GetYourGuide Hitting Profitability and Scale Is a Big Deal for the UK Travel Market

GetYourGuide just dropped a major milestone — it’s now profitable and has crossed €1 billion in revenue, backed by more than €4 billion in gross merchandise value from over 33 million booked experiences last year.

That puts quantitative muscle behind a segment of travel that’s been quietly reshaping how people plan trips worldwide.

This isn’t fluff. It’s validation that “experiences” have jumped from afterthought to core product in the trip pyramid.

Where travel used to be dominated by flights and accommodation, tours, activities and things-to-do are now a strategic category — one travellers deliberately search, compare and pay for before they go.

Why This Matters to the UK Leisure Travel Economy

1. Experiences Are No Longer Peripheral — They Drive Demand GetYourGuide’s numbers back what many in the sector already know anecdotally: people aren’t just visiting London or Edinburgh — they’re budgeting meaningful spend on curated activities once there. The average household now takes 7-8 trips a year and spends ~€1,500 annually on experiences alone. For UK destinations, that means attractions, local experience operators, and downstream hospitality businesses should treat experience spend as a core revenue stream, not supplementary.
   
   

2. The Market’s Growth Trajectory Is Intensifying Research cited by GetYourGuide projects the experiences category will accelerate growth from ~6 % annually (2015–2025) to ~9 % through 2030. If that forecast holds, the segment will outperform many traditional travel verticals and widen the gulf between digital platforms and legacy offline channels.
   
   

3. Scale Equals Bargaining Power — Especially for Operators GetYourGuide now lists 200,000+ experiences across 18,000 destinations. That scale gives it leverage on pricing, visibility and customer acquisition — and places pressure on smaller UK operators to either play at scale via OTA marketplaces or build direct booking propositions that can compete on SEO, UX and loyalty.

Bottom Line for the UK Sector

GetYourGuide’s shift — from startup to profitable, billion-euro behemoth — is not just a milestone for one company. It’s a structural milestone that confirms:

• The experiences economy is mainstream, not niche.

• Consumers now expect to book experiences as part of trip planning.

• Platforms with scale will increasingly dominate distribution.

For UK travel businesses, the question isn’t if experiences matter anymore — it’s how to own a slice of that revenue without becoming a price-taker.

If you’re not doubling down on digital direct booking, API visibility with OTAs (online travel agencies), AND customer retention strategies, you’re giving ground to competitors who are.

What This Means for Consumers

Consumers win choice and convenience — no question. Access to structured, pre-vetted activities with reviews and pricing transparency removes a huge friction point that’s historically existed in tours and experiences.

But there’s a twist: centralisation of demand around a few big players means travel planners increasingly default to the same platforms. That’s a win for brands with scale and tech, and a risk for boutique operators who haven’t cracked digital demand capture. Expect:

• Higher expectations around mobile UX, instant booking and customer support.

• Price transparency that squeezes margins for operators unless they innovate on direct booking.

• A larger role for loyalty and repeat business metrics — GetYourGuide now points to repeat bookings driving most of its volume.