Surf school marketplaces vs direct booking: is the fee worth it?
The short answer
GetYourGuide, Viator and Airbnb Experiences help a surf school get found by tourists who have never heard of it, but they keep a large share of each booking: operators reported GetYourGuide commissions moving from 20% to 30% in 2025. Use marketplaces for discovery and move repeat and referred bookings to your own booking page.
GetYourGuide, Viator and Airbnb Experiences help a surf school get found by tourists who do not know the beach yet, but they keep a large share of every booking. Use them for discovery, and move the next bookings, from students who return, refer friends or find you on Google, to your own booking page with no commission.
How much do experience marketplaces charge?
There is no single public rate card, and the commission varies by country and contract. GetYourGuide says on its supplier page that the rate is shared after sign-up and that it only charges for completed bookings. In 2025, operators told Arival that GetYourGuide raised their commission from 20% to 30% from July, and one operator quoted in the same article put Viator’s basic rate at 27% (both checked October 2026).
Airbnb Experiences also takes a percentage of each booking. Check the current terms in your own account before you run numbers, because rates change.
The general picture is clear: on each lesson sold through a marketplace, somewhere between a fifth and nearly a third goes to the platform.
What do marketplaces do well?
It would be unfair to look only at the commission. They deliver things a small school struggles to get alone:
- Discovery. A tourist who has not arrived yet searches “surf lesson” in a travel app, not on your Instagram.
- Trust. Hundreds of traveller reviews and a known brand make a foreigner comfortable paying a school they have never seen.
- Languages and currencies. The listing shows in the traveller’s language, and they pay in their currency.
- Support and payments. The platform handles traveller questions and pays you out.
For a new school, or one on a beach full of international visitors, that can be worth the fee, especially for a first booking.
What does the commission cost in practice?
A simple example with illustrative numbers. Picture a group lesson sold at US$80 and a season of 400 lessons sold.
| Scenario | Commission per lesson | Commission per season | School keeps |
|---|---|---|---|
| All through a marketplace at 20% | US$16 | US$6,400 | US$25,600 |
| All through a marketplace at 30% | US$24 | US$9,600 | US$22,400 |
| Half marketplace (25%), half direct | US$10 on average | US$4,000 | US$28,000 |
| All direct, flat monthly software plan | US$0 | Only the plan and card fees | Almost everything |
On direct sales the school still pays its payment processor’s card fees, which a marketplace usually covers inside its commission. Even so, the gap between selling everything through the platform and selling half directly can pay an instructor for a good part of the season.
Who should book directly with the school?
Not every customer needs to go through a marketplace. These usually reach you some other way:
- Students who want to keep going. Someone who loved Tuesday’s lesson comes back on Thursday.
- Referrals. The student’s friend, the guest at the hostel next door, the group that watched the lesson from the sand.
- People who find you on Google or Instagram. A search for “surf lessons near me” lands on your Google profile first.
- Locals and visitors who come back every year.
For them, your own booking page is the cheapest and simplest route.
How do you move customers to direct booking within the rules?
Be careful here. Several platforms have rules on contacting customers outside the platform, diverting bookings and price parity. Read each platform’s terms before you do anything, because breaking them can get your listing removed.
What is usually safe, and what you control:
- Be easy to find outside the marketplace. A Google Business Profile with photos, hours and a booking link; a website with your lessons; Instagram with the link in your bio.
- Have your booking page ready for people who arrive through those channels, with spots, prices and payment.
- Offer the next step at the lesson, where the rules allow. A 3 or 5 lesson pack for students who want to progress, mentioned by the instructor, with no pressure.
- Put a sign or a card at your beach base with your booking link, for people walking past.
- Ask direct customers for a Google review. See how to do it within Google’s rules in Google reviews for surf schools.
Over time the mix shifts: the marketplace brings the first contact, and your own page keeps the lessons that follow.
When is a marketplace not worth it?
Signs the commission is costing more than it brings:
- Most customers are domestic and would find you through Google or word of mouth.
- You already have strong Google reviews and an active profile.
- High season fills up even without the platform.
- Private lessons, your highest-priced product, sell almost entirely through the marketplace.
In those cases, consider opening fewer spots on the platform and keeping the rest for direct sales. Review the split after each season: count where each booking came from, what it cost you, and how many of those students came back.
How elastudio helps with direct booking
elastudio gives a surf school its own booking page with its brand, for group and private lessons, with spots per time slot and payment on the same screen by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay on a secure Stripe page. The money goes straight to your own Stripe account, and elastudio takes no percentage of your sales on any plan. You can put booking inside your own website and send each lesson’s link in a chat. The Free plan has no time limit, and Starter is US$28 a month. See the page for surf schools.
Marketplaces to be found, your own page to grow
Use marketplaces for what they do well: bringing people who do not know you yet. Let your own page keep the students who return, refer friends and search on Google. Every lesson that moves channel stays whole in your account.
Compare plans on the pricing page or explore all features. Questions: support@elastudio.app.
Questions people ask
How much does GetYourGuide charge a surf school?
GetYourGuide shares its rate after sign-up and says it varies by country. In 2025, operators told Arival their rate changed from 20% to 30%. Check the figure in your own agreement.
Can I ask a marketplace customer to book directly next time?
It depends on each platform's terms. Several limit contacting customers outside the platform. Read the rules first and, when unsure, focus on people who find you through other channels or return on their own.
Should I leave the marketplaces?
Rarely all at once. They bring customers you would not reach alone. Most schools keep a presence and grow their own booking page until it sells most lessons.
Must my price be the same on the marketplace and my site?
Many platforms ask for price parity. Read your contract. Instead of discounts, offer things that do not change the price, such as a pack for students who want to keep going.