Debt (Details Textual) (USD $)	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended	1 Months Ended
	Apr. 30, 2011	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2012 Top Tier Foreign Subsidiaries [Member]	May 31, 2011 Revolving Credit Facility [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Capital Leases [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Capital Leases [Member]
Debt (Additional Textual) [Abstract]
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%
Gross amount of assets recorded under capital leases							5,900,000	6,600,000
Accumulated Amortization		2,492,000	1,766,000				2,900,000	3,000,000
Debt (Textual) [Abstract]
Weighted-average interest rate		6.40%	6.20%
Previous credit facility	4,200,000
Capital lease obligations, total		2,226,000	3,239,000
Outstanding letters of credit		1,800,000
Remaining borrowing capacity		128,200,000
The fees on the unused portion of the credit facility		0.35%
Estimated fair value of total debt		2,100,000	3,000,000
Maximum potential amount of future payments		21,200,000
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		8.50%	7.80%	12.00%
Share repurchases		10,000,000
Percentage of repurchases of shares		1.50%
Dividends declared and paid		$ 10,000,000