Marketplace commission drains margin
A £50,000 year through booking marketplaces can mean around £10,000 to £15,000 paid in commission, based on typical rates of 20 to 30 per cent. That money could support your own booking system.
Direct booking for wildlife & nature tour operators
A direct booking website for wildlife and nature tour operators, built around the booking system you already use. Take more bookings, keep the customer relationship and rely less on marketplaces. Direct Booking websites start from £2,495, excluding VAT.
From £2,495
Direct Booking build price
£59 a month
Required Website Care
£169 a month
AI Receptionist
£3,995
Booking Growth package
Every booking through GetYourGuide or Viator can cost you a large share of the sale. Marketplace commissions are typically around 20 to 30 per cent. On £50,000 of annual bookings, that can mean roughly £10,000 to £15,000 leaving your business before other costs.
Your own website gives past guests and new visitors another way to book. It lets you explain the experience properly, show the best wildlife windows, answer common questions and collect bookings through the system you already trust.
The problem
A £50,000 year through booking marketplaces can mean around £10,000 to £15,000 paid in commission, based on typical rates of 20 to 30 per cent. That money could support your own booking system.
One page listing every experience gives Google little detail and gives visitors little confidence. Seasonal tours, locations, guide knowledge and practical information become difficult to find.
You cannot answer every call while guiding, driving or checking weather. Visitors may not leave a message. By the time you call back, they may have booked another operator.
What you get
Every client also takes Website Care at £59 a month. Everything else is modular.
Pricing
For tour operators, attractions, activity providers, accommodation and leisure businesses. Built to reduce how much of your business depends on the big booking marketplaces.
£2,495
A conversion website wrapped around the booking system you already use.
Best for: Small operators already on a booking platform such as Bokun, FareHarbor, Rezdy, Checkfront, Bookeo or Freetobook.
£3,995
Built to shift demand away from the marketplaces and onto your own site.
Best for: Operators with several tours or experiences who want a direct sales channel they own.
Everything in Direct Booking, plus:
From £5,995
For operators with real inventory and operational complexity.
Best for: Multi-location operations, accommodation, packages, ticketing and larger inventories.
Everything in Booking Growth, plus options such as:
Genuinely bespoke platforms move into custom travel and booking development, quoted separately from £10,000.
Hosting, SSL, daily backups, security monitoring, software updates, uptime monitoring, up to 30 minutes of content changes each month and email support.
All prices exclude VAT.
Monthly
Website Care is required for every client. Add anything else when you need it, and drop it when you do not.
£59 a month
Hosting, SSL, daily backups, security monitoring, software updates, uptime monitoring, up to 30 minutes of content changes each month and email support.
£169 a month
Answers every call 24/7 in your business name, takes the job details, qualifies the caller and texts you immediately.
A human receptionist costs £24,000 to £28,000 a year. A live answering service runs £200 to £450 a month.
Price on application
Answers visitor questions on your site around the clock, using only what it has been taught about your business, and captures the enquiry before they leave.
Most visitors will not ring and will not fill in a form. They ask one question, get no answer, and leave.
£449 a month
Campaign management, bid and budget optimisation, ad copy testing, negative keyword management, landing page optimisation and a monthly reporting call.
Your ad spend goes direct to Google and is never marked up. Minimum recommended spend is £400 a month.
£249 a month
Two optimised pages or articles a month, local SEO, Google Business Profile posts, citation building, rank tracking and monthly reporting.
£99 a month
Plans, writes and posts your social media to Facebook and Instagram. You approve a month of content in one sitting.
£49 a month
A marketing plan built around your business, broken into weekly tasks, so you always know the next thing to do.
£75 a month
An additional 2 hours a month for changes, new pages and seasonal updates.
Bundles
The same modules, priced lower when taken together.
£199 a month
Saves £29
£595 a month
Saves £82
£795 a month
Saves £141
No Upfront Option
No setup fee. A template site built for your trade, with hosting, care and the AI receptionist included. For businesses who want to start now without the upfront cost.
Start with no upfront costQuote request
Two minutes of questions and we will send back a real number, not a range. Website packages start at £1,295, ecommerce from £2,495, and there is a no upfront option at £199 a month.
The result
Visitors can move from a search or recommendation to your own tour page and booking system. You keep more of the sale and build a relationship beyond one marketplace booking.
Clear pages explain wildlife windows, meeting points, weather policies, accessibility and group suitability. Better information reduces unsuitable bookings and prevents avoidable questions before departure.
Forms collect dates, group sizes, tour interests and special requirements. You can price private work faster and reply with the details already in front of you.
01
Your website should do more than display your logo and a few photographs. It should bring together your tours, availability, prices, meeting points, safety information and booking buttons in one clear place. Visitors can understand the experience and book without sending several messages first.
We build a conversion and search website around the booking engine you already use. That means your live availability, payments, deposits and booking records remain where your team expects them. The website becomes the front door, while your existing reservation system continues doing the operational work.
That matters when you are out on the water, guiding a dawn walk or watching weather conditions. Your website keeps explaining and taking bookings while you work. It can also show different experiences for families, photographers, schools, private groups and serious wildlife watchers.
Your direct booking website can include:
- Experience pages for each tour
- Live availability and book now links
- Online payments and deposits
- Meeting points and practical information
- Weather and cancellation guidance
- Private tour and group enquiry forms
02
People search for wildlife experiences in specific places. They may look for seal trips in Northumberland, birdwatching tours near Newcastle, whale watching in Scotland or nature tours around a holiday destination. Your website needs useful pages for those searches, not one generic page with every tour listed together.
We improve the words, pages and local information that help Google understand your business. We also work on your Google Business Profile, which is the listing that appears in Google Maps and local results. It can show your opening times, phone number, photographs, reviews and booking link.
This helps visitors who are already nearby, planning a trip or comparing operators before they arrive. We can create destination and location pages around the places you actually serve. We keep them useful, with real travel details and suitable experiences, rather than filling pages with repeated place names.
Your local search work can include:
- Google Business Profile improvements
- Destination and location pages
- Tour pages for key wildlife windows
- Clear travel and meeting point details
- Local listing corrections
- Posts for seasonal experiences
More detail
The rest of what wildlife & nature tour operators ask us, tidied away. Open what you need.
Wildlife tour enquiries often arrive with missing details. A visitor may say, "How much for a boat trip?" without giving a date, group size, children's ages or preferred experience. Your team then spends time asking basic questions before knowing whether the trip is suitable.
We build forms that collect the details you need to price or qualify the enquiry. The questions can change around your tours, group sizes, accessibility needs, preferred dates, private hire requests and photography requirements. Visitors get a simple form, while you receive a useful brief.
For standard tours, the visitor can go straight to availability and booking. For private charters, schools, corporate groups or specialist wildlife trips, the form can collect enough information for a proper reply. That means fewer vague messages and less time spent chasing missing details.
Useful enquiry forms can ask for:
- Preferred date and backup date
- Number of adults and children
- Private or shared tour choice
- Accessibility and mobility needs
- Wildlife interests and expectations
- Pickup, meeting point or travel details
Wildlife tours are bought before the visitor knows exactly what they will see. Guests want to know that the guide is knowledgeable, the boat or vehicle is safe and the experience is worth fitting into a short holiday. Clear proof helps them choose you instead of a cheaper-looking listing.
We help present your best reviews, guide qualifications, safety information, photographs and customer stories in the right places. The proof should sit beside the experience it supports. A review about a brilliant guide belongs near the tour details, not hidden on a separate page.
We can also help generate review requests after each completed booking. A suitable message can go out when the experience is fresh in the guest's mind. Happy guests get a simple route to leave feedback, while your team is not relying on memory after a busy season.
Your proof can include:
- Reviews beside key tour pages
- Guide experience and qualifications
- Safety and responsible wildlife policies
- Real photographs from your trips
- Accessibility information
- Follow-up review requests after bookings
A missed call can be a lost booking, especially when visitors are making plans during evenings, weekends or busy holiday periods. You may be launching a boat, driving between sites or dealing with a group. The AI Receptionist answers in your business name, 24 hours a day.
It takes the caller's details, understands what they want and sorts urgency. It can collect a preferred date, group size, tour interest and callback information. It then texts you the details immediately, so you can respond when it is safe and practical.
The AI Receptionist costs £169 a month. Website Care plus Receptionist costs £199 a month, saving £29. It does not replace your judgement as a guide. It makes sure genuine callers are not left with voicemail and gives you a clear record to follow up.
It is suited to calls about:
- Tour availability and dates
- Private groups and charters
- School and corporate enquiries
- Meeting points and travel times
- Accessibility requirements
- Urgent same-day questions
Some operators want to build direct bookings steadily. Others have spare places next week, a new departure to fill or a strong seasonal window that needs more demand now. Google Ads puts your tour in front of people actively searching for that kind of experience.
Our Google Ads Management costs £449 a month. It includes campaign management, bid and budget changes, advert testing, unwanted search term control, landing page improvements and a monthly reporting call. Your advert spend goes directly to Google. We never mark it up.
The website includes booking conversion tracking. We can connect advert clicks to booking actions, enquiry forms and calls, where the booking system allows it. This helps show which campaigns produce real enquiries or jobs, rather than only reporting visits.
We can build campaigns around:
- Specific wildlife experiences
- Destination searches
- Private tours and charters
- Last-minute availability
- Seasonal wildlife windows
- Dedicated landing pages
Wildlife demand changes through the year. Seal pupping, seabird colonies, deer rutting, autumn migration and marine sightings each attract different visitors. Useful pages and articles help you appear when people begin researching those experiences, often weeks or months before arrival.
SEO and Content costs £249 a month. It includes two useful pages or articles each month, local search work, Google Business Profile posts, local listing work, position tracking and a monthly report. We plan content around your trips, locations, wildlife windows and customer questions.
We can also add Automated Social Media for £99 a month. It plans, writes and posts to Facebook and Instagram. You approve a month of content in one sitting. The Intelligent Marketing Coach costs £49 a month and turns your marketing plan into weekly tasks.
Optional ongoing support includes:
- SEO and Content, £249 a month
- Automated Social Media, £99 a month
- Intelligent Marketing Coach, £49 a month
- Extra Support Time, £75 a month
- New seasonal tour pages
- Google Business Profile posts
Direct Booking costs £2,495. It suits an operator who needs a strong website wrapped around an existing booking system. It includes clear tour pages, booking links, search foundations, contact routes and the information visitors need before paying.
Booking Growth costs £3,995 and is the option most operators should take. It gives you a larger platform for several experiences, destinations, seasonal pages and stronger direct booking work. It is built for operators who want to move more demand away from marketplaces.
Tourism Pro starts from £5,995. It suits operators with real inventory, several locations, complex availability or more involved customer journeys. Genuinely bespoke platforms are quoted separately from £10,000 when the operation needs something beyond a standard booking integration.
Every client needs Website Care at £59 a month. It includes hosting, website security, daily backups, software updates, uptime checks, up to 30 minutes of content changes and email support. If you want to start without the upfront build cost, the no upfront option is £199 a month on a 24 month term.
The honest comparison
It is a fair question, and it deserves a straight answer rather than a sales pitch.
If you simply need a basic online presence, a low-cost website builder may be enough. Somewhere to point people who already know your name. If that is genuinely all you need, do that and spend the money elsewhere. We would rather tell you that than take a fee for something you will not use.
Our websites are designed for established businesses that want Google traffic to turn into calls, enquiries and customers. Copy, tracking, conversion setup and ongoing management are built in. That is a different product solving a different problem, and it is priced accordingly.
A £199 builder site
Fine for a basic presence. Not built to win work.
A Look North website
Built so search traffic becomes booked jobs.
Who writes the words
A £199 builder site
You do, usually at 11pm, into a blank box.
A Look North website
We do. Copywriting for every page is included, written around the jobs you actually want.
Whether it shows up on Google
A £199 builder site
It will rank for your business name. Not much else.
A Look North website
A page for every service and every town you cover, structured so each one can rank.
What happens to an enquiry
A £199 builder site
A contact form emails you. If you miss it, you miss it.
A Look North website
Quote forms written for your trade, instant SMS and email alerts, and every enquiry stored so none are lost.
When the phone rings and you are on a job
A £199 builder site
It goes to voicemail. Most callers hang up and ring the next business.
A Look North website
Our AI receptionist answers 24/7 in your business name, takes the details and texts you straight away.
Knowing what is working
A £199 builder site
A visitor counter, if that.
A Look North website
Call tracking, conversion tracking and call attribution, so you know which clicks became real jobs.
Getting reviews
A £199 builder site
You remember to ask, sometimes.
A Look North website
Review generation set up so a request goes out after every job, with the results shown on your site.
What happens after launch
A £199 builder site
Nothing. It sits there until you cancel the subscription.
A Look North website
The Marketing Coach gives you a plan broken into weekly jobs, so the site keeps earning its keep.
Who owns it
A £199 builder site
The platform. Stop paying and it disappears.
A Look North website
You do. The code, the domain, the hosting account and the content are yours.
Speed on a phone
A £199 builder site
Template bloat, often slow, which costs you rankings and visitors.
A Look North website
Built mobile first, because that is where almost every local search happens.
When something breaks
A £199 builder site
A help centre article and a support queue.
A Look North website
Website Care at £59 a month: monitoring, backups, updates, and a person who answers.
If the upfront cost is the blocker rather than the quality, we do a no upfront option at £199 a month on a 24 month term. That is not a builder subscription. It is a real site built for your trade, with hosting, Website Care and the AI receptionist included, live in 5 working days. The difference between that and a £199 builder site is the difference between renting a van and renting a parking space.
What the difference buys
Not features. The things that change how much work comes in.
A missed call is a customer ringing your competitor. The AI receptionist picks up 24/7, qualifies the job and texts you. Most trades win back more than the cost of the whole website in the first few months.
One page cannot rank for eight services across twelve towns. We build a page for each, so you show up for the specific job someone is searching for right now.
Not "how much for a bathroom?" but property type, scale, access, timing and photos. You quote accurately, first, without a site visit.
A review request after every job. In a year you have the review count competitors cannot catch up with, and reviews are the last thing a customer checks before calling.
Copywriting for every page is included. No blank boxes, no writing your own service descriptions at 11pm, no page that sounds like everyone else.
Call tracking and conversion tracking show which clicks turned into jobs. You stop guessing which half of the marketing worked.
The Marketing Coach turns a strategy into weekly jobs small enough to actually finish. That is why our sites are still growing a year later.
Code, domain, hosting, content and your Google Business Profile. Nothing switches off if you leave, because nothing was rented to you.
If a basic presence is all you need, a builder is the sensible choice and we will say so. If you want the phone to ring more often, that is what we build. Get a fixed price.
FAQ
Price, timescales and ownership, answered for a wildlife tour operator.
Where we work
We build local landing pages for every town you cover. These are the areas we work in most often.
References
The bodies and tools a wildlife tour operator deals with, plus where to go next on our site.
External sites open in a new tab. We link to primary sources and accreditation bodies only.
Also built for
Closest to wildlife & nature tour operators in how they win work. Each gets its own page, quote form and set of searches.
Looking for a different sector? See all sectors we build for, or tell us your trade and we will quote for it.
Next step
Tell us the wildlife tour operator work you want more of and the towns you cover. We will send back a real number with a scope attached, not a range.
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