New data shows three global platforms dominating the category as local operators spend millions just to defend their own brand names.
Three global online travel agencies now capture more than half of all online traffic in the Australian tourist attractions category – while local operators are haemorrhaging paid search dollars fighting intermediaries who are bidding on their own names.
That’s the central finding of a category intelligence report from digital performance agency Bring Digital, which analysed traffic and paid search data across the top 100 sites in the Australian Tourist Attractions category.
GetYourGuide, Viator and Klook – none of them Australian – now command 51.6 per cent of all top-100 category traffic. GetYourGuide alone added 700,000 monthly visits year on year, growing 56.3 per cent, backed by an estimated $9.2 million in annual Google paid search spend.
The dominance is playing out against a backdrop of genuine, rising consumer demand. Monthly visits across the top 100 sites grew 17.7 per cent year on year to 8.51 million. Monthly search volume across 50,000 tracked keywords reached 65 million. Total paid search spend across the category surged 44.5 per cent to $18.71 million annually.
The problem, as the report puts it, is not the demand. It’s who is converting it.
Paying to compete against themselves
For Australian operators, the data makes uncomfortable reading. Outside Sydney Opera House – which holds 7.2 per cent category share and grew 11.2 per cent – no Australian-owned operator captures more than 2.7 per cent of category traffic.
Many are now effectively paying to appear in searches for their own venues. The report found that between 74 and 90 per cent of paid traffic on terms like Rottnest Island, Perth Mint, Queen Victoria Market and Thredbo flows through paid ads – much of it from third parties bidding on the operator’s own brand name. Five Australian operators are bidding on their own brand at paid shares above 70 per cent of traffic. Wilsons Prom sits at 90 per cent. Perth Mint at 89 per cent.
“This is not strength,” the report states. “It is forced defence.”
AI is closing the door further
A four-engine AI Discovery Audit conducted as part of the research adds a further layer of urgency. For high-intent category queries – “best tourist attractions in Sydney”, “things to do in Melbourne with family”, “best Gold Coast theme parks” – AI-generated answers draw citations predominantly from DMOs, listicle publishers and OTAs. Australian attraction operators are named, but rarely credited as the source.
Google AI Overviews now appear on most “things to do in [city]” queries, with the same four to six entities dominating the citation set each time. Generative AI currently accounts for just 0.41 per cent of inbound category traffic – but is the fastest-growing source measured. Direct traffic, by comparison, sits at just 14.9 per cent.
A closing window
Bring Digital’s prognosis for operators who don’t act is pointed. Those continuing to compete solely on transactional keywords will keep paying OTA-level costs-per-click as margins compress further. The report argues the strategic opportunity lies in capturing the discovery layer – building entity authority and converting category curiosity into branded demand – before a platform steps in to mediate the transaction.
“The operators that wait,” it concludes, “will be cited less and bid more.”
