If you’re running an established tour, activity, or attraction in North America, your booking engine is no longer “just checkout.” It’s your revenue switchboard—connecting inventory, payments, distribution, marketing, and on‑site ops. We analyzed ~28,000 operator websites across the U.S. and Canada (plus a small slice of Mexico) to see what’s actually powering direct web bookings today.
TL;DR: The market has a clear center of gravity—then a handful of strong alternatives and a long tail. Your best choice depends on your mix of online revenue, ops complexity, channel strategy, and growth plans.
Who’s powering direct online bookings?
Share of websites (North America):
| Provider | Share |
|---|---|
| FareHarbor | 69.4% |
| Peek Pro | 13.6% |
| Bókun (Tripadvisor) | 7.9% |
| Xola | 4.1% |
| Checkfront | 2.1% |
| Other (combined) | 2.9% |
What’s in “Other”? Rezgo, Rezdy, accesso Passport, Tessitura (TNEW), RocketRez, Gateway (Galaxy), and additional vendors—each under 2% of websites in our sample. Note that enterprise attraction suites (accesso, Gateway, Tessitura) are often undercounted by web‑tag detection because many eCommerce storefronts are white‑label.
Method in one line: We used web tag‑detection across ~28k operator sites (Sep 2025) to estimate share of direct‑booking technology by website presence—a great signal of adoption, but not a proxy for ticket volume.
What this means for operators
- There’s a safe, well‑trodden path. With nearly 70% share, FareHarbor has the largest installed base for NA tours & activities. That scale typically brings mature feature coverage, plenty of peer examples, and a broad ecosystem of implementers.
- There’s a credible “#2” with a modern feel. Peek Pro shows real traction, especially among growth‑minded SMB/mid‑market operators that want a polished booking flow and marketing‑friendly tooling.
- Distribution‑first strategies have a home. Bókun (Tripadvisor) often appeals to teams leaning into channel connectivity and packaging—particularly if Viator/Tripadvisor exposure is strategic.
- Focused ops, guided experiences, rentals & resources. Xola and Checkfront remain good fits when your operation revolves around guided departures, resources (guides/boats/vehicles), or rentals, and you want clean scheduling controls.
- Attractions with memberships & timed entry: If your business feels more like a zoo, museum, aquarium, observation deck, or multi‑gate park, look hard at Accesso, Gateway, Tessitura, and RocketRez. These are often under‑represented in web‑tag counts yet deliver deep membership, POS, scanning, capacity control, and group sales.
Choosing your platform: a quick fit map
Use this like a cheat‑sheet for shortlisting. It’s intentionally opinionated.
| If you prioritize… | Shortlist |
|---|---|
| Fast time‑to‑value, mainstream workflows, big peer community | FareHarbor, Peek Pro |
| Heavy OTA distribution + packaging | Bókun |
| Guided tours with resource/guide management, flexible scheduling | Xola, Checkfront, Rezgo |
| Memberships, timed entry, scanning, group sales, complex venues | Accesso, Gateway, Tessitura, RocketRez |
| Customization & Options, payment gateways, source code access | Rezgo |
| Multi‑location brand consistency & operator training at scale | FareHarbor, Peek Pro, accesso |
Show‑me‑the‑money: what a better booking flow can do
Let’s put numbers to it for a typical $2M/year operator.
- Annual revenue: $2,000,000
- Direct web share: 65% → $1,300,000 online
- Average order value (AOV): $120 → ~10,833 direct online bookings/year
- Current site conversion: 2.4%
- With the same traffic, lifting conversion to 2.9% adds ~2,257 bookings → +$270,800 in revenue
That’s >10% lift on your direct web revenue from a 0.5 percentage‑point conversion gain. The point: operator‑friendly UX, clean inventory presentation, and fewer checkout snags pay the bills.
8 questions to decide your shortlist (and avoid buyer’s remorse)
- Inventory model: Timeslots, rentals, private charters, or capacity‑based?
- Operational resources: Do guides/boats/vehicles/rooms limit availability?
- Pricing: Do you need seasonal price tables, bundles, add‑ons, promo logic, or segmented pricing (e.g., locals, groups, schools)?
- Payments & cashflow: Payout cadence, refunds/partial refunds, deposits/instalments, and multiple merchant accounts per brand/location.
- Distribution: What share do you want via OTAs/resellers vs. direct? Who owns the channel mapping and rate parity?
- On‑site & phone sales: Box office/POS, call center, comp tickets, vouchers, and scanning.
- Marketing stack: GA4 events, server‑side tagging, Facebook CAPI, promo codes, abandoned‑cart emails, gift cards.
- Data & integrations: Webhooks/API, CRM/ESP (Klaviyo/HubSpot/etc.), dynamic pricing, and data portability (export + migration tools).
Vendor Snapshots:
- FareHarbor — The default choice for many NA operators. Mature feature coverage, lots of institutional knowledge, and an army of peers to learn from.
- Rezgo — Comprehensive features in a modern, flexible interface. Built-in resource management and waivers help operations.
- Peek Pro — Modern UI, well‑liked checkout experience, and tools that growth‑minded teams appreciate.
- Bókun (Tripadvisor) — A natural fit for teams leaning into distribution + packaging while still keeping a workable direct flow.
- Xola — Clean scheduling and resource‑aware setups for guided experiences; a good operational fit for owner‑operators and multi‑activity outfits.
- Checkfront — Solid with rentals/outfitters and Canadian operators; a pragmatic choice when you want control without heavy overhead.
- Enterprise suites (accesso, Gateway, Tessitura, RocketRez) — The right move when memberships, timed entry, scanners, group sales, and multi‑gate ops dominate your day.
Bottom line
There’s no one “best” platform—there’s the best fit for your operation right now. The good news: you have strong options, a clear market map, and a proven path to launch. Get the fundamentals right (inventory clarity, friction‑free checkout, clean analytics), and your booking engine will quietly add six figures to direct revenue—without adding a single new departure.
If you want the full dataset, vendor‑by‑vendor breakouts, or a copy‑paste RFP question set, say the word and I’ll share the files.