Inside the Regiondo Andalusia Roadshow: how to sell tours and activities in 2026

Some events are presentations while others turn into conversations. Our recent roadhshow Andalusia was the latter kind. Even before the first coffee break, the room was doing most of the talking.

We started in Málaga, drove to Granada for the first meetup, and two days later, on 28 May, we were in Sevilla. Two distinct cities and markets, but one question connecting both rooms: how do we win the 2026 experience traveler?

Encouragingly, the conversation was more about growing than recovering. The big question of how to sell tours and activities in 2026 is about how to capture demand profitably. That is what operators wanted to dig into: visibility, booking, and margin, in the daily reality of selling experiences.

First stop: Granada, where the question is how to stand out

Granada is a city filled with beauty, pride, and ambition all at once. Operators spoke warmly about flamenco, cultural experiences, local identity, and of course the Alhambra.

Underneath the pride sat one practical question: how do you keep growing in a destination that is already famous, searched, and crowded? Around it sat a very Granada set of concerns:

• Standing out and differentiating
• Digital visibility and Google positioning
• Personalisation and capturing the right customer
• Creating new products and premium experiences

The question in Granada is rarely “how do I sell more tickets.” It is “how do I stand out when the destination is already famous and a few iconic attractions shape the whole demand curve.”

Flamenco helped illustrate the way forward. In Granada it is emotion, culture, and atmosphere, and it is also a product you can package with more value instead of competing on price alone. The same goes for monument access and the familiar pressure around Alhambra tickets. Best of all, the conversation never got stuck on the problem. Operators quickly moved to what they could build around it: complementary products, stronger partnerships, premium cultural experiences, and more reasons for travelers to stay, spend, and explore.

“In a mature destination, growth comes from differentiation and new value, not just more volume.”

Second stop: Sevilla, where the question is how to reach the customer

Two days later, Sevilla possessed an completely different energy. Different operator mix, different energy, a more commercial conversation. If Granada was about differentiation, Sevilla was about access to the customer and the ability to be found in a crowded market.

Competition was again the biggest word, but this time it sat next to reaching the final customer, internet presence, channels, commissions, and technology.

So distribution became a live topic. OTA share in tour and activity bookings reached 37% in 2025, with direct website bookings close behind. The takeaway was not “OTAs are bad.” It was more useful than that:

“Treat OTAs as performance marketing, not as passive dependency.”

Marketing spend brought a quieter, reflective moment. Many operators invest only a small share of revenue, and some have no set budget at all. The point we kept returning to is that marketing here is not just advertising. It is the whole commercial surface of your business:

• your website and booking flow
• your reviews and Google profile
• your OTA listings and photos
• your post-booking emails and replies

Every one of those is a chance to be chosen.

The AI visibility moment

One of the most powerful moments in Sevilla was a simple live test. We asked operators to open ChatGPT, Gemini, or another AI tool and search the way a traveler would: “What should I do in Sevilla?”, “best flamenco experience”, “best cultural tour”.

The reactions were very human. Some smiled because they appeared. Some were surprised to see competitors instead. Some noticed the AI citing OTAs, blogs, or Google, but not their own website.

“AI does not invent your reputation. It rebuilds it from what it can find online.”

Your website, reviews, structured content, OTA presence, and Google profile all feed it. And this matters more every month. The Arival Marketing Playbook ranks AI chatbots as the fastest-growing discovery channel, with a growth index of +41 for tour operators. The good news is that operators can shape this. The more findable and consistent your content is today, the more visible you become where travelers are starting to search tomorrow.

We were also glad to have Cristina Rius from Tiqets in Sevilla. She brought the marketplace view into the room: how travelers discover cultural experiences, how international demand behaves, and why content, availability, and trust matter so much. Being part of a rich ecosystem is a great start. The traveler still needs to find you, understand you, trust you, and book you.

Product innovation and pricing layers

Across both cities, one theme kept returning: product innovation. Not as a buzzword, but as the practical ability to create more reasons to buy. Operators were keen to move beyond a single standard product at a single standard price.

Pricing connects naturally here. In 2025, around 69% of operators still used static pricing, so there is plenty of room to grow just by adding structure. And you do not need complex dynamic pricing to start. Begin with value layers: basic, standard, premium, VIP. A few examples from the room:

• A flamenco show: standard seats, premium seats, or a drink package
• A cultural tour: a small-group premium version or a private guided one
• A hammam: couples packages, longer rituals, or add-on upgrades

The goal is not simply a higher price. It is to make the value visible, so travelers can pick the experience that fits them.

Why local meetups matter

The best part of both events happened away from the slides, during the coffee breaks and the networking aperitifs. It runs in between Regiondo and operators and between operators themselves.

Granada and Sevilla gave us two complementary pictures of the market in Andalusia. Different cities, different operator profiles, one shared truth: the traveler keeps buying, but chooses more carefully.

FAQ: What are the biggest challenges for selling tours and activities in 2026?

ANS: Demand has recovered, so the main challenge is no longer attracting interest, it is capturing that demand profitably. Operators point to competition, differentiation, digital visibility, reaching the final customer, managing channels and commissions, and pricing as the areas that decide who wins in 2026.

FAQ: How should tour operators treat OTAs versus direct bookings?

ANS: Treat OTAs as performance marketing rather than passive dependency. Use them to generate reach and demand, while continuing to build your direct booking strategy through your website, reviews, and customer relationships. OTA share reached 37% of tour and activity bookings in 2025, with direct bookings close behind, so a healthy mix of both works best.

FAQ: What is AI visibility and why does it matter for experience operators?

ANS: AI visibility is whether your business appears when travelers ask AI tools like ChatGPT or Gemini for recommendations. AI does not invent your reputation, it rebuilds it from what it can find online: your website, reviews, structured content, OTA presence, and Google profile. With AI chatbots ranked as the fastest-growing discovery channel for tour operators, consistent and findable content is becoming an important way to be chosen.

FAQ: How can operators create premium products without complex dynamic pricing?

ANS: Start with value layers instead of dynamic pricing. Offer basic, standard, premium, and VIP versions of the same experience. A flamenco show can add premium seats or a drink package, a tour can become a small-group or private option, and a wellness experience can include upgrades. The goal is to make the added value visible so travelers can choose the level that suits them.

FAQ: How much should a tour operator spend on marketing?

ANS: There is no single right number, but many operators invest a small share of revenue and some have no defined budget at all. The more useful shift is to see marketing as the whole commercial surface of the business, including the website, booking flow, reviews, Google profile, photos, and follow-up emails, and to invest where travelers actually decide whether to book.