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GetYourGuide
Type of site
Privately held company
Available in25 languages
Founded2008 in Zurich, Switzerland
Headquarters
Berlin
,
Germany
Area servedWorldwide
Founder(s)
  • Johannes Reck
  • Tao Tao
  • Tobias Rein
  • Martin Sieber
  • Pascal Mathis
Key peopleJohannes Reck (CEO)
IndustryTourism
ProductsOnline marketplace
Employees800+
URLwww.getyourguide.com

GetYourGuide is a private company based in Berlin, Germany.[1] It develops and operates an online marketplace for things to do, excursions and tours.[1] It is one of the largest marketplaces for activities.[2] GetYourGuide was founded in 2008 by college friends, initially as a way to connect volunteer student guides with foreign tourists in Beijing, China.[3] It shifted to professional tours and grew internationally over time.[3] The company had several funding rounds, leading to a $2 billion valuation in 2023.[4]

History[edit]

The idea for GetYourGuide was conceived of in 2008 by college roommates attending the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.[5] The students were lost in Beijing, until Tao Tao, who grew up there and speaks Mandarin, arrived to guide them.[3] An early version of the site was released before the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.[3] It was focused on a peer-to-peer model[6] that connected tourists with local students that guided foreigners as a way to practice their English.[3] Only five events were booked in the website's first two years.[5] The initial idea failed and the founders shifted in 2009 from untrained volunteer guides to more professional tours.[3][5]

The company was officially founded in 2009 in Zurich, Switzerland by four friends: Johannes Reck, Tao Tao, Martin Sieber, and Tobias Rein.[7] Initially, the founders earned less than minimum wage. They were funded by friends and family members.[3] The founders moved from Zurich to Berlin in 2013, in order to raise venture capital, but ended up getting a lot of their funding from American investors.[3] GetYourGuide raised $500,000 in pre-seed investments in 2009.[8] GetYourGuide raised $2 million in seed funding in January 2012.[8]

The seed funding was followed by a $14 million Series A funding in 2013,[1][9] with a $4.5 million series A add-on,[8] a $24 million Series B in 2014,[8] a $50 million Series C, and a $75 million Series D.[10] Another $484 million was raised in a 2019 Series E round, valuing the company at $1 billion.[11] This was one of the largest-ever funding rounds for a European startup.[11] Then, in June 2023, GetYourGuide raised $194 million in venture capital, valuing the business at about $2 billion.[4]

In January 2013, GetYourGuide acquired competitor Gidsy.[9] Gidsy was similar to GetYourGuide, but more focused on a crowd-sourced model for activities.[9] By 2017, GetYourGuide was not yet profitable, but was rapidly growing. It sold 5 million tickets that year, compared to 5 million since it was founded in 2008.[10] This grew to 25 million total tickets sold by 2019.[11] For part of the COVID-19 pandemic, GetYourGuide's revenues was $0, as it had to shut down activity booking.[4][12] It introduced virtual events during the COVID-19 Pandemic.[4] After travel restrictions were lifted, activity on the site rebounded[4] with the volume of bookings on the site quadrupling from 2019.[12] GetYourGuide started selling activities in the United States in 2021.[13]

Services[edit]

GetYourGuide is an online marketplace for leisure activities.[4] It contains tours and attractions, like guided sightseeing, helicopter rides, and snorkeling excursions.[14] As of 2023, it had about 118,000 activities from 18,000 businesses.[15] Generally, the activities are operated by third-parties that pay GetYourGuide a commission for each booking.[4] However, the company started selling GetYourGuide-branded events called "Originals" in the 2020s.[4] GetYourGuide removes activities that consistently get negative reviews.[1] The first GetYourGuide mobile app was released in October 2013.[8] As of 2023, GetYourGuide is investing heavily in expanding in the U.S. market and integrating artificial intelligence into the site.[4] ChatGPT was integrated in 2023.[12]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Kolodny, Lora (January 7, 2013). "GetYourGuide Finds You Leisure Activities at Your Travel Destination". WSJ. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
  2. ^ Brophy, Selene (November 13, 2023). "GetYourGuide CFO: Latest Experience Trends and Cracking the U.S." Skift. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h "Zeig mir deine Welt". Forum (in German). October 19, 2018. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Browne, Ryan (June 1, 2023). "TripAdvisor rival GetYourGuide nears $2 billion valuation as it raises fresh funds to invest in A.I." CNBC. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
  5. ^ a b c Partington, Miriam (June 1, 2023). "Inside GetYourGuide: Germany's $2bn travel experiences platform". Sifted. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  6. ^ O'Brien, Chris (November 2, 2017). "Berlin's GetYourGuide raises $75 million to expand its travel activities platform internationally". VentureBeat. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  7. ^ Bath, Dominik (September 3, 2018). "Get your Guide plant neuen Campus in Berlin". Berliner Morgenpost (in German). Retrieved December 6, 2023.
  8. ^ a b c d e Lomas, Natasha (July 31, 2014). "Holiday Events Booking Platform, GetYourGuide, Pulls In Another $25M To "Landgrab" New Markets". TechCrunch. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
  9. ^ a b c Butcher, Mike (April 24, 2013). "Deadpooling Gidsy Acquired By GetYourGuide In A Berlin Insiders Deal". TechCrunch. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
  10. ^ a b Lomas, Natasha (November 2, 2017). "Battery Ventures leads $75M Series D in travel tours app GetYourGuide". TechCrunch. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
  11. ^ a b c Lunden, Ingrid (May 16, 2019). "GetYourGuide picks up $484M, passes 25M tickets sold through its tourism activity app". TechCrunch. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
  12. ^ a b c Lunden, Ingrid (June 1, 2023). "GetYourGuide books $194M at a $2B valuation with travel experiences back in business". TechCrunch. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  13. ^ Kiesnoski, Kenneth (June 29, 2021). "Crypto-friendly travel site marks U.S. debut with dogecoin payment option". CNBC. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
  14. ^ "GetYourGuide AG", Private Company Research Reports, BuySellSignals, November 9, 2021
  15. ^ Brophy, Selene (November 13, 2023). "GetYourGuide CFO: Latest Experience Trends and Cracking the U.S." Skift. Retrieved March 13, 2024.

External links[edit]

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