very competitive destinations like Santorini, raising commission by 1-2% or even 5-6%, it is questionable if it will lead to a race in favor of suppliers or OTA.

Travelotopos Market Experts are here to support your business strategy. We will try to understand the way algorithm works and evaluate the results of the program in order to make sure that you have clear overview of the potential benefits.