Viasat Inc., a global communications company, and GetYourGuide, the booking platform for incredible travel experiences, announced today a partnership that is expected to bring rich contextual-based excursion offers to passengers in-flight, with no data or airtime charges to either the airline or passenger.

The partnership will leverage contextual-based displays of excursion offers from GetYourGuide’s vast inventory, and enable passengers to easily activate those offers in-flight over Viasat’s powerful in-flight entertainment and connectivity (IFEC) system.

How it works

Viasat will serve as the direct contractor to airlines, seamlessly integrating GetYourGuide’s popular travel experiences into the Viasat IFEC system. The implementation can be white-labeled and airline-branded, and unlike any competitive product, Viasat can promote any tour, activity or attraction ticket offer to a connected passenger, then activate the offer in-flight.

Passengers will be able to interact, engage and purchase relevant offers presented from GetYourGuide’s global inventory of over 50,000 travel experiences, across 22 languages and 40 currencies, and with a connected aircraft comes the additional in-flight benefit of 24/7 customer support via the airline’s website, booking flow, email communication and/or mobile app. Activities will be targeted by aircraft route initially; however, future expansion plans include targeting excursions and adventures by fare class, loyalty status and even profile types, while being fully General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)-compliant.

“We’re on a mission to connect travelers with incredible experiences at every stage of their journey,” said Shane Mayer, head of Partnerships at GetYourGuide. “In initial tests, we found that users of in-flight displays showed a strong propensity to book destination experiences: engaged passengers were up to four times more likely to make a destination purchase while in-flight, compared to typical conversion rates from other touchpoints. Thanks to Viasat’s unique contextual display, we expect our partnership will create exceptional engagement and conversion, and deliver a great financial result for the airlines while helping their passengers love where they’re going.”

“We feel strongly that GetYourGuide’s winning combination of the right inventory, a best price guarantee and same-day bookings have proven compelling to travelers all over the world,” said Don Buchman, vice president and general manager, Commercial Aviation at Viasat. “Our partnership with GetYourGuide makes it fast and simple for airlines to improve their in-flight customer experience, and earn a significant commission without any cost.”

For more information about the service, stop by Viasat’s booth (#2031) at APEX this week.

About GetYourGuide

GetYourGuide is the booking platform for incredible travel experiences. Travelers use GetYourGuide to connect with the best things to do wherever they’re headed — including skip-the-line tickets to the world’s most iconic attractions, walking tours by top local experts, immersive food and beverage tours, cooking and craft classes, bucket-list experiences, and niche offerings you won’t find anywhere else. Since its founding in 2009, travelers from over 170 countries have booked more than 30 million tours, activities, and attraction tickets through GetYourGuide. Powered by a global team of over 500 travel experts and technologists, the company is headquartered in Berlin, Germany and has offices in 14 countries around the world.

About Viasat

Viasat is a global communications company that believes everyone and everything in the world can be connected. For more than 30 years, Viasat has helped shape how consumers, businesses, governments and militaries around the world communicate. Today, the Company is developing the ultimate global communications network to power high-quality, secure, affordable, fast connections to impact people’s lives anywhere they are—on the ground, in the air or at sea.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to the safe harbors created under the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward looking statements include statements that refer to the Viasat/GetYourGuide relationship, and their engagement with airlines; and benefits and features of the service to either party as well as airlines and passengers, including the no cost nature of the offering. Readers are cautioned that actual results could differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include: the ability to successfully implement the service; contractual problems, product defects, manufacturing issues or delays, regulatory issues, technologies not being developed according to anticipated schedules, or that do not perform according to expectations, and increased competition and other factors affecting the connectivity sector generally. In addition, please refer to the risk factors contained in Viasat’s SEC filings available at www.sec.gov, including Viasat’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which they are made. Viasat undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements for any reason.