AboutFeatured
Oliver Green: articles, research and appearances
I'm Oliver Green, an Arival Insights Contributor. Since January 2025 I have written eleven articles for Arival, co-authored its 2026 research report The Operator's Marketing Playbook with Anne Failing, spoken at Arival events from Edinburgh to Brisbane and joined the Experience This! podcast. Everything is listed below, newest first, with dates and links.
Research
In April 2026 Arival published The Operator's Marketing Playbook, a report in its Global Operator Landscape (4th Ed.) research series that I co-authored with Anne Failing. It looks at operator marketing amid big shifts in search, social, distribution, direct marketing and AI. One of the headline figures on the companion article: half of operators are now actively using or testing AI, up from one in three.
- 20 Apr 2026: Global Operator Landscape (4th Ed.): The Operator's Marketing Playbook, the full research report (for Arival Insider Pro Access members), with Anne Failing.
- 20 Apr 2026: The Operator's Marketing Playbook, the companion article on Arival, with Anne Failing.
The practical, operator-level version of that thinking lives in my guide to tour operator marketing and my guide to AI for tour operators.
Articles on Arival
I write for Arival as an Insights Contributor. These are all eleven articles on my Arival author page, newest first.
| Date | Article | Topic |
|---|---|---|
| 25 Aug 2026 | How to Use Short-form Video to Actually Sell Tours | Short-form video |
| 14 Jul 2026 | Operator Guide to Unlocking Growth with Reviews | Reviews |
| 16 Jun 2026 | How to Get Your Experiences Recommended by AI | AI recommendations |
| 25 May 2026 | 6 Ways to Turn YouTube into a Booking Machine | YouTube |
| 20 Apr 2026 | The Operator's Marketing Playbook (with Anne Failing) | Marketing research |
| 30 Mar 2026 | Getting Found in the AI Age: A Guide for Operators | AI search |
| 17 Mar 2026 | 5 Digital Marketing Priorities for Travel & Tourism in 2026 | Digital marketing |
| 24 Feb 2026 | 5 Vibe Coding Examples Every Tour Operator Can Use | Vibe coding |
| 12 Jan 2026 | Promote Tours & Attractions with Google Things To Do Ads | Google Things to Do |
| 5 Aug 2025 | 5 Tour Operator Use Cases for AI & Automation | AI and automation |
| 20 Jan 2025 | 5 Ways Every Operator Can Grow Their Instagram |
Arival gave 5 Tour Operator Use Cases for AI & Automation an honourable mention in Arival Wrapped: Top Stories in Experiences in 2025 (9 Dec 2025), noting that its views were already closing in on the year's top stories, which had been live for longer. Arival's How Generative AI Is Revolutionizing Travel & Tourism (8 Sep 2025) also sends readers to it for its recommended AI tech stack.
Several of these topics have a longer, updated home on this site: how tour operators get found in AI search, review strategy for tour operators, what vibe coding means and how Google Things to Do works.
Speaking and events
This table draws on my Arival speaker profile, Arival's event speaker pages and its write-ups, newest first.
| Date | Event and city | Session |
|---|---|---|
| 29 Oct 2026 | FareHarbor Spark 2026, Hyatt Regency Austin, Austin, Texas | Live! Growth, Powered by FareHarbor Podcast, with FareHarbor CEO Andrea Carini |
| 27 Oct 2026 | The Port 2026, Destin-Fort Walton Beach Convention Center, Florida | 5 AI Tools in 20 Minutes: What Experience Operators Should Try Now, with Martin Harlow |
| 12–15 Oct 2026 | Arival 360 Spokane, Spokane Convention Center, Spokane, Washington | Listed speaker |
| 26 Aug 2026 | Arival and GetYourGuide webinar, online | Organizational AI for Operators, with Douglas Quinby (Arival) and Frederik Waller (GetYourGuide) |
| 22–24 Jun 2026 | Arival 360 Brisbane, Royal International Convention Centre, Brisbane | Session on practical AI for operators |
| 27–29 Apr 2026 | Arival 360 Valencia 2026, Valencia | Listed speaker |
| 30 Sep 2025 | AI Forum for Destination Experiences, Washington, DC / National Harbor | AI Skills Live: The Ultimate GenAI Throwdown |
| 30 Sep 2025 | AI Forum for Destination Experiences, Washington, DC / National Harbor | Disrupted: Who Wins AI's Distribution Wars? The Great Debate |
| 30 Apr 2025 | Arival 360 Valencia 2025, Valencia | Converting with Social Media: Strategies, Audits & Real-Time Feedback (deep-dive working session) |
| 23–25 Nov 2024 | Arival | Activate Edinburgh, Edinburgh International Conference Centre | Social Media Slam breakout, with live operator account audits |
Two Arival recaps go into more detail. Direct vs. OTAs: Who Will Win in the AI Era? (20 Oct 2025) covers the Great Debate, where I argued on Team Direct Booking with Lori Timony and Rudi Thun. My case: operators who control their own content, pricing and imagery can move faster and offer the personalised experiences AI agents look for. I set out the longer version in my guide to direct bookings for tour operators. 5 Themes from the First Arival Australia (28 Jul 2026) points to my Brisbane session as one of several on putting AI to practical use for tour and attraction operators.
I have also spoken at Rome Future Week, the citywide innovation week in Rome.
If you want me at your event, formats and topics are on my speaking page.
Podcasts
4 Mar 2026: Experience This! Travel Industry Insights and Opinions, season 4, episode 3, "Will Tour Operators stop buying software? Vibe Coding introduced!". I introduced vibe coding on the show, and we talked about when an operator should build a tool themselves rather than pay for existing software. Watch the episode on YouTube or listen on Buzzsprout.
For a written starting point, my post 5 ways to start optimising your tour company with AI and automations covers vibe coding your first internal tool alongside Zapier automations and MCPs.
Workshops
Buenos Aires, 2026: Gray Line Partner Summit, "Build It In The Room". An interactive workshop where attendees built their own AI tools live in the room, on laptops.
For a hands-on session like this, see my speaking page; my background is on the about page.
Sources: Arival author page: Oliver Green, Arival speaker profile: Oliver Green, Global Operator Landscape (4th Ed.): The Operator's Marketing Playbook, The Operator's Marketing Playbook (article), Arival Wrapped: Top Stories in Experiences in 2025, How Generative AI Is Revolutionizing Travel & Tourism, AI Forum for Destination Experiences, Direct vs. OTAs: Who Will Win in the AI Era?, 5 Themes from the First Arival Australia, Six Deep-Dive Working Sessions at Arival Valencia, Arival | Activate Edinburgh, Top 5 Takeaways for Operators from Arival Edinburgh, Experience This! S4 E3 on Buzzsprout
Frequently asked questions
What has Oliver Green written for Arival?
I have written eleven articles for Arival since January 2025 as an Insights Contributor, covering AI search, reviews, YouTube, short-form video, Instagram, vibe coding, Google Things to Do ads and AI automation for tour operators. One of them, The Operator's Marketing Playbook, was co-written with Anne Failing as the companion to Arival's April 2026 research report of the same name.
What is The Operator's Marketing Playbook?
It is a research report in Arival's Global Operator Landscape (4th Ed.) series, published on 20 April 2026 and co-authored by Anne Failing and me. It looks at operator marketing amid big shifts in search, social, distribution, direct marketing and AI. The full report is for Arival Insider Pro Access members, and a companion article with the headline figures sits on Arival's site.
Where has Oliver Green spoken?
Mostly at Arival. I ran a Social Media Slam breakout at Arival | Activate Edinburgh in November 2024 and a social media deep dive at Arival 360 Valencia in April 2025, then spoke twice at the AI Forum for Destination Experiences in Washington, DC in September 2025. In 2026 I spoke at Valencia, Brisbane and an Arival and GetYourGuide webinar, and I am on the speaker list for Arival 360 Spokane in October.
Which podcast has Oliver Green appeared on?
Experience This! Travel Industry Insights and Opinions. Season 4, episode 3, released on 4 March 2026, is titled "Will Tour Operators stop buying software? Vibe Coding introduced!". I introduced vibe coding on the show and we talked about when an operator should build a tool themselves rather than pay for existing software. You can watch it on YouTube or listen on Buzzsprout.
How do I book Oliver Green to speak or run a workshop?
Start with the speaking page on olivergreen.io. It covers keynotes, fireside chats and hands-on workshops on AI for tour operators and the future of travel, and has a link to book a call with me. Event organisers can also check my past sessions on my Arival speaker profile at arival.travel.