GetYourGuide is a travel booking and planning platform. GetYourGuide was founded in 2009 by Johannes Reck, Martin Sieber, Tao Tao, and Tobias Rein. The company is headquartered in Berlin, Germany, and operates additional offices in fourteen other countries.
GetYourGuide was founded in 2009 after cofounders Reck, Sieber, Tao, and Rein traveled to Beijing, China, together on a school trip and were unable to source a good tour guide to help navigate their way through the city.
In August 2018, GetYourGuide began offering its own branded tours called Originals. The company formed marketing partnerships with local activity operators in various areas to run Originals tours. The operators were required to follow GetYourGuide's best tour practices in order to be labeled as a GetYourGuide branded tour.
GetYourGuide was affected by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 when lockdowns and border closures across the globe affected the world's ability to travel. As a result of the pandemic, GetYourGuide's ticket booking numbers fell by 99 percent. Despite the severe downfall in revenue, the company had enough funds saved up to continue running. In March 2020, CEO Johannes Reck stated that the majority of GetYourGuide's most recent $484 million funding round was still available.
In May 2020, GetYourGuide released its "Beat the Crowds" feature, available through its mobile app. The software behind the feature uses sensors to measure real-time occupancy levels and waiting times at businesses. In February 2021, GetYourGuide received $97 million in a revolving credit facility due to the drop in revenue caused by Covid-19. CFO Nils Chrestin stated, “The company is very well capitalized and fully funded to profitability. Even if the current travel volume stayed like this for three years, we would not run out of capital."
GetYourGuide's Originals Tours ended in November 2022 and were set to be reintroduced in the future with a different approach. Originals launched again in March 2023 as an exclusive collection of one-of-a-kind experiences only available through GetYourGuide. The company also launched its first global campaign called "Make Memories."
Through GetYourGuide, travelers can make bookings for various activities in the area of their destination, such as guided tours, classes, culinary excursions, and skip-the-line tickets. Users typically book between three and five activities per trip. As of 2023, over 75,000 activities are offered, and more than 80 million activities have been booked through the platform.
