How to price a tour
A method that starts from what one departure costs you, not from what the operator next to you on GetYourGuide is charging.
By the minhOS team
Updated 11 October 2026
Pricing a tour means setting a price per seat that covers every cost of running one departure, at the number of seats you will realistically sell, and still leaves the profit you need. The method, step by step: list the direct costs of one departure, spread your monthly overhead across departures, choose a realistic occupancy, work out the break-even price, add the profit you need, and adjust for the channel the booking comes through.
Why the usual way fails
Two shortcuts are tempting: look at a competitor's listing and charge a little less, or take last year's price and add ten euros. Both skip the number that matters most: what the trip costs you. The competitor may run a bigger van, pay a guide a lower day rate or carry no insurance. Last year's price may have been wrong last year too. The result is full departures, a busy summer, and no idea in March why so little is left.
The method
Step 1: list the direct costs of one departure
There are two kinds. Per-departure costs are paid whether one person comes or eight: the guide (including you, at the day rate you would pay someone else), the vehicle or boat, fuel and tolls, parking, permits and the day's share of insurance. Per-person costs grow with the seats: lunch, entrance tickets, rental gear, water, consumables. Write them in two columns. If you don't know a number, call the supplier: a guess here becomes a wrong price for a whole season.
Step 2: spread the costs that don't show up on the day
Software, accountant, phone, licences, website hosting, equipment wearing out, marketing spend, your evenings of admin. Add them up for a month and divide by the departures you actually run in a month. That share belongs on every departure. Skip this step and every trip can look as if it makes money while the business doesn't.
Step 3: choose a realistic occupancy, not capacity
An eight-seat van is not eight seats sold. Look at last season's average. If you have none, assume well under capacity for a first year. Price at full capacity and a tour looks profitable on paper while it loses money on the road.
Step 4: work out the break-even price per seat
Break-even price = (per-departure costs + overhead share) ÷ realistic seats + per-person cost. Below this price a departure loses money at your normal occupancy. It is your floor, not your price.
Step 5: add the profit you need
Decide what one departure has to contribute to the income you need from the year (the guide on forecasting seasonal revenue shows how), divide it by the realistic seats, and add it. Round to a price that reads well. This is your direct price, the one on your own site.
Step 6: adjust for the channel
A marketplace keeps a commission: the one in your own agreement. Either you list a higher price on the marketplace so you net the same, or, where the agreement's parity clause rules that out, you accept that a marketplace seat contributes less and you need more of them to break even. Most agreements have a parity clause: read yours before you decide.
A worked example
Illustrative: a half-day hike outside Athens in an eight-seat van. Every number is an assumption; replace it with yours.
| Item | Euros |
|---|---|
| Guide (day rate, even when it is you) | 120 |
| Van share, fuel, tolls, parking | 70 |
| Insurance and permits, per departure | 15 |
| Direct cost per departure | 205 |
| Per-person cost (picnic 9, entrance 3) | 12 |
| Overhead share: 900 a month ÷ 12 departures | 75 |
| Fixed cost per departure, overhead included | 280 |
| Realistic occupancy (capacity 8) | 5 seats |
| Break-even price at 5 seats: 280 ÷ 5 + 12 | 68 |
| Profit you need from each departure | 150 |
| Price: (280 + 150) ÷ 5 + 12 = 98, rounded up | 99 |
What the same €99 earns at different occupancies. Each seat sold contributes 99 − 12 = €87 after its own per-person cost.
Illustrative: the same hike at €99 a seat, fixed costs of €280 a departure.
| Seats sold | Contribution | Fixed costs | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 (full) | 696 | −280 | +416 |
| 5 (realistic) | 435 | −280 | +155 |
| 4 | 348 | −280 | +68 |
| 3 | 261 | −280 | −19 |
So the minimum group for this departure is four. Below four, cancel, merge departures, or offer a private price. At five seats the departure makes €155 rather than the €150 planned, because €98 was rounded up to €99.
Now the channel. In this example the marketplace keeps 25%. Of the €99 you receive €74.25, so each seat contributes €62.25 and a five-seat departure makes €31.25 instead of €155. To receive €99 a seat through the marketplace you would list at €132, if your agreement allows a different price.
Common mistakes
| Mistake | What it does to the price |
|---|---|
| Not paying yourself for guiding | The price works until you hire a guide; then every trip loses |
| Pricing at capacity | A fair price at 8 seats is a losing price at 5 |
| Forgetting refunds and no-shows | Each one is a price cut you never decided |
| The same price on the marketplace and your site, without the arithmetic | Your direct seats quietly pay for the marketplace ones |
| One price for a group of two and a group of eight | Small groups lose; a private-tour price fixes it |
| Never re-pricing | Fuel, guides and insurance moved; your price didn't |
Per person or per group?
Price per person when per-person costs are meaningful and groups are mixed, as on a shared day tour. Price per group, a private-tour rate, when the per-departure cost dominates and the group books together: boat charters, private transfers, families. You may need both: a per-person price with a minimum group, and a private price equal to the contribution you want from a full departure.
Where minhOS fits
In minhOS you set cost variables for each type of activity you run, such as diving, sailing, cycling, cooking, wellness or walking, and enter the costs of each trip. A live price preview shows the price per seat, at the margin you set, as you change a cost or the group size. You set the price yourself; nothing changes it on its own. Pricing that starts from what you need to earn is next, and so is dynamic pricing.
Frequently asked questions
How much should I charge for a walking tour?
No single number fits every operator: a guide's day rate differs between Athens and a village, and so do your groups. Follow the steps above with your own costs. The worked example shows the shape of the answer, not the answer.
Should my marketplace price be higher than my direct price?
Only if your agreement allows it, and most agreements have a parity clause: read yours. If it doesn't allow it, keep the prices equal, make the direct booking worth more in other ways (flexible cancellation, an extra included in the price), and remember that marketplace seats contribute less.
What profit margin is normal for a tour operator?
We are not aware of a reliable published benchmark for small operators in Greece, and we won't invent one. Work from the income you need from the year: what the year has to pay you, divided across the departures you can realistically run.
How often should I re-price?
Once before every season, and whenever a major cost moves: fuel, guide rates, insurance. Changing the price of a single departure mid-season is fine on your own site; check the marketplace's rules first.
Can I price a tour I haven't run yet?
Yes. That is when this method matters most: costs in, price out, before anyone books.