TOUR OPERATOR INSURANCE
One guide, one group and an itinerary built around them. Private tours give the guide more discretion and, when guests ride in the guide's car, bring motor and passenger transport rules into play. Here is how cover fits together.
Premiums and outcomes described are specific to this client and indicative only. Your own terms will depend on your circumstances and the insurer.
THE SHORT ANSWER
What insurance does a private guided tour business need?
A private guided tour business generally needs public liability for injury to guests and damage to other people's property, professional indemnity for bespoke itineraries and booking advice, and the right motor cover if you drive guests in your own car. Public liability excludes registered vehicles, so a car carrying paying guests needs CTP and a motor policy that reflects how it's used, and your state may have passenger transport rules. We arrange cover for tour operators: businesses that sell and run their own tours. We don't arrange cover for freelance or contract guides on a standalone basis. Private guided tours run by an operator are a type the specialist markets we approach are set up to quote, subject to each insurer's assessment, and a sole trader is assessed case by case.
If you engage other guides to run private tours for you, at least one specialist wording we place requires reasonable steps so they hold their own liability cover of at least AUD 10 million in Australia. General information only. It doesn't take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs, and it isn't legal advice.
You're driving a couple between producers and another driver runs a red light. Injury caused by a registered vehicle is generally a question for the state motor accident scheme, which differs by state, and damage to your car needs a motor policy that reflects carrying paying guests. Public liability on the tour operator policies we arrange generally excludes both.
The guests want a photo from a spot that isn't on your usual route, and one slips on a wet rock ledge. With one guide making every call, the guide's judgment is the operator's liability, and public liability can respond to your legal liability for the injury.
You promise a private tasting at a producer who has closed for the day, or book a restaurant for the wrong date. The guests' extra costs flow from your professional service, which is where PI sits. PI doesn't refund your fee.
You pass a booking to a guide you engage, and a guest is injured. The tour operator policies we arrange can cover your liability arising from what the contractor did, but not the contractor, and on at least one specialist wording we place, injury to the contractor carries a much higher excess. Check their certificate of currency before they start.
A hotel concierge desk or booking platform sends you guests and asks you to sign its supplier terms. Some terms ask you to waive recovery rights or indemnify the platform. Signing that without the insurer's consent can remove cover for that claim.
A private tour runs past sunset and the walk back to the car is on an uneven path in poor light. Timing, a torch and a route you know are the practical controls, and an injury claim would sit with public liability.
| Situation | Cover that may respond | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Guest injured on a walk or at a venue during your private tour | Public liability | Can respond to your legal liability, subject to the wording. The excess on the schedule we hold is $1,000; yours may differ. |
| Guest injured while you drive them in your own car | CTP | Public liability excludes injury caused by a registered vehicle. State CTP schemes differ. |
| Damage to your car, or to another vehicle, on tour | Commercial motor | Tell your motor insurer you carry paying guests. A private-use policy may not match how the car is used. |
| Bespoke itinerary or booking error costs the guests money | Professional indemnity | Can respond to civil liability from your professional services, subject to the wording. The refund of your fee is excluded. |
| A guide you engage injures a guest | Public liability (your liability for contractors) | Tour operator policies we arrange can cover your liability for contractors, not the contractors themselves. At least one specialist wording we place requires reasonable steps so they hold their own cover of at least AUD 10 million in Australia. |
| You guide for another company as a freelancer | Not arranged standalone | We don't arrange cover for freelance or contract guides on a standalone basis. Ask the engaging operator what cover it requires. |
If you guide overseas, at least one specialist wording we place excludes driving your own vehicle in a foreign country, and requires reasonable steps so every guest holds comprehensive travel insurance.
We don't arrange cover for freelance or contract guides as standalone insureds. If you guide for other companies, ask each operator what cover it requires you to hold.
Injury caused by a registered vehicle is generally a question for the state motor accident scheme, and schemes differ (Queensland, WA and SA are fault-based), so an injury can fall between the scheme and public liability. Vehicle damage is commercial motor. Neither is part of the tour operator liability policies we arrange.
Driving your own vehicle in a foreign country is excluded by the tour operator endorsement on at least one specialist wording we place. For private tours overseas, use a local driver who holds their own motor insurance.
At least one specialist wording we place excludes e-bikes, Segways and scooters, and horse riding. The same wording excludes boats over 8 metres used by or for you, with a narrow exception where someone else owns and runs the vessel and it's used for business entertainment, and whether a paid cruise counts is an open question, so check with the underwriter.
At least one specialist tour operator wording we place excludes injury from a list of adventure activities, including horse riding, e-bikes and Segways, surfing and scuba diving, and white water rafting. See the adventure activities excluded on one wording we place, grouped, and check the endorsement on your own schedule.
Driving guests in your own car. Public liability excludes injury caused by a registered vehicle, so injury in your car is generally a CTP question and damage to it sits with your motor policy. Tell your motor insurer the car carries paying guests. States also regulate passenger transport, and the rules turn on seats, service type or both. See vehicles and passenger liability.
Passenger transport rules by state. In NSW, booked tourist transport in a vehicle with 12 seats or fewer, counting the driver, falls under point to point transport law. Whoever takes the booking must be authorised by the Point to Point Transport Commissioner as a booking service provider, or accept bookings from one, and the Commissioner's tourist transport fact sheet lists safety standards that include an annual safety check and third-party property insurance of at least $5 million, separate from CTP. A vehicle with 13 seats or more moves to Transport for NSW's bus operator accreditation. In Victoria, a vehicle with seating positions for 10 or more adults, including the driver, is a bus, and a tour and charter bus service needs an accredited operator. Smaller vehicles used for hire sit under the commercial passenger vehicle rules, so ask Safe Transport Victoria how it treats your tour. In Queensland, taxi and booked hire services are exempt from operator accreditation, but arranging bookings for a personalised transport service (a taxi, limousine or ride-booking vehicle with no more than 12 seats, including the driver) needs booking entity authorisation. Where a small tour vehicle sits between those categories isn't settled on TMR's pages, so ask Transport and Main Roads which category your tour falls into. South Australia draws its line at 12 seats or fewer for a small passenger vehicle and requires accredited operators to hold public liability of at least $5 million. Western Australia splits by service type, not seats, and drivers carrying passengers for hire or reward need a passenger transport driver authorisation.
Operator or freelance guide. We arrange cover for tour operators, not freelance guides. If you sell and run your own tours as a sole trader, the underwriter assesses your business case by case, so tell us how it's set up before you apply. If you guide for other companies as a contractor, we don't arrange cover for you on a standalone basis, and the engaging operator should tell you what cover it needs. If you engage other guides, collect a certificate of insurance at the start and every year, because at least one specialist wording we place requires reasonable steps so they hold at least AUD 10 million in Australia.
Practices the business sets. On 15 June 2014 a guest on a guided Kings Canyon rim walk fell about 30 metres after stepping down to a ledge below the cliff top for a staged photo. The NT coroner found that guides were trained to run the photo stop, that park signage said to stay away from the cliff edge, and that a 2010 warning letter from the parks agency hadn't changed the practice. In June 2016 the tour company was convicted and fined $140,000 plus costs, according to ABC News. That was a group tour, and the findings concerned the business's own practice. The same holds on a private tour: what you train guides to do and the rules you set are the operator's responsibility, so decide in advance what you won't do, however nicely guests ask. Our risk management guide covers written no-go rules.
Platforms, hotels and their terms. If a booking platform or a hotel desk sends you guests, read the insurance clause before you accept. GetYourGuide's supplier terms (version dated 1 October 2026) ask for motor liability at limits no less than the compulsory requirements of the country where you operate, as well as a liability policy on an occurrence form that is primary and non-contributory. Viator's August 2026 supplier agreement makes public liability a mandatory baseline and freezes new sales if documents lapse. Ask us which of those features your policy can meet before you sign. See booking platform and cruise line insurance requirements.
| Who asks | What they ask for | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| NSW Point to Point Transport Commissioner (booking service providers offering tourist transport in vehicles with 12 seats or fewer) | Authorisation, plus safety standards that include third-party property insurance of at least $5 million, separate from CTP | That is motor insurance, not public liability. The fact sheet also lists an annual safety check and a sign on the vehicle. |
| SA Department for Infrastructure and Transport (passenger transport operator accreditation) | Public liability of at least $5 million, third party property or comprehensive motor insurance, and CTP for a public passenger vehicle | Accreditation runs for five years and needs a plan of operation. A small passenger vehicle is one with 12 seats or fewer, including the driver. |
| Access Canberra (hire car accreditation) | A public vehicle policy of at least $5 million, with a hire car licence for each vehicle | Drivers need a public vehicle driver licence with the right condition. Ask Access Canberra which category your tour vehicle falls into. |
| GetYourGuide (supplier terms, version dated 1 October 2026) | A liability policy on an occurrence form, primary and non-contributory, plus motor liability no less than the compulsory requirements where you operate | Subcontractors, such as a guide you engage, must be insured under your policy or hold their own cover meeting the same clause. |
| Viator (supplier agreement, August 2026) | Valid public liability insurance as a mandatory baseline, with minimums set by Viator | Expired or insufficient documents freeze new sales, and existing bookings must still be honoured. |
On 15 June 2014 a 23-year-old guest on a three-day tour fell about 30 metres at Kings Canyon after stepping down to a ledge about a metre below the cliff top for a staged photo at a stop guides had been trained to run. The coroner found guides were trained to run the photo stop, that park signage said to stay away from the cliff edge, and that a 2010 warning letter from the parks agency had not changed the practice. The tour company was convicted in June 2016 and fined $140,000 plus $12,290 costs. It was a group tour, and the findings concerned the business's own practice.
The insurance lesson. The coroner found the photo stop was a practice guides were trained to run, so the controls sit with the business. A civil claim like this sits with public liability, subject to the wording. The controls are written no-go rules for edges, an induction you check guides follow, and acting on a land manager's warning when you get one.
Source: ABC News: NT tour company fined over tourist's death at Kings Canyon (23 June 2016)
On 22 October 2002, on a guided multi-day tour camping in Kakadu, the guide suggested a late-night swim in a creek and led the group there, and a saltwater crocodile took a tour member. The coroner described the decision as grossly negligent, while finding the operator itself ran a competent operation. The guide pleaded guilty in the NT Supreme Court to doing a dangerous act. The coroner also noted that NT tour guides could then operate without public liability insurance or first aid qualifications.
The insurance lesson. A private tour concentrates this risk, because one guide makes every decision with nobody to check it. The tour operator policies we arrange can cover your liability for a contractor guide's conduct but not the guide, which is why their own certificate of currency matters. The control is a short list of site rules guides can't vary, signed at induction.
Decide before the season what you won't do on any private tour: unfenced edges, staged photos near drops, swimming stops, driving after dark on unsealed roads. Give it to every guide and get it signed. The Kings Canyon findings above concerned a photo stop guides had been trained to run.
Count the seats, including the driver's, and check the rule for each state you drive in. NSW draws the line at 12 seats or fewer and 13 or more, and Victoria treats a vehicle with 10 or more adult seating positions as a bus. Keep the regulator's answer in writing.
Disclose that the vehicle carries paying guests, and check that the policy and your CTP class match that use. Public liability on the tour operator policies we arrange excludes registered vehicles, so check with your motor insurer how the drive is covered.
Collect a certificate of insurance when a contract guide starts and every year after. At least one specialist wording we place requires reasonable steps so contractors hold at least AUD 10 million in Australia. Tour operator policies we arrange can cover your liability for their conduct, not theirs.
Carry a torch, a charged phone and a first aid kit, set a turn-back time for every walk, and tell someone at base your route. Safe Work Australia's model first aid code says CPR should be refreshed every year and first aid qualifications renewed every three years.
Platform and hotel terms can ask for things a policy doesn't give automatically, such as primary and non-contributory cover or a waiver of the insurer's recovery rights. Send them to us before you accept, because waiving recovery rights without the insurer's consent can remove cover.
We've found tour operator public liability hard to place on its own in the past, and PI and public liability often had to be split across insurers. We approach several specialist insurers and underwriting agencies. Some write PI and public liability together, others write one or the other, and we put the cover together to suit the tours you run, for tour operators and for travel agents that run their own tours, subject to each insurer's assessment.
We don't publish a separate price for private guided tours. As a general guide, across the tour types the markets we approach are set up to quote, subject to each insurer's assessment, combined PI and public liability for a small tour operator costs approximately $1,200 to $1,800 a year including fees. As at October 2026. Your price depends on the activities, destinations, revenue, limits and claims history, and it can fall outside that range. It is not a quote. See what drives the premium.
A placement from September 2026. A new NSW-based cultural tour operator designs immersive programs for groups visiting Australia and for Australian groups visiting Asia, with local tour companies running the coaches and accommodation. It needed a certificate of currency urgently. Result: $20 million public liability and $1 million professional indemnity on one combined policy, worldwide territory excluding US jurisdiction, placed the same week on that occasion at approximately $1,850 including fees. This is one past placement, not a quote. Your price and terms depend on your risk. Read the case study.
Sources referred to on this page
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
RELATED GUIDES
QUOTE REQUEST
Tell us the tours you run, where they go, group sizes, who supplies transport and venues, your annual revenue, and the limit you need on your certificate.
Send us your tour descriptions and itinerary, and we will take them to the specialist markets that write tour operators and come back to you with the options available.
Last updated: 01/10/2026
