Every booking on your own website keeps the commission.
Penguina looks after websites for helicopter and balloon operators, charters, dive and surf schools, guided tours and every kind of adventure. We test your booking page on real phones before peak season, answer your reviews, and help travellers who find you on Google book with you directly, without a platform taking its cut.
Platforms are taking a bigger share of tour bookings.
Booking platforms bring you new travellers, and that's worth something. But the share of bookings going through them is growing, and so is what some charge.
of experience bookings came through online travel platforms in 2025, up from 28% in 2023
of bookings came through operators' own websites in 2025, down from 29% a year earlier
GetYourGuide commission change reported by some operators in 2025
High ticket, chosen from reviews, booked on a phone.
One booking can be a family of four on a scenic flight or a private charter for a group. Visitors choose from reviews and search, usually on a phone. And you're out on the water or in the air when they're deciding.
- One lost booking can be hundreds of dollars
- Tripadvisor and Google reviews decide between operators
- Peak season leaves no time to check the website
- Weather changes plans, and people need clear answers
Round numbers. Card fees apply either way, and your platform rate is in your own agreement.
Six ways tour websites lose travellers.
Most of these only show up on a phone, which is exactly how your customers book.
Checkout fails on iPhones
Booking widgets can break in Safari or inside Instagram's built-in browser while working fine on your laptop. Nobody tells you. They just book someone else.
"Book" goes to a platform
Your own website's button sends people to your Viator or GetYourGuide listing, so you pay commission on customers who already found you.
A vague weather policy
"What if it's cancelled?" is the question that stops people booking. If the answer isn't next to the button, they wait, and then forget.
Missing practical details
Age and weight limits, what to wear, where to meet, how long it lasts. When it's missing, people email and wait, or leave.
Wrong pin, wrong hours
Your Google listing shows last season's hours, or puts the pin at your office instead of the meeting point at the marina.
Reviews nobody answered
Travellers read your replies on Tripadvisor and Google. A run of unanswered reviews, or one complaint about slow emails, costs bookings.
Care that follows your season.
Protect, Capture and Compound run all year. What we focus on changes with your calendar, and your reports compare this season with the same season last year, so a quiet winter doesn't look like failure.
Before peak
Full booking tests on iPhone, Android and desktop. New season dates, prices and hours checked on your site, Google, Apple Maps and Bing. Weather and cancellation answers placed next to "Book".
Protect and CaptureDuring peak
Booking page watched day and night, forms tested regularly, your enquiries listed by name with group size and date. Reviews on Grow and Full Care answered promptly, with your OK.
Protect and CaptureQuiet season
Review requests to your guests on Full Care, new pages for questions people asked all summer, a check of what AI tools say when people ask for "the best tour in" your area.
CompoundMonday, 8:00
Hi Jonas, a windy week. 2 days cancelled, 23 direct bookings.
- Checkout tested on iPhone, Android and desktop
- Weather banner on Tuesday, off Thursday, as you asked
- 4 enquiries: Hannah (school group of 12), Ravi (private sunset tour), 2 more
- Still waiting: Ravi, asked Saturday
- Most asked: "Can non-swimmers join?" Answer now above the button
- 5 new reviews (3 Tripadvisor, 2 Google), all replied
- More direct bookings than the same week last July
Read it on the dock before the first tour.
Every Monday: was the booking page safe, who enquired and who is still waiting, what travellers asked most, how reviews are going, and three things we'll do next. Seasonal comparisons use the same weeks last year.
- Direct bookings shown as we see them, not guessed
- Group and private enquiries flagged first
- No revenue guesses, no jargon
Names and numbers changed for illustration.
Most operators should start on Grow.
Your bookings are high value and decided by reviews and listings, which is exactly what Grow adds. If you run several tours or boats, Full Care builds your reviews and pages through the quiet months.
Keep
$100 / month
For a single guide or a small rental stand.
- Booking page tested regularly
- Your enquiries, by name
- Site watched through peak season
Grow Recommended
$250 / month
For most tour, charter and flight operators.
- Everything in Keep
- Tripadvisor and Google reviews answered
- Season hours and meeting points kept right
- Fixes where travellers give up
Full Care
$500 / month
For operators with several tours, boats or aircraft.
- Everything in Grow
- Review requests to your guests
- Monthly AI answer check
Out guiding when the phone rings? Missed-call text-back works with any plan. Price on request, quoted after your first fix.
Written for your kind of tour.
Helicopter tours
Weight limits, weather calls, and booking widgets that must work on a tourist's phone.
Hot air balloon rides
Dawn flights, gift vouchers and rebooking after weather cancellations.
We also look after:
What should tour operators know about their website?
Booking systems and platforms
Most operators take bookings through a system like FareHarbor, Peek, Rezdy, Bókun, Xola or Checkfront, and also sell through platforms such as Viator, GetYourGuide or Klook. We don't replace any of them. We make sure your own website leads to your own checkout, and that it works on phones.
Keep the platforms, add direct
Platforms help travellers discover you, so leaving them is rarely the answer. The aim is simpler: people who already found you, on Google or on your website, should be able to book with you directly. Check your platform agreements on pricing before you offer a lower direct price.
Reviews that matter
Tripadvisor and Google matter most for most operators, followed by the reviews inside each platform. Since October 2024, US rules ban incentives that depend on a positive review (FTC rule, Goodwin, 2024). We ask guests the same way, with no gating.
Safety and waivers
If you use online waivers, the link has to work on a phone at the meeting point. We test it with your booking page. We never write safety claims for you; safety wording stays yours.
Questions from operators.
Something else? Ask in the chat, email hello@penguina.website or WhatsApp us.
Should I stop selling on Viator or GetYourGuide?
Not necessarily. Platforms bring travellers who would never have found you. We focus on the bookings you shouldn't be paying commission on: people who already searched your name or landed on your website.
Do you work with FareHarbor, Peek or Rezdy?
Yes. We never replace your booking system. We test the route into it from your website, Google profile and social links regularly, on real phones.
What happens when weather cancels a day?
Tell us by WhatsApp or email and we'll put a clear notice on your website and update what we can on your listings. Anything urgent goes to the front of the queue.
My season is only five months. Is it worth paying all year?
The quiet months are when reviews get asked for, pages get written and problems get fixed before the rush. But it's month to month, so you choose. Your reports compare with the same season last year.
Can you get us to the top of Google or ChatGPT?
Nobody controls that. On Full Care we check every month what AI tools say about you, fix wrong facts where they come from, and add clear pages for what travellers ask.
Do you run our ads?
No. We don't manage ads. We make sure the people your ads bring can actually book when they arrive.
Something wrong with your website right now?
Sources for the figures on this page
Not sure where to start? Send us your website.
We look at it the way a customer would, find up to 3 real problems, and fix one of them free. No call needed.