Selling on OTAs is brilliant until it isn’t.
One day, you’re enjoying extra volume. The next, you’re answering a message that starts with “hi, I’m at the meeting point” and ends with “where is everyone?” while you quietly realise the meeting point on the OTA listing is from 2019.
This matters more now because OTAs keep taking a bigger slice of experiences bookings. Arival puts OTA share at 37% of bookings in 2025.
So here’s a simple checklist you can use to tighten up your listings without turning it into a six-week project.
Related reading: Direct bookings, OTA bookings, and reseller bookings: what’s the difference?
The goal
Your OTA content should do three things:
The checklist
1. Title and first two lines
This is where customers decide if they trust the product.
If your title reads like a poem, customers assume the logistics will be poetic too.
2. What’s included and what’s not
This is where you stop the “but I thought lunch was included” argument before it starts.
Viator explicitly pushes operators to list inclusions and exclusions clearly as part of improving bookings.
3. Meeting point, pickup, and arrival time
This is the number one place where good products fall apart.
GetYourGuide specifically calls out “when do customers need to arrive?” as important meeting point info that appears on the customer voucher.
| Quick test: could a tired traveller find it with one hand on their phone and the other holding a coffee? If not, rewrite it. |
4. Duration and what the customer will actually do
Customers don’t just want a duration. They want a shape.
If the experience includes waiting, say so. People cope fine with waiting. They don’t cope fine with surprises.
5. What to bring, what to wear, and who it’s suitable for
This reduces complaints, refunds, and day-of stress.
GetYourGuide’s supplier terms spell out the need for suitability and logistical information like meeting point, meeting time, duration, and required or recommended clothing and equipment.
Content updates and language versions (this is where “mystery” problems start)
If you update content, update it everywhere.
If your product exists in multiple languages on the OTA, changes don’t always appear at the same time. Your English listing might update instantly, while the French, Spanish, Portuguese (and others) can lag behind depending on how the OTA handles translation and publishing.
So you end up in the weird situation where:
Mini checklist for updates:
6. Voucher instructions
Don’t assume customers know what a voucher is. They think it’s a ticket. They might think it’s a discount code. They might think it’s a personality test.
GetYourGuide’s voucher guidance shows exactly how the meeting point and voucher information appear, which is a good reminder that your words will be reused on the day.
Related reading: Voucher, ticket, and booking confirmation: what’s the difference?
7. Photos that match reality
This is not about being glamorous. It’s about not being misleading.
If your first photo looks like Santorini but you operate in Glasgow, that’s going to be a tricky day.
8. Cancellation and change expectations
Even if the platform controls the policy, customers still need clarity.
The fewer surprises, the fewer angry messages.
9. FAQs that prevent support tickets
Add 5-8 FAQs to answer the boring questions that keep coming up.
Examples:
Baymard’s travel UX research points out that travel and tour sites often fail to provide the information users need, which contributes to abandonment.
10. A quick “operator sanity check”
Before you hit publish, sanity-check the listing as if you’re the one who has to deal with the consequences.
If the answer is “mostly”, it’s not ready.
Common mistakes that create “OTA errors”
Most “OTA errors” aren’t technical failures. They’re content failures that become operational failures.
The biggest culprits:
If you tighten those areas, you reduce day-of issues fast.
Related reading: Why OTA errors happen (and how to reduce them)
Related reading: API, integration, and webhook: what’s the difference?
Closing
If OTAs are bringing volume but your team is spending too much time handling questions, errors, and exceptions, it’s often not a channel problem. It’s a clarity problem.
Want to learn more? Reach out to our team now.