Tao Tao helped build a Berlin platform selling €4 billion in travel experiences.

A walking tour, a museum ticket or a boat trip might look like a small purchase. Put them together across a global marketplace, and the numbers become substantial.

GetYourGuide reported more than €4 billion in gross merchandise value for 2025, alongside more than €1 billion in revenue. Tao Tao helped build the company behind those bookings.

A childhood move to Germany.

Tao was born in Beijing and moved to Germany at six. In a 2025 interview, he explained that his mother, a physicist, came to Germany to pursue her doctorate.

His later career would span countries too. He co-founded GetYourGuide in 2009 with Johannes Reck and their fellow founders. The business began in Zurich and is now based in Berlin. Tao serves as its chief operating officer, working on growth, customer experience and supplier partnerships.

The difference a local guide could make.

The company traces its idea to a trip to Beijing. Reck arrived a day early and struggled to find his way around. When Tao joined him and showed him the city, the experience changed.

The founders saw a business opportunity in making that kind of knowledge easier to access. GetYourGuide became a marketplace where travellers could discover and book activities run by experience providers.

What the €4 billion figure measures.

The figure is global gross merchandise value: the value of experiences booked through the platform. It is separate from the company’s revenue, which exceeded €1 billion in the same year.

Those totals describe the scale of the business built by its founders, employees and partners. They do not measure Tao’s individual output or the company’s contribution to German GDP.

In January 2026, the company reported 50,000 supply partners. The marketplace serves guides, attractions and other experience providers, connecting their offerings with travellers.

A connection to Germany’s tourism economy.

On 1 September 2026, the German National Tourist Board, known as the DZT, announced GetYourGuide as a new member. Its stated goal was to improve the international visibility and direct bookability of German experiences.

That provides a concrete connection between a Berlin technology company and tourism businesses across Germany. It is an ambition for the partnership, not a published measurement of additional income.

Tao’s story brings together a childhood move to Germany, a company founded with friends and a marketplace operating across borders. It is one example of how people with migration histories help build businesses based here.

GLOBAL LAUREATES / 2026

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Sources & photo credits

1. GetYourGuide, 30 January 2026: FY2025 booking value and revenue; partner count.
2. Tao Tao, first-person founder interview, 2025: childhood move and family background.
3. GetYourGuide: founding story and current marketplace.
4. GetYourGuide: Tao Tao’s current role and responsibilities.
5. DZT, 1 September 2026: membership and German tourism partnership.
6. GetYourGuide official press kit: solo portrait. Photographer not named; shown uncropped.

Researched 1 October 2026. Financial figures are company-reported global totals. This profile recognises business-building, without implying endorsement by the featured person or company.

Editorial context: GetYourGuide has faced scrutiny, including a 2025 Italian competition-authority decision on Colosseum ticketing and criticism from animal-welfare groups about attraction listings. These issues are separate from the reported financial figures and should not be read as resolved by this profile. AGCM decision announcement; PETA’s January 2026 criticism; GetYourGuide’s animal-welfare policy.