| Tour Operators | Travel Agency |
| A tour operator is a company that buys certain services from different companies (like hotels, restaurants, cafes, beauty salons) and forms a single tourist product out of them using its own pricing system. | A travel agency acts like an independent reseller. Its profit is the commission for the sale of the operator’s tours to customers. |
| A tour operator is a comparatively large company | A travel agency is comparatively a smaller company. |
| A tour operator may be a supplier (meaning they might own hotels or car rentals or both) and allow to use their own inventory or their supplying partner inventories for a fee. | A travel agent is only a distributor, and typically travel agents rarely own any travel assets (such as car rentals or hotels) of their own. |
| A tour operator performs ground services i.e. to act like a handling agency or ground operator. | Travel agencies are less inclined to act like a handling agency or ground operator. |
| A tour operator offers a variety of tour programs. | A travel agency may only deal with one component of travel product. |
