OTA Contract Terms to Watch Out For Before You Sign

The OTA contract terms that cost operators most aren’t the commission rate. They’re the clauses around it. Those decide who controls your price and how the terms can change. They also decide how fast you can be switched off, who pays when a booking goes wrong, and what you’re allowed to say to your own customers.

Here’s a recent example. On 1 August 2026, Viator’s updated supplier agreement came into force. It gives Viator and its channel partners the right to set the final retail price of your tour. Plenty of operators accepted it without reading a word, because Viator treats simply continuing to use its supplier portal as acceptance.

This guide walks through the ten clauses worth checking in any OTA supplier agreement, with what GetYourGuide’s and Viator’s terms actually say. It’s written by an operator, not a lawyer. For a contract that matters to your business, get a solicitor to read it too.

Key Takeaways

• Since 1 August 2026, Viator and its channel partners can set the final retail price of your experience. Your payout stays tied to the net rate you set.
• GetYourGuide’s published supplier terms require your prices, availability and conditions on GetYourGuide to be at least as good as on your own online channels.
• In the UK and EU, “wide” parity (no better price on any other channel) falls outside the competition-law safe harbour. “Narrow” parity (your own website only) can still be allowed.
• GetYourGuide can end the relationship on one week’s notice. Viator can terminate at its discretion.
• Read the content licence and the customer-contact rules. They shape your direct-booking strategy more than parity does.

The 10 OTA Contract Terms That Matter Most

Before signing, or the next time terms change, check these ten:

1. Pricing control and rate parity
2. How the platform can change the terms
3. Termination and notice
4. Performance thresholds and penalties
5. Cancellations and refunds
6. Chargebacks and liability carve-outs
7. Indemnity and insurance
8. Payment terms
9. The licence to your photos and text
10. Rules on contacting customers

Clause	What to check	Example from current terms
Pricing and parity	Narrow or wide? Price only, or availability too? Who sets the retail price?	GetYourGuide: prices, availability and conditions vs your own online shops. Viator: partners can set the retail price (from Aug 2026)
Changes to terms	How you’re told, and what counts as acceptance	Viator: continuing to use the portal counts as acceptance
Termination	Notice period, and what happens to existing bookings	GetYourGuide: one week’s notice. Viator: at its discretion
Performance	What counts as a failure, and the consequences	GetYourGuide: repeated service failures can mean termination
Refunds	Who decides, and who pays	GetYourGuide can issue full or partial refunds after complaints
Chargebacks	Which disputes come back to you	Viator: chargeback liability sits with the operator
Indemnity and insurance	Scope of the indemnity, and minimum cover	Viator: liability insurance minimums set per activity and destination
Payment	Timing, currency, payment basis	Varies by platform
Content licence	Scope, sublicensing, and what happens after you leave	GetYourGuide: worldwide, sublicensable, royalty-free
Customer contact	What you can send to customers	GetYourGuide: booking-related messages only, no marketing

Terms as published or reported in October 2026. Check your own agreement.

The sections below take each one in turn. Where we’ve covered a clause in depth elsewhere, there’s a link rather than a repeat.

1. Pricing Control and the OTA Rate Parity Clause

Pricing is the clause with the most direct effect on your margin, and in 2026 it changed shape.

What is an OTA rate parity clause?

An OTA rate parity clause requires you to offer the platform prices (and sometimes availability and conditions) that are at least as good as those you offer elsewhere. Narrow parity covers only your own channels, like your website. Wide parity covers every other channel, including other OTAs.

Most tours and activities platforms use some form of parity. Our guide to net rate vs gross rate explains how parity works differently under each pricing model. Our guide to OTA commission models covers what parity doesn’t stop: you can still add value to direct bookings with an included extra, exclusive departure times or more flexible cancellation, without touching the price.

What GetYourGuide’s supplier terms say

GetYourGuide’s published supplier terms say that retail prices, availability, amenities and restrictions on GetYourGuide must be equal to or better than those on the supplier’s own online shops (and those of its affiliates). That’s narrow parity, but notice that it isn’t only about price. Holding back your best time slots for your own website could also breach it.

Viator’s August 2026 change: partners can set your retail price

The updated Viator supplier agreement took effect on 1 August 2026. You still supply a net rate and a recommended retail price. But Viator and its channel partners now have explicit authority to set the final retail price travellers see, including discounting it. Skift reported that those partners include Booking.com, Expedia, Costco and Airbnb. Our Airbnb Experiences operator guide explains what that means for operators.

Your payout stays tied to your net rate, so you’re not paid less when a partner discounts. The risk is different. A traveller can now find your tour on a partner site for less than your own website charges, which undercuts your direct bookings in public. That’s the reverse of the usual parity worry. Older Viator agreements also included a promise that your net rate to Viator is the lowest you give any distributor, so check whether your current version still has one. Our Viator supplier guide covers the rest of Viator’s terms.

Where the law stands

In the UK, the Competition and Markets Authority’s Vertical Agreements Block Exemption Order (in force since 1 June 2022) treats wide retail parity as a hardcore restriction. Narrow parity can still be covered. The EU’s 2022 rules get to a similar place by a different route: wide parity is an “excluded” restriction that loses the block exemption, while narrow parity can keep it. Either way, a wide parity clause isn’t covered by the safe harbour, and competition lawyers treat it as high-risk. That’s not the same as automatically unlawful, and none of this is legal advice.

Booking.com is a special case. Under the EU’s Digital Markets Act, it has been banned from parity requirements of any kind in the European Economic Area since December 2024. The European Commission’s September 2026 factsheet refers to accommodation, car rentals and “other relevant service providers”, but doesn’t mention attractions by name, so don’t assume it covers your experiences.

What this means for operators: a clause that stops you pricing lower on your own website is normal. A clause that stops you pricing lower on any other OTA is the one to question.

2. How the Platform Can Change the Terms

GetYourGuide and Viator both reserve the right to change their terms, and the way you “accept” them is often passive. Viator says that continuing to use the Supplier Management Center, keeping listings live or accepting bookings after the effective date counts as accepting a revised agreement.

You can’t negotiate that away as a small operator. You can make sure you notice. Read every terms-update email, and keep a dated copy of the agreement you’re working under, so you can see what changed.

3. Termination and Notice

GetYourGuide’s terms let it terminate at any time with one week’s notice, though bookings already made are still honoured. Viator can terminate at its sole discretion.

If one platform brings in a large share of your bookings, a week is not much warning. That’s a business risk, not just a legal one, and it’s the strongest argument for keeping a balanced channel mix. Our OTA distribution strategy guide covers how to spread that risk.

4. Performance Thresholds and Penalties

Platforms judge suppliers on reliability. In GetYourGuide’s terms, repeated service failures and missing performance thresholds count as a material breach, which can lead to termination. Our GetYourGuide operator guide explains the Provider Rating, which tracks your cancellations and response times.

The practical point: find out what counts as a failure (an operator-cancelled booking, a late response, a no-show by your guide) and what happens after one, two or five. A bad weather week can stack these up quickly.

5. Cancellations and Refunds

On most platforms, customers cancel through the OTA, not through you. GetYourGuide’s terms also let it issue a full or partial refund, or offer an alternative, if there’s a complaint or a problem with the service.

Check three things. What’s the default cancellation policy if you don’t set one? Who decides whether a complaint justifies a refund? And who pays for that refund: the platform, you, or both?

6. Chargebacks and Liability Carve-Outs

When an OTA takes the customer’s payment, people assume it carries the fraud and chargeback risk. Often it does, with exceptions. Our article on the merchant vs agency model covers this in detail, including how no-show disputes can land back on the operator. On Viator, our supplier guide notes that chargeback liability sits with the operator.

Look for the carve-outs: no-shows, late cancellations and disputes the platform attributes to your check-in process. That’s where liability passes back.

7. Indemnity and Insurance

Indemnity clauses decide who pays if something goes wrong and someone sues. GetYourGuide’s supplier terms include a broad indemnity in GetYourGuide’s favour, covering liabilities, damages, fines, penalties, settlements, losses and expenses.

Insurance is the other half. Viator’s 2026 agreement makes public liability insurance mandatory everywhere, and says Viator sets the minimum cover based on your activity’s risk and destination. Check the figure that applies to you, and whether your policy names the platform where required.

8. Payment Terms

Payout timing, currency and the basis for payment (booking date, travel date or invoice) all affect cash flow. The figures differ by platform. Our guide to OTA payment terms and cash flow compares them, so check your contract against it.

9. The Licence to Your Photos and Text

When you upload photos and descriptions, you grant the platform a licence to use them. GetYourGuide’s supplier terms grant it a worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable licence to use, adapt, translate and distribute your content, including in online and offline marketing.

That’s normal for a marketplace, and it’s how your photos end up in GetYourGuide ads. The questions to ask are what happens after you leave, and whether “sublicensable” lets partners use your images too. If you’ve paid a photographer, check that your own licence from them lets you grant those rights at all.

10. Rules on Contacting Customers

This is the clause that shapes direct-booking strategy more than parity does. GetYourGuide’s terms limit your communication with customers to what’s needed for their specific booking. No marketing messages, no promotional inserts, and no encouraging them to book outside the platform.

A former colleague found this out at a food tour business in Dublin. They sent GetYourGuide guests a “thanks for joining us” email with a 10% code for a second tour booked direct. Within a fortnight they had a warning from the platform. Nothing worse happened, but they’d been one complaint away from a bigger problem.

Be careful with workarounds too. GetYourGuide’s terms also ban promotional inserts and encouraging bookings off the platform, so a leaflet with a “book direct and save” code is risky. A great experience, a guide who’s worth recommending and general signage at your venue are safer ground. Check your own contract for the exact limits.

How to Review OTA Contract Terms in 30 Minutes

You don’t need to read every word to catch the OTA contract terms that matter. Work through this list with the agreement open:

1. Find the parity clause. Is it narrow (your own channels) or wide (all channels)? Does it cover availability and conditions as well as price?
2. Find who sets the retail price. You, the platform, or its partners?
3. Find the change clause. How are you told about new terms, and what counts as acceptance?
4. Find termination. How much notice does the platform have to give?
5. Find performance rules. What counts as a failure, and what happens after repeated ones?
6. Find refund authority. Who decides refunds, and who pays?
7. Find liability carve-outs. Which chargebacks or disputes come back to you?
8. Find the indemnity and insurance minimums.
9. Find the content licence. Does it end when you leave?
10. Find the customer-contact rules. What exactly is banned?

It’s often possible to negotiate when you have bargaining power.

An operator I met at a conference ran a popular boat tour and was asked to join a smaller OTA that wanted inventory in her harbour. Before signing, she asked for a 30-day termination notice instead of seven, and for the content licence to end 60 days after she left. They agreed to both.

The big platforms won’t move on standard terms for most operators, but the smaller ones competing for supply often will.

What to Do This Week

OTA contract terms decide more of your margin and control than the commission rate suggests. Parity and the new Viator pricing rules affect what travellers pay. Termination, performance and liability clauses decide how exposed you are. The content and customer-contact clauses shape what you can build outside the platform.

Three things to do this week:

1. Download the current supplier terms for every platform you’re on, and save a dated copy.
2. Check your Viator listings against your own website and a couple of partner sites, so you know whether your tour is being sold below your price.
3. Run the 10-point check on your biggest platform first. Flag anything you didn’t know was there.

To see how these contract terms fit with your rates and channel mix, our OTA commission models guide is the place to start.