Visitor attractions have experienced a substantial change in sales channels, with online travel agencies (OTAs) now accounting for 18% of all attraction bookings globally, significantly up from less than 10% before the pandemic.

A new report from Arival, the leading authority on tours and activities, titled ‘The State of Visitor Attractions’, highlights major shifts in ticketing and distribution within the sector. These include cultural sites, monuments, museums, and amusement parks that have been affected by the evolution in ticket sales processes.

“Visitor attractions have long been key drivers of tourism, the very reason to visit a place,” said Douglas Quinby, co-founder and CEO of Arival. “Traveller demand to see the great sites is boundless, but the availability of tickets, and the travel industry’s technical ability to access them is not. The big online travel experiences marketplaces recognize this, and they’ve made significant investments to be able to offer attraction tickets, in some cases in spite of – rather than in partnership with – the attractions themselves. There remains much work to be done to connect attractions to the global travel distribution ecosystem.”

Despite the rise of online platforms, traditional offline ticket sales continue to dominate the market. The report also noted that one-third of attractions do not utilize modern online ticketing systems, leaving a gap in accessibility for potential visitors.

Insights from this study will be discussed further during the Arival 360 event scheduled for April 28-30 at the Valencia Conference Centre, which aims to gather industry stakeholders to enhance business opportunities.