In 2015, BusTravel Iceland was at a crossroads. Struggling with low ratings and an unfocused business model, the long-standing tour operator needed a new vision to survive. A bold decision to strip the business back to its core was made. “We stopped everything that wasn’t working, and being the best sightseeing tour operator in Iceland became our main goal,” BusTravel Iceland’s chief commercial officer, Kristján Björnsson, recalls.
The bet paid off. Today, BusTravel Iceland is the country’s most prominent bus tour operator. Here, Kristján shares the secrets behind their incredible transformation and how their partnership with GetYourGuide played a defining part.
How did you start working with BusTravel Iceland?
My journey has been quite varied. I started with my own tourism-related company, managing apartment rentals, and spent about seven years at another major tour operator, Arctic Adventures. I joined BusTravel Iceland as the commercial manager four years ago — although the company’s been going for 65 — to use my experience to help them expand and innovate.
What was BusTravel Iceland’s journey from 1960 to now, in a nutshell?
The company’s story is quite a ride. It started in 1960 when the Icelandic government issued monopolies for specific bus routes. We got the Golden Circle, and that’s how it all began. For decades, it was a family-run business, but by 2015, things had changed. The company had branched out into airport transfers and other services but struggled with low ratings and losing significant money.
That year, a family member took over as the majority owner and decided to reimagine the company completely. The goal was simple but ambitious: to take BusTravel Iceland from one of the lowest-rated companies to one of the best. Everything has to change.
What was the core strategy for the turnaround?
The key was focus. We realized we were spread too thin. We stopped all airport transfers and other basic transport services. The focus shifted entirely to creating the best guided sightseeing experiences in Iceland. That also involved a new operations system and partnering with OTAs, which made everything run smoothly for the customer and was a huge factor in our success.
What was the thinking behind working with OTAs?
When you have limited resources, you must focus where it matters most. For us, that was the quality of the tours. The leadership at the time made a strategic bet: if we deliver the best possible experiences, the customers will come. So, they put all their time and money into operations and perfecting the tours. GetYourGuide was one of our first and most important partners in this. For about six years, we didn’t even have a properly functioning website.
We just trusted that if we created amazing tours, partners like GetYourGuide would sell them for us. And that’s exactly what happened. Even though we’ve branched out a lot, we’ve stuck to our vision of being the best at sightseeing experiences. We’ve had opportunities to return to airport transfers, but we didn’t want to lose focus on what has worked.
So, entrusting your sales to partners like GetYourGuide paid off?
I think that’s basically what saved the company.
How has that partnership evolved, and how do you work with GetYourGuide today?
GetYourGuide really believed in our vision from the start. Whenever I have an idea for a new product or want to change an existing one, I go to them for insights. They’ll give us their thoughts on whether an idea could work, sometimes pointing to search data or inquiries they’re seeing. It’s so helpful to have another set of expert eyes on your ideas.
Which data on the GetYourGuide platform do you find particularly useful?
I’m in there at least every couple of weeks, and our customer service manager checks our reviews daily. The dashboard is great for spotting trends or sudden drops in ratings, so we can address issues right away. We can see the percentage of customers leaving reviews, which is a number we’re always trying to increase. And it’s easy to take a deeper dive if anything is out of the ordinary, or go through every single product — there’s a lot in there that you can investigate further if you need to.
Since you joined, the company has more than doubled in size. What have been the key drivers of this growth?
It’s been a combination of factors. My background is in product development, so we’ve continued to build on the company’s strong foundation by adding new tours. We were the first to launch volcano tours, and we’ve added more small-group and multi-day tours, which have been very successful. Expanding into shore excursions from all the major ports in Iceland has also been a big deal for us and the cruise ship passengers who come to Iceland.
How do you maintain the five-star experience you’ve worked toward over the last decade?
When you’re running transfers, drivers are just drivers. But for a sightseeing tour, they need to be part of the experience. We decided to let our competitors have the transfer market and instead invested in hiring and training the right people. We are incredibly strict about who we hire, and one of the main qualities we look for is whether they are performers.
Our owner is a guide himself; it’s his passion. He gives the green light on every driver and guide we hire and still runs tours regularly. He also encourages everyone in the office, including me, to guide tours to get a real feel for the operation. When your team knows that the leadership understands the job and values their expertise, getting everyone on board is much easier.
Is hiring the best in the business all about staying ahead of the competition?
Exactly. I’ll give you an example. Our Northern Lights Bus is the biggest northern lights tour operating in Iceland. We have a northern lights expert on our team — he’s also a 10-time, I think, Icelandic pigeon racing champion, which I didn’t even know was a thing until I started working here. His hobby has made him an expert on weather patterns; apparently, the most important part of that sport. He makes the call on whether the tours will run, even when he’s on vacation. Other companies often wait to see what we’re doing before making their own decision.
What advice would you give to another tour company experiencing the problems BusTravel Iceland has overcome?
Focus on what you do best. For a tour operator, that’s giving people quality experiences. If you perfect your core product, everything else will follow.
Key takeaways
- BusTravel Iceland’s transformation was driven by a strategic decision to abandon unprofitable services and focus exclusively on becoming the best at guided sightseeing tours.
- The company entrusted its sales and marketing to OTAs like GetYourGuide, allowing them to dedicate all resources to creating exceptional tour experiences, a move that was crucial to its survival and success.
- A rigorous hiring process that prioritizes guides who are “performers” and a culture where leadership is actively involved in operations have resulted in high-quality tours and low staff turnover.
- The partnership with GetYourGuide provides valuable data and insights that inform the development of new products and the refinement of existing tours.
- BusTravel Iceland’s success has more than doubled since before the pandemic, expanding its offering to include successful small-group, multi-day, and shore excursion tours.
