The digital imperative: why broad distribution is non-negotiable for attractions

In today's experience economy, the landscape for attractions, live events, and tours has been fundamentally transformed by digital connectivity. Operators can no longer rely solely on on-site sales or basic functions; consumers expect instant confirmation, real-time connectivity, and mobile ticketing across multiple platforms.

For operators seeking sustainable growth and international recognition, adopting a broad distribution strategy is not just an option—it is a digital necessity.

This shift requires powerful technology that can handle all bookings, sales, and operations in one place. This is where Bókun, a Tripadvisor company, comes in, offering a solution that helps operators streamline connectivity and secure more bookings through thousands of connections to online travel agencies (OTAs), resellers, and suppliers.

Ian Macleod and Jordan Whittington

Speaking with Bókun’s Jordan Whittington, channel manager and business development manager, and Ian Macleod, director of marketing, we explore the need for broad distribution, the technical hurdles operators encounter, and how Bókun acts as the connecting force driving growth in the experiences sector.

Meet Bókun

Bókun was founded in Iceland in 2012 with a singular focus: to bring offline experience providers online and equip them with the tools necessary not only to manage their business effortlessly but also to grow it. The company was then acquired by Tripadvisor in 2018.

“Bókun is a complete booking and channel management solution for what we call extraordinary experiences,” says Macleod. “We operate as that crucial, silent engine behind the front end of the experience, managing all booking, sales, and operations in one place for experience providers.”

It now collaborates with tour and experience providers in over 85 countries. While Bókun has historically been the preferred system for tours and activity providers, its channel manager solution is increasingly supporting attractions and live event partners eager to tap into its extensive distribution network.

As part of the Tripadvisor group, Bókun benefits from seamless integrations within that ecosystem, enabling operators to deliver excellent experiences while the technology manages the complexities of sales and distribution.

The primary mission continues to focus on simplicity, stability, and innovation, enabling operators of all sizes to access the global market through a system directly connected to Viator, GetYourGuide, Expedia, Airbnb, Klook and many more.

Why broad distribution is non-negotiable

For modern attractions and live event providers, having a comprehensive distribution strategy is essential, says Whittington:

“A broad distribution strategy is non-negotiable for modern growth. It’s the only way for attractions to be visible to travellers worldwide. Consumer behaviour has shifted toward instant, digital discovery and immediate booking. If you’re not visible across major and niche channels, you’re missing sales.”

This imperative is driven by demographic changes. Millennials and Gen Z heavily depend on travel apps and OTAs.

Macleod adds:

“We’re seeing that much of trip planning now happens through OTAs and resellers. Travellers want to combine tours, attractions, and live events, for example, a food tour and a football match in the same trip. This convergence means attractions must be visible alongside tours and activities within the same digital ecosystems where travellers plan and book.”

A proactive, automated approach to distribution guarantees 24/7 accurate availability across all sales channels, effectively transforming digital distribution into a powerful, scalable engine for growth.

Solving a key challenge

The biggest obstacle to achieving broad distribution is technical complexity. Each major OTA or reseller requires a dedicated connection, and manually updating availability, inventory, and pricing across numerous channels is nearly impossible to manage accurately, often resulting in double bookings.

While some prominent attractions consider building bespoke, direct Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to major resellers, Whittington cautions against this approach: “Maintaining those connections is time-consuming as APIs evolve.”

However, this is the exact challenge that Bókun’s channel manager was designed to solve, she adds. “By connecting once to Bókun, attractions can access all those resellers without the heavy technical workload.”

Although it has been offered for years, initially focusing on tours and activities, the channel manager’s relevance to attractions and live events has grown significantly as these sectors increasingly partner with OTAs.

It functions as a sophisticated distribution tool that syncs live availability, pricing, and inventory across dozens of sales channels. Crucially, it serves as the central source of truth for attractions.

Operators can plug into the Bókun system just once and gain instant access to thousands of OTAs already integrated with the platform, eliminating the need to manually update each reseller's extranet.

The ability to connect is extensive; Bókun helps operators generate more bookings by connecting with over 2,600 OTAs and resellers.

Meanwhile, for operators who already have established in-house reservation or ticketing systems, Bókun offers immense flexibility.

“Attractions and live event providers often already have their own reservation systems, so our channel manager can integrate directly without requiring a full migration. This flexibility is one of our biggest differentiators. Operators can use Bokun’s full suite or simply connect through the standalone channel manager.”

This integration enables businesses to reap all the benefits of Bókun while maintaining their existing booking or ticketing system by connecting to the channel manager.

The existing in-house system continues to serve as the central core resource. At the same time, Bókun provides a single API connection, eliminating the need to build and maintain multiple API connections.

Scale and quality of the network

What sets the platform apart in the distribution space is the unparalleled scale and quality of its network, providing a direct shortcut to thousands of resellers. As a part of the Tripadvisor family, Bókun enjoys a unique position that blends the resources of a large company with the agility of a startup.

Macleod says: “Bókun’s independence within Tripadvisor is a huge strategic advantage. It allows us to move with the speed and curiosity of a startup while benefiting from the trust and resources of a global leader.

“We can make quick decisions, innovate rapidly, and respond to customer needs in real time, backed by Tripadvisor’s infrastructure, security, and global expertise. It’s the best of both worlds, agility combined with stability.”

This relationship also facilitates highly advantageous partnerships, particularly with its sister company, Viator.

For instance, operators can import products from Viator. This streamlined setup process is swift; users typically see their first booking through Viator within just five days of connecting. Furthermore, the platform specifically waives its booking fee on Viator reservations.

Bókun’s Marketplace is the heart of this connectivity, allowing suppliers and resellers to connect instantly and scale efficiently. The marketplace is critical, says Whittington, because “the key trend is intelligent, diverse distribution. Operators are moving beyond one or two major OTAs to work with niche and local resellers.

“Many resellers now actively want attraction and live event inventory — theme parks, farm parks, sports tickets, concerts.”

Operators are using Bókun to diversify, partnering with niche and local resellers to achieve better results and create a tailored distribution strategy. The platform supports collaborations with major providers, including GetYourGuide, Airbnb, Expedia, HelloTickets, and Klook.

Freeing up operators to focus on the guest experience

Beyond distribution, Bókun’s full suite of tools ensures that the operational demands of high-volume bookings do not overwhelm the operator.

The platform offers a comprehensive booking solution, featuring real-time reporting, Point of Sale (POS) functionality, resource management, booking widgets and website builders, to name a few features.

The primary operational benefit is automation, allowing operators to focus on the guest experience.

The system consolidates all bookings into a central system, automatically managing availability and freeing operators from administrative tasks, while preventing costly double bookings.

Operators can manage customer messages and automate confirmations, updates, and cancellations for both guests and guides.

Success with Bókun

The effectiveness of this wide-reaching distribution strategy is clearly demonstrated by the growth experienced by its users. The statistics are impressive: across Bókun, partners typically see a 43% increase in gross booking volume after joining.

“A great example is Venice Tours, one of the leading gondola tour operators in Venice,” says Whittington.

“They initially worked manually with Viator and GetYourGuide. After joining Bókun, they connected with around 36 different partners through our marketplace and grew revenue by 400% year over year.”

This demonstrates how sophisticated technology turns manual, spreadsheet-based processes into automated, scalable success.

Intelligent, diverse distribution

Looking ahead, technology will continue to influence how attractions and live event providers adapt to an increasingly connected and competitive global marketplace. Bókun is evolving from simply being a booking system to becoming a key growth partner and industry connector.

This includes addressing modern expectations around ethical and operational goals, such as sustainability and accessibility.

Whittington explains how technology facilitates these goals:

“Technology is a powerful enabler here. For sustainability, Bókun supports dynamic capacity management and optimised scheduling to reduce waste. Our reporting tools provide the data to track and improve resource use.

“For accessibility, our white-label and widget solutions enable customizable, multilingual booking paths, creating seamless experiences for a diverse global audience. Reliable tech and transparent data are key to achieving both operational and ethical goals.”

Macleod outlines the critical strategic focus for the future:

“How travellers discover experiences is changing fast. Social media, AI, and new planning tools are reshaping discoverability. Operators must ensure they’re visible where consumers are looking, not just on their own sites but across OTAs, influencers, and niche resellers.

“We help them do that by placing their inventory in all those channels. Seamless booking is also critical; consumers expect one-click, real-time transactions. Ensuring accurate, instant availability and a smooth customer journey is where Bokun delivers the most value.”

Bókun’s aim is to continuously improve its marketplace, effectively connecting the right suppliers with the right resellers, ensuring operators can grow efficiently even as the global market becomes increasingly competitive.

The focus remains on intelligent, diverse distribution.

Bókun: an expert in distribution

For attraction and live event operators, the strategic decision is clear: leveraging technology to achieve broad distribution is vital for global competitiveness.

The significant technical effort, once a barrier, is now managed by expert channel managers like Bókun, which guarantees enterprise-level connections with high reliability, enabling real-time updates for bookings, changes, and cancellations.

Whittington’s message for operators is straightforward:

“We’ve been doing this for a long time; we’re experts in distribution. OTAs are actively seeking more inventory from attractions and live event providers.

"Our message is simple: connect once with Bókun and access mass distribution easily. Let our technology be the matchmaker between your system and the world’s resellers.”

The future of the experiences sector is undeniably connected. By utilising Bókun's robust ecosystem, operators gain the tools to manage operations efficiently, generate more bookings, and access a global network of resellers and OTAs, allowing them to focus on delivering the extraordinary experiences travellers crave.

Macleod adds:

“It’s essential that attraction providers start thinking strategically about distribution. It’s going to be critical moving forward, and we’re excited to help them do it.”

As attractions and live event providers adapt to a connected global marketplace, broad distribution will define who thrives. With Bókun, operators gain the tools and partnerships to stay visible, scalable, and focused on delivering exceptional guest experiences.