Travel experiences have grown 33% since 2019, making them the fastest-growing travel category–and online bookings for experiences have exploded 188% (Travel Experiences Trend Tracker, Fall 2024). As the market grows, travelers are becoming more selective about what they book.
The partners who succeed on GetYourGuide offer something truly unique: a chef in Rome sharing family recipes in their kitchen, a historian revealing Paris's untold stories, a local guide opening doors to places most tourists never see.
What makes these experiences stand out? They give travelers unique access they can’t find anywhere else. And that's exactly what makes travelers keep choosing them.
Give travelers a reason to choose your activity
When a traveler searches for a walking tour in a major city, they can be met with dozens of similar listings. Most offer the same routes, run at the same times, and use matching descriptions. It becomes overwhelming, leading many travelers to give up without making a booking. Even experienced operators can get lost in this mix and miss out on potential bookings.
What’s next? Standing out.
Showing what sets your activity apart, like a hands-on workshop, unique storytelling, flexible hours, language options, or exclusive access, gives travelers a clear reason to choose you. This not only speeds up their decision-making but also grows your bookings and ratings.
And the ripple effect goes further:
- It influences trip planning: For many travelers, the experience itself is the main reason for their trip, rather than just something to do once they arrive. A unique, authentic activity can influence their choice of destination and shape their travel plans from the very beginning (Travel Experiences Trend Tracker, April 2025).
- Word-of-mouth: These experiences are the ones customers are most likely to talk about and review, creating organic growth for your business.
- Better positioning: When you’re the only one offering something specific, you can command better rates.
So what does it actually look like to stand out?
What standing out really means
Standing out doesn’t mean you have to completely reinvent your business. It's about identifying and amplifying what makes your experience different from alternatives already on the market.
Sometimes this is a one-of-a-kind story or skill, but often it’s just a detail or feature that is significant to travelers.
Your unique value could be:
- Exclusive access others can't provide
- Specialized expertise that leads to deeper experiences
- Unique timing that avoids crowds or captures special moments
- Special format that serves underserved traveler needs
- Local connections that offer authentic experiences
Here are a few examples of how adding distinctive elements transforms an activity:
- Instead of a walking tour offered only in English at 10 a.m., you might offer the same tour at sunrise and in Spanish, with exclusive access to a rooftop view.
- Rather than a standard cooking class in a rental kitchen, you could host a cooking session in your own home, sharing treasured family recipes and hands-on lessons.
- Instead of joining a group sightseeing tour during the busiest hours, travelers could book a private early-morning photo walk led by a professional photographer who gives editing tips on the spot.
- Rather than a general museum visit, your tour might include behind-the-scenes access to staff-only collections and personal stories that bring exhibits to life.
What sets you apart can also come from offering bookings in a language others don’t provide, running your experiences on days competitors don’t, having consistently excellent reviews, or providing more flexible scheduling.
If travelers care and competitors don’t offer it, it’s your edge.
Four ways to make your activity stand out today
Here are four proven tips you can implement right away:
1. Use your expertise
Position yourself not just as a guide, but as an expert–chef, artist, historian, photographer, or local insider. Lead with that. If you're a chef, don't just offer a "food tour"; offer a "chef's market tour with cooking lessons." If you're a photographer, include photo editing tips or equipment others don't provide.
2. Offer unique timing
When everyone else operates 10 AM to 6 PM, be the one who offers sunrise tours, after-hours access, or early morning experiences. Check when similar activities operate, and find scheduling gaps in your market–early morning, late evening, or days others don't run tours.
3. Provide exclusive access
Use your local connections to offer experiences others simply can't provide. What exclusive access do you have? Think of private collections, restricted areas, after-hours venues, local homes, working kitchens, and artist studios. If tourists typically can't go there, that's an opportunity to stand out.
4. Serve specific traveler groups
Instead of trying to cater to everyone, focus on being the ideal choice for specific groups. Target families with young kids, solo female travelers, photography enthusiasts, or food lovers. Tailor schedules, content, and amenities to these groups’ needs for even greater relevance.
Recommended read: Beyond the Standard Experience: 9 Tips to Stand Out with Storytelling, Exclusivity and Availability
Quick check
Before listing a new experience, start by asking these questions:
✅ Can travelers find this exact same activity from others in the same location or with the same attractions?
✅ What is the one thing that makes my activity different?
✅ Would I choose my activity over similar ones if I were a traveler?
✅ Can I explain why someone should pick mine in one sentence?
✅ Does my listing visually and textually spotlight this difference (through photos, reviews, and descriptions)?
If any of these give you pause, it’s a sign to develop a distinctive feature that you can confidently provide and communicate before listing. Focus on a feature you can confidently deliver that others do not.
Key takeaway
Emphasizing what truly sets your experience apart, whether it’s the language options, timing, location, personal touches, or a fresh perspective, makes it easier for travelers to choose you. This strategy increases your bookings and helps build a trusted reputation.
Want to put this into practice? Our next guide shows how to identify and promote your most distinctive features–step by step. Check it out.
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