What tourHQ does

tourHQ operates an online two-sided marketplace that connects individual travelers with local tour guides and private tour operators across more than 195 countries. Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Hong Kong, the platform enables travelers to discover, browse, and book customized travel experiences directly with local guides, while providing guides and operators a self-serve channel to list services and reach international travelers. Tour prices are set on a per-group basis by individual guides (e.g., SGD 345, EUR 215), and tourHQ monetizes by taking a commission on completed transactions.

The platform is composed of two interconnected marketplaces — a Guide Marketplace for tour operators and a Traveler Marketplace for booking — alongside two supplementary product lines: Online Experiences, which offers virtual, Zoom-based guided tours introduced during the COVID-19 period, and Plan My Trip, a concierge service where travel experts design personalized itineraries. The platform is cloud-based, uses Cloudinary for media delivery, and supports eight payment integrations including PayPal, Stripe, Visa/Mastercard, Apple Pay, Google Pay, WeChat Pay, and Alipay, with multi-currency settlement (USD, EUR, GBP, AUD). The catalog lists approximately 27,449 registered guides, 31,811 tours, and 10,994 destinations.

Go-to-market is primarily digital self-serve, supported by content marketing via a travel blog, organic presence on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest, and SEO-optimized destination landing pages. The company operates with 1–10 employees, has no disclosed funding, and has earned media coverage in BBC, Forbes India, CNBC, South China Morning Post, Economic Times, and Times of India.

Name

tourHQ

Legal name

Tour HQ

Website

https://tourHQ.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

tourHQ operates a two-sided online marketplace connecting travelers with local tour guides across 195 countries, enabling direct booking of customized travel experiences. Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Hong Kong, the platform lists over 27,000 guides and 31,000 tours and earns commissions on bookings.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Online Travel Marketplace

NAICS

Tour Operators (561520), Tour Operators (56152)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Private Guided Tours & Personal Tour Guides (THAJALAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Bespoke Multi-Day Itinerary Planning & Custom Tour Design (THAJALAB), Private/Customized Multi-Day Tour Operators (THAKADAC)

Keywords

• Online travel marketplace
• Tour booking platform
• Local tour guides
• Travel experiences
• Tour operator directory

Headquarters

HQ city

Sheung Wan

HQ country

Hong Kong SAR China

HQ region

Asia

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Tour Booking Commission: tourHQ earns revenue by facilitating bookings between travelers and local tour guides/operators, taking a commission on completed transactions. The platform enables direct booking with local guides, supporting multiple currencies including USD, EUR, GBP, and AUD.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

tourHQ operates an online marketplace that connects travelers seeking authentic local experiences with independent tour guides and tour operators worldwide. The platform enables users to search, discover, and book tours, activities, and customized itineraries across hundreds of destinations, while allowing guides to list and promote their services directly to travelers without intermediary agents.

Product overview

tourHQ operates as a unified travel marketplace platform connecting travelers with local tour guides and private tour operators worldwide. The platform consists of two interconnected marketplaces—the Guide Marketplace (for tour guides to list services) and the Traveler Marketplace (for travelers to discover and book tours)—alongside Online Experiences (virtual/remote tours) and a Plan My Trip concierge service for customized itineraries. The platform features 31,811+ tours, 10,994+ destinations, and 27,449+ guides from over 195 countries, having operated since 2012.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• tourHQ Traveler Marketplace
• tourHQ Guide Marketplace
• Online Experiences
• Plan My Trip

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration8 records

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• GetYourGuide: Berlin-based online marketplace for tours, attractions, and travel experiences connecting travelers with local operators worldwide — directly comparable in product, marketplace model, and target customer base.
• Klook: Asia-headquartered activities and travel services marketplace competing for the same tours-and-attractions booking demand, particularly across APAC destinations that tourHQ also serves.
• Withlocals: Marketplace focused on private tours and experiences hosted by local guides across multiple cities — directly comparable to tourHQ in product positioning, customer persona, and private-guide supply model.
• ToursByLocals: Private tour guide marketplace connecting travelers with vetted local guides worldwide, with an almost identical value proposition to tourHQ's private guided tours offering.
• Peek: Online marketplace for bookable tours, activities, and experiences, including a software platform for operators — closely comparable in marketplace model and target customer.

Broad incumbents

• Viator (a Tripadvisor company): Large-scale tours-and-activities marketplace owned by Tripadvisor, offering a similar breadth of bookable experiences and overlapping heavily with tourHQ's core offering, but with vastly larger scale and parent-company distribution.
• Airbnb Experiences: Online experiences and in-person activities marketplace hosted inside the Airbnb platform, drawing on the same supply pool of local hosts/guides and reaching travelers at a much larger funnel.
• Tripadvisor: Global travel review and meta-search platform whose Viator subsidiary competes directly with tourHQ; broader in scope (reviews, hotels, restaurants) but overlaps heavily on tour discovery and booking.

Regional players

• Civitatis: Spain-based tours-and-activities marketplace with strong penetration in Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking markets — comparable product offering but with a more regional, language-focused supply base than tourHQ's global footprint.

Emerging players

• Headout: Mobile-first marketplace for tours, attractions, and last-mile experiences — comparable product offering, with particular strength in same-day mobile bookings and major-city inventory that overlaps with tourHQ's destination mix.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/tourhqcom
• Facebookfacebook.com/tourhq
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/tourhq-com
• Instagraminstagram.com/tourhq
• Pinterestin.pinterest.com/TourHQ/?eq=tourhq&etslf=1666

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about tourHQ