Implementing traveler photos
Traveler photos are user-submitted photos, taken by travelers while they are participating in a Viator experience. In Viator’s partner APIs, traveler photos are differentiated from supplier-provided photos. Traveler photos are displayed separately, and can be accessed using a different set of requests. They are linked to traveler reviews and can be accessed via the appropriate endpoint.
Like reviews, traveler photos can provide social proof and create trustworthiness. Testing done by Viator indicates that when users interact with traveler photos, a 3% increase in revenue per visitor is experienced.
Including traveler photos in your API implementation is recommended as a best practice.
Please refer to the below guide on how to include traveler photos in your experiences platform.
Identifying traveler photos in the API
Traveler photos can be pulled with the /reviews/product endpoint, as they are linked to traveller reviews. Requests are made on a per-product basis.
Photos may be found in the photosInfo array, in the form of a url, available in multiple size versions.
Key fields under photoVersions:
- height – Height of image in pixels (integer)
- width – Width of image in pixels (integer)
- url – URL at which this image is located (string)
For each user photo, the API will return:
- details of the review associated with the photo
- provider (VIATOR/ TRIPADVISOR)
- user details for the person who submitted the review
- published date
- multiple image sizes
Each traveler photo is associated with a review, and the review provider is identified (either VIATOR or TRIPADVISOR). If your implementation supports reviews from only one provider for business reasons, you should display photos from that specific provider.
You can also retrieve the details of the person who submitted the review, such as userName (Username of the reviewer who submitted this review), avatarUrl (URL for the avatar image, if available, for the reviewer that authored this review), and check when the review was published with the photo (publishedDate).
If you want to display traveler photos associated with the most recent reviews, highest ratings, or any other specific criteria, you can use the filtering options (sortBy, ratings) available in the request to the /reviews/product endpoint.
For more details please refer to the API documentation.
Response sample
{
“reviewReference”: “REV-dLp5IfFwFD05oUOcmbduQIXU/a48chrbfdax19evxL8=”,
“language”: “en”,
“publishedDate”: “2024-12-22T19:35:11Z”,
“userName”: “BrittanyJ”,
“rating”: 5,
“text”: “We had a chilly, but great visit. Guide was very helpful and informative, each stop was well organized and we enjoyed every bit! “,
“title”: “Great day Exploring areas outside of Amsterdam. “,
“machineTranslated”: false,
“provider”: “VIATOR”,
“helpfulVotes”: 0,
“photosInfo”: [
{
“photoVersions”: [
{
“height”: 0,
“width”: 0,
“url”: “https://hare-dynamic-media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-o/2e/66/65/9b/caption.jpg?w=100&h=100&s=1”
},
{
“height”: 50,
“width”: 50,
“url”: “https://hare-media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-t/2e/66/65/9b/caption.jpg”
},
{
“height”: 150,
“width”: 150,
“url”: “https://hare-media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-l/2e/66/65/9b/caption.jpg”
},
{
“height”: 205,
“width”: 154,
“url”: “https://hare-media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-f/2e/66/65/9b/caption.jpg”
},
{
“height”: 200,
“width”: 180,
“url”: “https://hare-media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-i/2e/66/65/9b/caption.jpg”
},
{
“height”: 450,
“width”: 337,
“url”: “https://hare-media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/2e/66/65/9b/caption.jpg”
},
{
“height”: 733,
“width”: 550,
“url”: “https://hare-media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-p/2e/66/65/9b/caption.jpg”
},
{
“height”: 1280,
“width”: 960,
“url”: “https://hare-media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-m/1280/2e/66/65/9b/caption.jpg”
},
{
“height”: 1365,
“width”: 1024,
“url”: “https://hare-media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-w/2e/66/65/9b/caption.jpg”
}
]
},
For full technical details, refer to the V.2 API documentation under Auxiliary endpoints.
Caching strategy for traveler photos
Since traveler photos rarely change, we recommend that API partners implement caching for these images rather than making live API calls. Viator suggests refreshing traveler photos weekly, along with reviews. Please refer to the section Update frequency in the API documentation for more details.
Non-indexing rules
Review content, including traveller photos assiciated with reviews, is protected proprietary information – Viator Unique Content. As a result, it must not be indexed by search engines. To become certified, your platform must demonstrate that review content is non-indexed. More information can be found in the API documentation – section Key concepts – Protecting unique content.
Viator review checks
Viator ensures that all reviews meet specific criteria. Only users who have booked through Viator can submit reviews. Reviews are processed through an automated system that checks the who, what, how, and when of the review. If a review fails to meet the criteria, it may be rejected, sent back to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists.
If a review is flagged after submission, Viator’s team will review it for compliance. Reviews from TripAdvisor on the Viator site follow the same moderation process, but TripAdvisor does not require booking through Viator or Tripadvisor to submit a review.
You can read about this process in our API documentation: Review authenticity.