The complexity of an OTA Private Tour Booking Form
An Online Travel Agency Booking Form is not simple
Me Jamie, your host, I am English and I have lived in Hong Kong for 53 years - I know the place.
I have personally completed 2,300+ Private Tours and Experiences (over 6,000+ guests) since April 2011 and I am considered one of the finest Private Tour Guides in Asia.
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The complexity of an OTA Private Tour Booking Form
An Online Travel Agency Tour Booking Form is not simple
Jamie is NOT an AI Chatbot
I am a team of one, I created the website, I keep it updated, I write all the copy for the site and my blog posts and I am your Private Tour Guide. I use AI sparingly for research only
So when you contact me you are dealing with me Jamie, I am human and NOT an AI Chatbot
… and yes, it is true, I hate the terms “hidden gems” “secret spots” and “travel like a local” so beloved by AI chatbots and used by OTA’s (Online Travel Agency)
The quality of your Hong Kong Tour | Experience is absolutely dependant on the quality of the guide you choose to book, please choose wisely
Online Travel Agencies Do NOT have a simplified booking process for tours despite what you might read and please do read the copy below from an Arival online article and bear in mind that an OTA is very dependent on AI for everything!
An Essential OTA Checklist & Tips for Experience Operators
The Role of OTAs and Resellers in Your Distribution Mix
For many operators, online travel agencies and resellers play an indispensable role in distribution strategy. While there are some commonly cited challenges to working with OTAs, there are many benefits to working with these platforms as well. Here are several benefits to including OTAs in your distribution mix:
Extensive Reach and Exposure
These platforms have an expansive reach, connecting millions of potential customers worldwide with your products. Platforms like Tiqets, Klook and Trip.com attract a vast audience of both domestic and international travelers looking to book tours and attractions. Listing on these sites ensures your products are seen by a diverse and extensive customer base, far beyond what most individual operators could achieve independently. Understanding OTA ranking algorithms can significantly improve your visibility on these platforms.
Enhanced Visibility through Marketing
How can you compete with the deep pockets of the heavy hitting competitors? Well, these platforms invest heavily in OTA advertising and marketing, both online and offline. This includes search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click advertising, social media campaigns, and email marketing. Just by being listed on an online travel agency, you can benefit from this broad marketing reach without bearing the high costs associated with large-scale promotional campaigns. This enhanced visibility can not only lead to increased bookings and brand recognition through these channels, but also drive direct bookings as savvy travelers researching online may visit your website before booking. This is known as the “Billboard Effect,” a phenomenon which is well-documented in the accommodations sector of travel.
Simplified Booking Process
These platforms know their customers very well and part of this is how to convert lookers to bookers. They invest heavily in user-friendly platforms that simplify the booking process for their customers. These platforms provide comprehensive information, customer reviews, photos and videos, making it easy for travelers to compare and book the experiences which suit them. Building a “cart” of things to do can mean travelers will actually book more, and these sites are experts in leading their customers to book multiple experiences.
Trust and Credibility
OTAs and resellers spend huge amounts of money and time building loyalty with their customer base. When traveling to a new place, travelers will often look to OTAs in order to test the trust and credibility of an activity. Travelers may research things to do in a destination using OTAs, but then having read positive reviews, ratings and information on an OTA they then go on to book directly. Being associated with a reputable OTA can lend credibility to tour, activity and attraction providers, assuring customers of quality and reliability.
I am a small private tour operator in Hong Kong and set up in 2010 and over the years I have watched with dismay as large corporations with deep pockets have come to dominate the Private Tour Industry around the world all of it being led by AI
These organisations are called OTA’s or Online Travel Agencies and if you have booked a tour over the past 10 years or so it is quite likely that you have booked a tour with someone like Tripadvisor, Viator, Klook, Get Your Guide, Tours by Locals etc
My comments relate to what has happened in Hong Kong as many of my friendly competitors now get most of their bookings from OTA’s and lots of poor quality tour companies have jumped on the bandwagon.
I refuse to list on an OTA, I was on Tours by Locals only from 2011 - 2019 and over the years my relationship with them soured as to me they did not get the point that “all tour guides are created equal, but some tour guides are more equal than others” in other words they did not seem to care about the quality of the guides and promote the great guides over poor quality guides.
I totally understand the business model of the OTA’s but to me it is crazy to pay them a huge commission for a listing (and there is apparently no upper commission level, the more you pay, the higher your ranking and prominence on the site) and these days there is so many tours listed on the OTA that there is no guarantee you will get any bookings at all
You also have to follow all the rules and regulations of the OTA, so pretty much all the offerings look exactly the same and critically you do NOT get the chance to choose the guide, with me, you get me.
That is the nature of competition and I have no problem with that, it means I have to work harder and smarter to get noticed.
I have to laugh though at the absurdity of the claims that booking with an OTA is a simple process and the purpose of this blog post is to show you why it is a lot simpler to book a tour directly through the tour companies own website where in most cases the process is a lot simpler and you increase greatly the chance of getting an amazing guide and it is the guide who is responsible for giving you a great tour.
I hope you have the patience to read on, I have chosen a very popular tour to Lantau Island in Hong Kong that is listed on Tripadvisor and also on Viator and I have analysed each section and commented.
read on
Images promoting the Tour
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This is the main image section of the tour listing and you should know the following :
The picture of the cable car and the Big Buddha above is a total fake, the image I have taken below shows the reality, you will notice that in the image above that the Big Buddha is facing in the wrong direction relative to the cable car and appears to be a lot closer to the cable car than reality! I have been to the Buddha hundreds of times and the location of the Buddha and the Cable Car has never changed. my picture is totally accurate and I have no idea why they would choose to add in a fake image.
I should point out that the odds of seeing a Pink Dolphin is very, very low, I have been hundreds of times to Tai O and done the boar ride and have seen the cute critters just ONCE and it was just one of the critters and if you blinked you would have missed it, I always make it very clear to my guests that chances are they will not see a pink dolphin, there are not many of them and the South China sea is huge!
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This is one of my own images, you will see the correct location of the Buddha and it faces in a different direction than the one in the fake image, the Buddha is a good 15 minute walk from the Cable Car station by the way, walking only, no transport!
The basic itinerary
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please note my comments about the itinerary:
I absolutely totally disagree with times,there are far too many factors that affect timing such as massive queues for the cable car, poor weather, number of people on the tour, transport issues etc
they also do not state above that there is a public bus journey between the Big Buddha and the Tai O Fishing village and you can wait up to an hour for the bus
there are NO admission fees to visit the Big Buddha or the Tai O Fishing Village
your tour ends at the Tung Chung MTR (subway station) and it will take roughly an hour to get back to your Hotel from there
there will be anywhere from 10 people to 100 people on the tour, I basically for the most part cap my tours at 6 people (but have done a few times 8 people, all one family) the more people you have on the tour the slower the tour, time seems to slow to a crawl and you are constantly worrying about losing people and for the life of me I cannot imagine trying to cram a shed load of people onto a public bus, the single decker buses are always fairly full with Hong Kong residents
and yes, only twice in 2,300+ private tours have I done more than 8 people, one was 16 people and one was 25 people, never again for me, it is impossible to keep large groups engaged and I get horrified at the thought of speaking through a microphone and then there is the small point of making sure you do not lose people when on public transport.
Tour Pricing and what is included in the Tour | Price
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For the life of me I am utterly confused by the pricing of this tour, they basically offer two x 7 hour tours which itinerary wise seem to be the same but one tour is half the price? you would need to study what is included and the exact itinerary I know this company had a lot of negative comments recently as they told guests that to going on the cable car was not part of the tour (despite the image showing the cable car) and they had to pay for it (and it ain’t cheap) you really must clarify this point.. oh and by the way on my Lantau Island Tour I NEVER do a round trip on the cable car, we go to Tai O first and then the Buddha last, saves a lot of time and expense by only doing the cable car one way.
One of the 7 hour tour prices shows a per person cost of US$48.89 for a 7 hour tour including the cable car tickets, well see my next comment, how can they make any money charging US$48.89 per person, it makes NO sense at all
the cost of a standard cable car cabin is US$35 for a round trip and for a crystal cable car cabin it is US$40 this is adult pricing, see link below for all pricing options, just the cable car cost is a significant portion of the tour price.
remember, there can be up to 100 people in the tour group, I have seen these group tours at the Big Buddha and many times it was between 25 - 30 people in the group
the observation deck mentioned does not have an admission fee
there are no admission fees for the Big Buddha or the Tai O Fishing Village
I would not pin your hopes on an all you can eat buffet being included in the price, you are given the bare minimum food, drinks and snack wise, they decide what you can have and this is a prime area for them to save some money
the starting point of the tour is NOT your hotel, you have to make your way to a subway station, I understand they do give you precise directions but even so, it is a hassle if you are not familiar with Hong Kong.
…… however you have to make your own way back into town! from Tung Chung which is an hour away from town. (it is very close to Hong Kong International Airport.
the big issue here is that the 2 prices quoted in the image do not make any sense, so you have clarify that.
A more detailed explanation of the Itinerary
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The observation deck mentioned is simply where you get off the cable car and to exit the facility you have to walk through a gift shop selling souvenirs and such, they fail to mention that to get to the Big Buddha you have a 15 minute walk (at least) through a fake village full of restaurants and souvenir shops called the Ngong Ping Village, there are however some excellent rest room facilities and a Starbucks!
please be warned that to observe the Big Buddha up close you have to walk up and then down 268 steps, with groups fitness levels will vary and could have a severe impact on timing. I cannot see that they even mention this, a lot of people have no desire to walk up and down 268 steep steps.
they fail to mention that at the Big Buddha there are also 2 x Po Lin Monasteries which are really quite something, you will visit them, there are no admission fees and I do not understand why they do not mention them. the new (2014) Po Lin Monastery is simply amazing (you will understand when you view the main hall)
no mention of the public bus ride to Tai O which can eat up time if you miss a bus and have to wait for another hour, timing here is everything
a nickname of Tai O in Hong Kong is “the Venice of the East” which is complete nonsense, I have been to Venice and in no shape or from does the Tai O Fishing Village look or feel like Venice (but I do love going to Tai O) ignore the nickname and just enjoy the experience.
to try and view the Dolphins, see my comments above but please note it is not a river cruise, you are out in the open ocean (the South China Sea) and remember the chances of seeing a Dolphin are very, very slim
and nice of them to drop you off at the Mall next to the MTR Station in Tung Chung and you are left to your own devices to get back to civilisation
Additional information and comments about the tour
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Fairly standard blurb here, yes, weather is a factor as “good weather” has many different meanings in Hong Kong and again note that up to 100 people can be on the tour, I am totally horrified by this and this would have a major effect on timing of the tour.
please note that a lot of this tour can be done by car (which my friends do) and the tour is fairly doable for people in wheelchairs.
Cancellation Policy
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Very standard blurb but we warned that they could cancel the tour and I did not see a number for the minimum number of people on the tour, I am guessing that 10 is probably the minimum number for the tour group
My insider tip
Please note that in general if you book a tour on Viator or Tripadvisor you generally have NO control over what guide will lead your Private Tour of Hong Kong and this is the most important component of the tour. I urge you to check the actual company website and book via their website and do not forget to read Tripadvisor reviews as well.
I should point out that you get what you pay for, a group tour is not in any shape or form as good as private tour with 1 - 6 people.
The company that runs this tour is well known, I have been on two of their tours in 2024 with the same guide and I can tell you that the experiences I had were just terrible and I am pretty objective about these matters, had the tours been brilliant I would say so, but they were the complete opposite of what the reviews on Tripadvisor say.
I actually went on one of the tours with my best friend who also operates a Private Tour Company with the aim of potentially my friend hiring the guide on a freelance basis as they had gotten so many great reviews, well we were sadly disappointed, the tour started very badly as we had booked the free tour version of the tour which as we found out was mixed with people doing the same tour but a paid version, we were told we would not be allowed on the bus unless we paid US$12.50 each immediately (remember, this was a free tour) and we got no snacks or lunch which was part of the tour…. we left the tour early it was so bad.
I totally understand why a lot of people book these tours, they do not care that is a group tour with potentially 100 people in the group and they go in with low expectations which is fine but from my perspective, the only reason they rank highly on Tripadvisor and Viator is they pay a huge commission to them to get ranked highly and make sure that their tours are in your face when you search the OTA website.
My point here is that OTA’s care only about booking volume not the actual quality of the tour, the more bookings, the more commission they get, good for the OTA and terrible for the tour company.
So there you go, something to ponder if you are looking to book a tour in Hong Kong, I will say this, it is a lot easier to book a tour with me and the tour you get with me will be much, much better and remember it is the quality of the guide that makes or breaks the experience!
© Jamie Lloyd | J3 Consultants Hong Kong | J3 Private Tours Hong Kong |
| 2010 - 2025 All rights reserved. |
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