Why Travelers Want to Know Their Guide — and Why It’s Time to Make Every Guide Bookable
Travelers deserve to know who they’re booking — and guides deserve to be seen.
That’s the heart of a shift happening right now in travel.
We’ve entered an era where travelers expect transparency, authenticity, and a human connection — even before they arrive. Yet on most booking platforms, the human behind the experience — the guide — is still invisible.
Let’s look at what the data shows about how people travel today, and why the future of guided experiences is finally catching up with what travelers actually want.
✈️ The Comeback of Guided Experiences
After a few unpredictable years, the world’s appetite for experiences is stronger than ever.
According to research by Phocuswright and Arival, the global tours, activities, and attractions sector generated $253 billion in gross ticket revenue before the pandemic — and is projected to surpass that level again by 2025.
That means travelers aren’t just exploring again — they’re seeking experiences that are led by people, not just purchased through screens.
💡 The Way We Book Has Changed Forever
We now live in an online-first world.
A Phocuswright 2024 report found that nearly 65% of all travel bookings will take place online by 2026. And in 2023, 72% of travelers were already booking trips entirely online, compared to just 12% who still use travel agencies(TravelPerk, 2025).
On top of that, mobile continues to dominate, nearly half of all OTA bookings were made on phones in 2022, a share that’s expected to exceed 50% this year (Phocuswright, 2023).
For travelers, that means convenience and speed.
But for guides, the people delivering these experiences, it often means being hidden behind layers of brands, systems, and middlemen.
🏷️ The Problem: Invisible People Behind “Experiences”
When you book a walking tour, a museum visit, or a local excursion through most large online platforms, you rarely see who you’re actually booking.
You might know the name of the tour but not the professional leading it. You can’t check their background or even message them directly before confirming.
This isn’t a minor UX issue, it breaks the human trust that makes travel memorable.
Meanwhile, those same platforms often take 15–40% in commission from the guides and operators running the tours (Xola, 2024).
That’s not only unsustainable, it’s one reason so many local professionals struggle to make a living while large marketplaces grow.
In fact, 80% of the world’s tour and activity operators are small or medium-sized, serving fewer than 10,000 guests per year (Arival, 2024).
They’re the backbone of authentic travel, yet they remain invisible to the traveler.
🤝 The Solution: Visibility, Verification, and Direct Connection
At Keyguides Connect, we believe technology should connect people not hide them. We’re building a platform where:
Travelers see exactly who they’re booking. Every guide has a verified, bookable profile, complete with photo, credentials, and story.
Guides stay in control. They set their own prices, manage their calendar, and receive payments directly.
Partners gain confidence. Hotels, cruise lines, and DMCs can instantly find verified professionals without endless emails or uncertainty.
In short: we bring the guide’s brand to the surface.
Because travelers deserve that connection and guides deserve to be seen.
🌐 Why This Matters
The travel industry doesn’t need more marketplaces. It needs smarter connections, ones that protect local talent and rebuild trust between traveler and guide.
When you can see the person you’re booking, their experience, their passion, their story — you’re not just buying a tour. You’re choosing a person who will bring a destination to life.
That’s what makes travel meaningful.
That’s what Keyguides Connect was built for.
💬 Travelers deserve to know who they’re booking — and guides deserve to be seen.
👉 Explore how Keyguides Connect works