A visitor planning two days in Dublin types “walking tour Dublin” or “private guide Dublin history” into Google, or asks ChatGPT for a history walk that suits children, and then checks the same five things every time: when does it run, how long is it, what does it cost per person, where exactly do we meet, and is it the right tour for us. Websites for tour guides in Dublin have to answer those five things on the first screen, because the person is comparing you with a platform listing that already does.
We build, host and run that site, with the booking and the payment built in, so Saturday’s walk fills itself while you are out on the cobbles with Thursday’s group.
Direct bookings versus the platforms
GetYourGuide, Viator, Airbnb Experiences and TripAdvisor bring you visitors you would never have reached, and they take a share of each booking for it. Keep them. Your own site is for the second kind of customer: the one a B&B owner, a hotel porter or a friend who did the tour last year sent your way. If that person books through a platform, you pay commission on a customer you had already won. Book them on your site and the full price is yours, you have their email for next time, and the review lands on your Google profile.
A direct booking page needs what the platforms have: dates and times, places left, adult and child prices, card payment or a deposit, a confirmation that repeats the meeting point, and a reminder the evening before. The mechanics are explained in how to take online bookings.
The shape of a guide’s year
May to September carries the year. St Patrick’s week is a small season of its own, cruise ship days bring groups at short notice, and the weeks before Christmas pick up with markets and office outings. January and February are quiet on the street and busy at the desk: schools fixing spring trips, companies booking team days, American families planning summer.
The site should move with that: the group enquiry form leads over the winter and the public schedule drops to weekends, then from Easter the schedule comes forward and the places-left counter starts earning, because a Saturday walk with three places left fills faster than one with no number beside it.
Meeting point, price, and who the tour suits
Meeting point: name the spot, give the nearest landmark or the Eircode, put a photograph of it on the page so a visitor can recognise it from across the street, and say what you will be holding or wearing. Most late arrivals were standing at the wrong gate.
Price: adult, child, student and family, with the private rate for a group up to your cap, and the duration beside each. If the price depends on the group, give a from figure and send them to the form.
Who it suits: the walking distance, hills and steps, whether it runs in rain, pushchairs and wheelchairs, the languages you guide in, and any minimum age. If you are a Fáilte Ireland approved guide or hold another guiding qualification, say so in one line.
Schools, companies and groups
A group enquiry is a different job from a Saturday booking. A teacher wants a date in May, a price per student, something for the risk assessment, and a timetable that fits the coach. A company wants an invoice, a route that works in work shoes, and a pub at the end.
One enquiry form with the right fields (date, group size, ages, language, interests, start and finish points) saves a week of back and forth and lands in your email and WhatsApp together. If the group needs transport, point them to a coach hire company you trust, and the two sites can send people to each other.
Reviews, and the questions people ask an AI
Visitors read reviews before booking a guide more carefully than for almost any trade, because they are buying three hours of your company. After each tour a short text with your Google review link goes out while they are still in the pub talking about it.
The same plain facts on your page (times, price, meeting point, languages, what the tour covers) are what ChatGPT and Google’s AI answers draw on when someone asks for a Dublin history walk that suits a nine year old. We write that content and the structured data behind it, promise nothing about where you appear, and report what happened each month. There is more in what AI search means for a local business.
What we need from a guide
Your list of tours with the route, duration and price of each, and the meeting point for each with a photo. Your schedule and your group cap. Your weather and cancellation policy in your own words. A short bio and any qualification. A dozen photos of real groups on real tours. Ten minutes on the phone, or a coffee in town.
Plan and price
Complete is the plan for a guide taking direct bookings: €1,499 to set up and €100 a month, VAT extra, no contract. A guide who only takes private groups by email can start on Essentials at €499 and €50 a month and move up later. Both sit side by side on the pricing page.