GetYourGuide
Corporate brand
UnclaimedA global online marketplace for booking tours, attraction tickets, excursions, and other travel experiences.
Last updated August 31, 2026
AI crawler reads
No AI crawler has read this profile yet.
Overview
GetYourGuide is a Germany-based online travel marketplace focused on activities rather than conventional accommodation or air travel. Its website and mobile applications connect travelers with operators offering guided tours, excursions, attraction admission, cultural experiences, outdoor activities, cruises, transfers, and other destination services. Customers can search and reserve experiences, receive digital booking information, and review activities after purchase. The company earns revenue primarily through commissions charged to participating suppliers when bookings are made through the platform. The business was founded in 2009 after Johannes Reck visited Beijing and encountered difficulty finding his way around the city. A local introduction from his friend and ETH Zurich classmate Tao Tao helped him experience the destination differently, leading the founders to explore a peer-to-peer concept for connecting visitors with local guides. They subsequently refined the idea into a marketplace for professionally operated tours and activities, with Martin Moström also identified among the founding team. The company initially operated from Zurich and was funded by friends and family. In 2012 it moved its headquarters to Berlin to access a larger technology and venture-capital ecosystem. GetYourGuide expanded through a series of venture-financing rounds and a 2013 acquisition of Gidsy, another activity-booking and mobile-application company. Capital raised in the 2010s supported international expansion, product development, supplier acquisition, and the creation of engineering capacity in both Berlin and Zurich. Its Series D financing in 2017 was directed in part toward growth in Asia and the Americas. In 2018, the company began offering selected activities under the GetYourGuide brand in cooperation with operators that met its standards, moving beyond a purely neutral marketplace presentation. A major turning point came in 2019, when GetYourGuide raised a reported $484 million Series E round led by SoftBank's Vision Fund at a valuation above $1 billion. By that point, it reported having sold 25 million tickets since formation. The COVID-19 pandemic sharply disrupted tourism and led the company to adopt remote work while the travel sector contracted. It later resumed expansion, including the launch of activities in the United States in 2021. The company also introduced Dogecoin as a payment option during that period. GetYourGuide's marketplace model depends on aggregating a large and varied supply of experiences while maintaining customer confidence through reviews, product information, booking support, and supplier standards. Operators list services on the platform and remain responsible for delivering them, while GetYourGuide supplies distribution, transaction infrastructure, discovery, and customer-facing technology. The company has stated that its inventory includes more than 150,000 experiences from over 20,000 supply partners worldwide. In the third quarter of 2025, it reported 10 million experiences booked, and in October 2025 it announced that it had reached profitability and generated €1 billion in sales over the preceding year. Its business remains exposed to travel demand, destination regulation, ticket-allocation rules, supplier quality, platform competition, and reputational issues involving the resale or distribution of scarce attraction tickets.
History
GetYourGuide originated in 2009 from a travel problem experienced by Johannes Reck in Beijing. Arriving early and struggling to navigate the city, Reck was shown around by Tao Tao, a friend and fellow ETH Zurich student. The experience suggested that travelers could benefit from easier access to knowledgeable local people and destination activities. Reck, Tao Tao, and Martin Moström developed an initial peer-to-peer concept connecting visitors with amateur guides, then broadened it into a professionally oriented online booking platform for tours and activities. The company was initially established in Zurich and financed by friends and family. In 2012, it moved its headquarters to Berlin, partly to improve access to venture capital and to build a larger technology organization. Its early growth was supported by successive investment rounds. In January 2013, GetYourGuide raised $14 million in Series A financing from Spark Capital and Highland Capital Partners, followed later that month by an additional $4.5 million from investors including Kees Koolen. In April 2013, it acquired Gidsy, adding a team of 12 developers and capabilities associated with mobile activity discovery and booking. Further expansion capital followed with a $25 million Series B round in July 2014 and a $50 million Series C round in November 2015. In October 2017, the company opened an engineering office in Zurich. The following month, it raised $75 million in Series D funding to support expansion in Asia and the Americas. GetYourGuide reported selling five million tickets in 2017, approximately equal to the number sold during all previous years combined, indicating a significant acceleration in marketplace scale. In August 2018, GetYourGuide began selling some tours under its own brand in partnership with operators that satisfied specified standards. This initiative gave the company greater control over the presentation and consistency of selected experiences while retaining external operators for local delivery. In April 2019, a $484 million Series E round led by SoftBank Vision Fund placed the company’s valuation above $1 billion. The financing was among the largest venture rounds raised by a European startup at the time, and the company reported 25 million tickets sold since inception. The COVID-19 pandemic interrupted the travel economy and forced GetYourGuide to shift to remote work. The downturn highlighted the company’s dependence on international tourism but also encouraged continued investment in digital operations. In 2021, it began selling activities in the United States and added Dogecoin as a payment method. The company later raised $194 million in May 2023 at a reported $2 billion valuation. By the middle of the 2020s, GetYourGuide described its platform as carrying more than 150,000 experiences supplied by over 20,000 partners worldwide. It reported 10 million experiences booked in the third quarter of 2025. In October 2025, the company announced first-time profitability and €1 billion in sales over the preceding year. Its continuing challenges include maintaining consistent supplier quality, competing for high-intent travel searches, complying with attraction-ticket rules, and managing customer trust when scarce or regulated tickets are distributed through third-party operators.
- 2025
Reported profitability and €1 billion in sales
[1]GetYourGuide announces that it has become profitable and generated €1 billion in sales over the preceding year.
- 2023
New financing at a $2 billion valuation
[1]The company raises $194 million at a reported $2 billion valuation.
- 2021
United States expansion
[1]GetYourGuide begins selling activities in the United States and introduces Dogecoin payment acceptance.
- 2019
Series E financing creates a unicorn
[1]A $484 million SoftBank Vision Fund-led round values GetYourGuide above $1 billion.
- 2018
Launch of selected branded tours
[1]The platform begins selling selected activities under the GetYourGuide brand through operators meeting its standards.
- 2017
Zurich engineering office and Series D expansion funding
[1]GetYourGuide opens an engineering office in Zurich and raises $75 million to expand in Asia and the Americas.
- 2015
Series C round
[1]The company raises $50 million in Series C financing.
- 2014
Series B round
[1]GetYourGuide raises $25 million in Series B financing.
- 2013
Series A financing and Gidsy acquisition
[1]The company raises early institutional funding and acquires Gidsy, adding mobile-development capabilities and personnel.
- 2012
Headquarters move to Berlin
[1]GetYourGuide relocates from Zurich to Berlin to support venture financing and technology-led expansion.
Products and positioning
A global, technology-enabled marketplace specializing in bookable destination activities and travel experiences, with an emphasis on breadth of inventory, digital convenience, supplier standards, and customer reviews.
Online travel marketplace · 2009
GetYourGuide marketplace
The core platform allows travelers to discover and reserve tours, excursions, attraction tickets, and other destination experiences. Supply partners list their services, while GetYourGuide provides search, booking, payment, customer reviews, and related support functions. The marketplace is designed for both advance trip planning and in-destination purchases.
Travel technology
GetYourGuide mobile applications
The company’s mobile applications provide access to experience discovery and booking through smartphones. They extend the marketplace beyond the desktop website and support travelers who are researching or purchasing activities while already at a destination.
Branded travel experiences · 2018
GetYourGuide-branded experiences
Since 2018, selected tours and activities have been sold under the GetYourGuide name in cooperation with operators that meet the company’s standards. The model combines local suppliers’ operational capabilities with a more controlled customer-facing product and brand presentation.
Controversies
2025
Colosseum ticket resale investigation and fine
The Italian Competition Authority fined several companies, including GetYourGuide, in connection with the resale of Colosseum tickets. The authority said the practices made it more difficult for tourists to obtain tickets at face value. The matter illustrates regulatory risks for online activity marketplaces handling scarce admission inventory.
Brand decisions
2021
Expansion into the United StatesStrategyBackground
The company resumed international growth after the disruption to tourism caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Action taken
GetYourGuide began selling activities in the United States and also accepted Dogecoin as a payment option.
Aftermath
The move broadened the company’s geographic footprint and payment-method offering.
2018
Introduction of GetYourGuide-branded toursStrategyBackground
The marketplace sought to provide selected experiences with greater consistency and a stronger consumer-facing identity.
Action taken
The company began selling tours under its own brand in partnership with operators that met specified standards.
Aftermath
GetYourGuide developed a hybrid model combining third-party supply with selected branded experiences.
2013
Acquisition of GidsyM&ABackground
Gidsy was also developing mobile applications and services for discovering activities.
Action taken
GetYourGuide acquired Gidsy and incorporated its development capabilities, including a team of 12 developers.
Aftermath
The acquisition strengthened GetYourGuide’s mobile and product-development base as the marketplace expanded.
Recent events
Sources3 sources
Cite this profile: Cite the canonical profile. /brand-wiki/getyourguide · Editorial policy · How profiles are compiled