Volatour

What Volatour does

Volatour is a privately held US tour operator founded in 1995 and headquartered in New York City, specializing in tours, excursions, attraction tickets, harbor cruises, and airport transfers. The company primarily serves international tourists visiting New York City and surrounding destinations, with German, Italian, and Spanish-speaking travelers identified as a notable sub-segment served by multilingual staff and native-language guided tours.

The operating model is direct-to-consumer, delivered through a WordPress-based multilingual e-commerce platform (English, German, Italian, Spanish) supplemented by four physical visitor centers in Manhattan, phone reservations, and a B2B agency booking portal (VolaDream) for travel-agency resellers. The product portfolio spans budget to premium: guided bus and walking tours from $49/person, helicopter tours from $224/person, Bateaux dining cruises from $88/person, and luxury limousine transfers up to $690/vehicle. Pricing is uniformly unit-based pay-as-you-go across all SKUs, with no subscription or recurring contract structure disclosed.

Revenue is generated entirely through transactional fees across six streams: guided tours, day trips/excursions, attraction tickets (often commission-based), harbor cruises, airport transfers, and bundled vacation packages. The company operates with 11–50 employees from NYC, with additional visitor centers in Los Angeles and Miami. No revenue figures, funding history, or ownership structure are publicly disclosed; the business is unencumbered by reported institutional investment or M&A activity in the available record.

Name

Volatour

Legal name

VOLATOUR Inc.

Website

https://volatour.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Volatour is a privately held New York-based tour operator offering guided tours, excursions, attraction tickets, harbor cruises, and airport transfers primarily to international tourists visiting the US, sold via multilingual website and Manhattan visitor centers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Tour Operator Services

NAICS

Tour Operators (561520), Tour Operators (56152), Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation (487), Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation, Water (4872), Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation, Other (4879)

akta.pro primary industry

Multi-Activity & Expedition Packages (Guided Adventure Trips) (THAJABAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Multi-Destination/RTW (Round-the-World) Itinerary Planning (THAKAOAM), Luxury & Expedition Cruise Specialists (THAKAKAE)

Keywords

• Guided city tours
• Airport transfer services
• Attraction ticket sales
• Harbor cruise tours
• Multilingual tour operator

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Guided Tours: Revenue from selling guided tours in New York including city tours, specialty tours (Harlem Gospel, Movie, Sex and the City), helicopter rides, and neighborhood walking tours. Customers pay per person for group or specialized experiences.
2. Day Trips & Excursions: Revenue from multi-day and full-day excursions from NYC to destinations including Niagara Falls, Washington DC, Boston, Philadelphia, and the Hamptons. Priced per person with variations for transportation mode (bus vs. plane).
3. Attraction Tickets: Commission-based revenue from selling tickets to NYC attractions including Empire State Building, Top of the Rock, The Edge, Broadway shows, and CityPASS.
4. Cruises & Boat Tours: Revenue from selling cruises including Circle Line, Statue of Liberty Ferry, Clipper City sailing, and Bateaux dining cruises (brunch, lunch, dinner).
5. Airport Transfers: Revenue from airport shuttle services and private car/limousine transfers between JFK, EWR, LGA airports and Manhattan hotels, as well as MetroCard sales.
6. Vacation Packages: Revenue from bundled vacation packages combining multiple services.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Volatour is a US tour operator that sells guided New York City tours, multi-day excursions, attraction tickets, harbor cruises, and airport transfer services to international visitors. It distributes these through a multilingual website (English, German, Italian, Spanish), four Manhattan visitor centers, phone reservations, and an agency booking portal for travel partners. The portfolio covers 50+ activities plus bundled vacation packages and ancillary items such as the NYC MetroCard.

Product overview

Volatour is a US-based tour operator and travel services company offering a multi-product portfolio centered on New York City travel experiences. The core offering consists of Guided Tours (city overview, neighborhood walking, and themed tours such as Harlem Gospel, Sex and the City, and Movie Tours), Excursions (day trips by bus or plane to Niagara Falls, Washington DC, Boston, Philadelphia, and the Hamptons), Attraction Tickets (Empire State Building, Top of the Rock, Broadway shows, CityPASS), Harbor Cruises (Circle Line, Statue of Liberty Ferry, Bateaux dining cruises, Clipper City sailing), and Airport Transfers (shared shuttles, private cars, and luxury limousines). Supporting the consumer-facing booking engine is an Agency Booking Platform enabling travel agencies to book on behalf of clients. All services are bookable through a consumer-facing Online Booking System available in English, German, Italian, and Spanish. Volatour operates out of visitor centers in Manhattan and has been in operation for over 29 years.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Guided Tours New York

Quantifiable outcome

• 50+ Activities available
• +1 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Big Bus Tours: Global hop-on-hop-off sightseeing bus operator with strong NYC presence offering city tours and attraction packages. Competes directly with Volatour's guided bus tours and bundled sightseeing products.
• GetYourGuide: Global OTA for tours, attractions, and experiences including a large NYC inventory (Circle Line, Statue of Liberty, helicopter tours, Broadway). Directly competes with Volatour's attraction-ticket and tour business via a digital-first booking platform.
• CityPASS: Multi-attraction discount pass covering top NYC sights including Empire State Building, Top of the Rock, and the Statue of Liberty ferry. Volatour resells CityPASS tickets (per its attraction tickets product line) and competes for the same attraction-ticket customer wallet share.
• Viator (TripAdvisor): Largest tours and attractions OTA, with deep NYC coverage of guided tours, excursions, cruises, and transfers. Directly competes with Volatour across virtually every product category and benefits from TripAdvisor's traffic and reviews infrastructure.
• TopView Sightseeing New York: NYC-based tour operator offering hop-on-hop-off bus tours, harbor cruises, helicopter rides, and attraction packages. Closely comparable to Volatour in product mix (tours, cruises, attraction bundles) and target market (international tourists in NYC).
• Gray Line New York: Long-established NYC tour operator offering double-decker bus tours, day trips, and sightseeing experiences. Highly comparable to Volatour in guided tours, excursions, and city tour product lines.
• Walks (Walks of Italy / Walks of New York): Small-group guided walking tour operator in NYC offering themed experiences (food, history, neighborhood tours). Comparable to Volatour's specialty walking tours such as Harlem Gospel, Movie, and Triboro Contrast tours.

Emerging players

• Airbnb Experiences: Platform offering host-led local experiences including walking tours and themed NYC activities. While not a tour operator itself, it competes for the discretionary tourist spend and unique-experience demand that Volatour targets with its themed tours.

Broad incumbents

• Klook: Asia-headquartered global OTA for attractions, tours, and travel services with growing NYC inventory. Competes with Volatour for international tourist bookings and is particularly strong in Asian-language markets where Volatour does not currently operate.
• Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises: Operator of NYC harbor sightseeing cruises including the iconic Landmarks Cruise. Functions both as a Volatour supplier (its cruises are resold by Volatour) and a direct competitor in the harbor cruise category.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/volatour_new_york
• Facebookfacebook.com/volatour
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/volatour-inc.

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 Volatour