Where Your Tour Money Really Goes
When you book a tour online, you probably compare the price, read a few reviews and click "book". What you rarely see is how much of that price reaches the guide who will actually show you around.
At Cultural Switzerland Tourism, we are guides. We lead private tours in Geneva and along Lake Geneva, from Lausanne and the Lavaux vineyards to the medieval village of Yvoire. We have done this for more than 15 years, and we want to be open with you about how tour booking works today, and why we ask travelers to book with us directly.
Where your money goes
Most tours today are sold through online travel agencies (OTAs). These platforms are useful. They help travelers discover tours, and they help guides find customers. But they are not free. Depending on the platform, between 20% and 50% of what you pay never reaches the guide.
And those rates tend to rise. Platforms often start with low commissions to attract guides. Once enough guides depend on them, the rates go up. We have seen one major platform raise its commission from 8% to 25%, and another from 12% to 38%. Meanwhile, new platforms keep appearing, often selling the very same tours, usually with the same business model.
What it means for you
High commissions are not only the guide's problem. When a guide loses a third or more of every booking, prices go up to cover it. You pay more for the same tour.
It also affects the experience itself. On many platforms, tours are packaged into fixed formats, and your questions go through a booking system rather than to the person leading the tour. When you book directly, you talk to your guide before you arrive. You can shape the day around your interests, your pace and your group, whether that means more time in Geneva's Old Town, a detour to the Lavaux terraces or an afternoon in Yvoire.
How to book fairly
For tours in Switzerland, the simplest way is to book with us directly, through this website. You speak with us from the first message, and what you pay goes to the people who plan and lead your tour.
When you travel elsewhere, we recommend Guides United (guidesunited.com). It is a marketplace built by working tour guides, including us, as a fairer alternative to the big platforms. It charges one all-inclusive platform fee of 8.75%, with no hidden extras, so far more of what you pay goes to your guide. Guides from Spain, Italy, Portugal, Norway and beyond are joining.
Book with the people who guide you
Every booking is a small choice about who your money supports. When you book directly, you support local guides who know their city, and you usually get a more personal tour in return.
If you are planning a visit to Geneva or Lake Geneva, write to us. Tell us what you love, how much time you have and who you are traveling with, and we will design the day with you.