Facts checked on Viator's Supplier Help Center, the Viator Supplier Agreement (in force from August 1, 2026) and Tripadvisor's 2025 annual report on October 11, 2026.
Supplier, Affiliate or Travel Agent?
Viator runs three programs that are easy to mix up. As a supplier you run the tour and Viator sells it, which is what this article covers. Affiliates promote other people's tours on a website and, per Viator's partner page, "earn 8% commission on any experience booked within 30 days." Travel agents book tours for their clients and earn a commission too. The 8% you'll see quoted is what Viator pays affiliates and agents. It isn't what suppliers pay Viator.
Who Can Become a Viator Supplier
Viator says "companies and individual hosts can become a Viator supply partner." It sells "tours, activities, tickets/passes, rentals, and transportation." Standard car rentals and accommodation-only products aren't accepted. Multi-day trips are allowed and are listed with the product type "Tour."
You'll need a business license or permit if your location requires one, and liability insurance. Viator's August 2026 supplier agreement makes public liability insurance a mandatory baseline for every supplier, with minimum limits set by Viator by risk and destination. Most land-use permits require it anyway.
How to Sign Up, Step by Step
- Start at supplier.viator.com and create an account. If you already have a Tripadvisor account, Viator asks you to use the same email and login.
- Give company or personal details and accept the Viator Supplier Agreement.
- Add the documents Viator asks for: banking details for payouts, business or personal verification, tax information where applicable, liability insurance, and a business license where your area requires one. Not everything is needed upfront.
- Create your first product and pay the $29 submission fee.
- Wait for publishing. Viator says products typically go live on Viator within 24 hours and on Tripadvisor within 5 to 7 days.
Viator Supplier Fees and Commission
| Item | What Viator says |
|---|---|
| Submission fee | $29 per new product, one-time, non-refundable |
| Commission | Not published. Defined as "the margin paid to Viator on bookings." Commissions are confidential under the Supplier Agreement. |
| How prices work | You enter a suggested retail price or the net rate you want to be paid, and Viator works out the other. Viator has "sole discretion to determine the actual retail price." |
| Viator Accelerate | Optional. You raise your commission to buy more visibility, up to a maximum of 50%. |
| Payouts | By the month after travel: Payoneer by the 3rd working day, bank on the 7th to 10th working day, PayPal the Monday after travel. New suppliers' payments may be delayed 30 days beyond that. |
| Minimum payout | $50 by bank, $10 by Payoneer, none by PayPal |
Operators and the travel trade press report 20 to 30%. Viator doesn't publish that, and its own help center only uses 20% as a worked example. Ask for your rate before you set prices, and make sure the trip still pays after it.
The Rules That Shape Your Business
- Lowest net rate. The agreement says the net rates you give Viator must be "the lowest net rates offered by Supplier to any third party," because Viator offers customers a lowest price guarantee.
- Cancellation policies are set options. The standard is a full refund up to 24 hours before, and all sales final is also an option. Multi-day trips can use Moderate (full refund up to 4 days before) or Strict (full refund at 7 or more days, 50% at 3 to 6 days). "Customized cancellation policies are not available."
- Keep cancellations under 5%. If your cancellation rate goes over 5%, you're notified and get 90 days to fix it, or the product is removed from Viator, Tripadvisor and partner sites. Weather and force majeure don't count.
- Answer within 24 hours. Booking requests and questions must be answered within 24 hours, or the booking is cancelled with a full refund.
- Quality level. Products must hold a "Good" quality level to stay active.
- Reviews. Only travelers who booked on Viator can review on Viator. Tripadvisor reviews of the product count toward its rating.
Want to keep your own pricing and cancellation terms? ExplorOFF is free to join, with no exclusivity, and takes 15% plus card processing only on a booking we bring you. List your trip.
Connecting Your Booking System
Connect your reservation system under Account, Connectivity in the Viator Management Center, so a booking anywhere blocks the seat everywhere. Viator keeps a list of connectivity partners on its operator resources site. If yours isn't on it, Viator asks you to email its supplier API team. Still choosing software? See FareHarbor alternatives for small businesses.
Support and Scams
Viator offers suppliers chat in the Management Center "24 hours a day, seven days a week," plus phone support. Its help center lists a US and Canada toll-free number of +1 833 764 2182.
Phishing aimed at suppliers is common. Since September 2026, Viator supplier logins have moved from supplier.viator.com to accounts.viator.com, and Viator tells suppliers to "always check you are on the correct website" before entering a password. Its Trust and Safety team calls only from +44 207 292 3149 or +1 781 343 0291. If a caller claims to be Viator from any other number, hang up.
Is Viator Worth It for an Outdoor Guide?
The reach is real. Tripadvisor's 2025 annual report says it sells over 425,000 experiences from more than 70,000 operators through Viator and Tripadvisor, and about 22.9 million experiences were booked in 2025. For a day tour in a busy destination, that audience is hard to match.
For a small outdoor operator, the trade-offs add up: a commission you can't see until you sign, a lowest-net-rate rule, a retail price Viator controls, fixed cancellation options, and a 5% cancellation limit (weather cancellations don't count toward it). Multi-day trips also sit in a catalog built mostly around shorter experiences. Many guides use Viator for one or two day tours and sell longer trips elsewhere. Compare every option in where to list your tours, and see how to become a GetYourGuide supplier for the other big marketplace.
Sell Your Trips on ExplorOFF
ExplorOFF is a marketplace built for multi-day outdoor trips: hiking, backpacking, paddling and fishing in US and Canadian national parks and wild places. Travelers find your trip inside a day-by-day itinerary for the route they're already planning, so they arrive ready to book. It's free to join, there's no exclusivity, and you keep your own site and booking system. You set the price and group size. We take 15% plus standard card processing, and only on a booking we brought you. A person checks your commercial liability insurance and land-use authorization (such as an NPS CUA) once, and approval takes up to 24 hours. List your trip on ExplorOFF.
How to Become a Viator Supplier: Fees, Rules and Payouts (2026) FAQs
Sign up at supplier.viator.com, give your company or personal details, accept the Viator Supplier Agreement, add banking, tax and insurance details, then submit your first product with the $29 submission fee. Products usually publish on Viator within 24 hours.
Viator doesn't publish a standard supplier commission, and the Supplier Agreement keeps commissions confidential. Operators and the travel trade press report 20 to 30%. Suppliers can raise their rate through Viator Accelerate for more visibility, up to 50%.
Yes, a little. Viator charges a one-time, non-refundable $29 submission fee for each new product, then a commission on completed bookings.
Yes. Viator says companies and individual hosts can become supply partners. You need a business license or permit where your location requires one, and liability insurance.
Monthly, based on the travel date: Payoneer by the 3rd working day of the following month, bank transfer on the 7th to 10th working day, or PayPal the Monday after travel. New suppliers' payments may be delayed an extra 30 days.
Yes. Viator is part of Tripadvisor's group of companies, and Viator products also appear on Tripadvisor. Tripadvisor's 2025 annual report says it sells over 425,000 experiences through the two platforms.
Standard (full refund up to 24 hours before), all sales final, and for longer tours Moderate (full refund up to 4 days before) or Strict (full refund at 7 or more days, 50% at 3 to 6 days). Custom policies aren't available.
A supplier runs the tour and pays Viator a commission. An affiliate promotes tours on a website and earns 8% on experiences booked within 30 days.
