Debt - Additional Information (Details) (USD $)	2 Months Ended	12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended	1 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2013 Top Tier Foreign Subsidiaries	May 31, 2011 Revolving Credit Facility	Dec. 31, 2013 Capital Leases	Dec. 31, 2012 Capital Leases
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Gross amount of assets recorded under capital leases							$ 3,900,000	$ 5,900,000
Accumulated Amortization	2,797,000	2,797,000	2,492,000				2,100,000	2,900,000
Credit facility						130,000,000
Additional credit facility						50,000,000
Credit facility, period						5 years
Credit facility expiring						May 18, 2016
Letters of credit						50,000,000
Capital stock of top-tier foreign subsidiaries					65.00%
Long-term Debt, Excluding Current Maturities	11,668,000	11,668,000	2,226,000
Revolving Credit Facility, Balance Outstanding	10,000,000	10,000,000	0
Remaining borrowing capacity	118,700,000	118,700,000
Outstanding letters of credit	1,300,000	1,300,000
The fees on the unused portion of the credit facility		0.35%
Line of Credit Facility, Interest Rate During Period		2.20%
Debt (Textual) [Abstract]
Capital lease obligations, total	1,668,000	1,668,000	2,226,000
Share repurchases		10,000,000
Percentage of repurchases of shares		0.0150
Dividends declared and paid		10,000,000
Debt Instrument, Covenant, Required Level of Unrestricted Cash and Cash Equivalents	50,000,000
Maximum potential amount of future payments	13,700,000	13,700,000
Recourse provisions		There are no recourse provisions that would enable Viad to recover from third parties any payments made under the guarantees.
Collateral arrangements		Furthermore, there are no collateral or similar arrangements whereby Viad could recover payments.
Debt, Weighted Average Interest Rate	4.20%	4.20%	8.50%	7.80%
Estimated fair value of total debt	$ 11,500,000	$ 11,500,000	$ 2,100,000
Weighted-average interest rate	6.90%	6.90%	6.40%