OTAs lead bookings in Australia and New Zealand experiences market

Online travel agencies (OTAs) have overtaken direct websites and offline channels to become the primary booking source for tours, activities, and attractions across Australia and New Zealand, according to new research from Arival. The shift, outlined in its State of Experiences report, reflects how distribution risk in the experiences sector is increasingly concentrated within a small number of global platforms.

For operators, this change is less about consumer behaviour and more about control of demand. With OTAs becoming the main gateway for traveller bookings, suppliers are reporting greater exposure to commission-driven margins, reduced visibility over customer data, and stronger dependency on third-party acquisition to fill capacity, particularly in peak-season and destination-heavy markets.

The impact is showing up unevenly in performance. While roughly 70% of operators reported profitability in 2025, that headline masks divergence in trading conditions: many are maintaining margins through pricing and channel mix adjustments, while others are seeing softer booking volumes or flat demand despite higher digital reach.

The structure of the market is also shaping outcomes. A long tail of small operators competes alongside a smaller group of high-volume attractions, creating uneven negotiating power with distributors and uneven access to technology investment.

That technology gap is becoming more visible operationally. Most operators now rely on multiple disconnected systems for inventory, booking and channel management, increasing friction in fulfilment and reporting. As a result, automation and system integration are emerging as immediate priorities for 2026, while artificial intelligence (AI) adoption is still largely experimental and not yet materially improving conversion or efficiency at scale.