Income Per Share - Reconciliation of Basic and Diluted Income Per Share (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands		3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
		Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017
Numerator:
Impact of adopting Topic 606 to net income		$ 23,490	$ 27,947	$ 14,103	$ 34,724
Less: Allocation to non-vested shares		(222)	(345)	(139)	(442)
Adjustment to the redemption value of redeemable noncontrolling interest		(52)		(90)
Net income allocated to Viad common stockholders (basic)		$ 23,216	$ 27,602	$ 13,874	$ 34,282
Denominator:
Basic weighted-average outstanding common shares		20,209	20,140	20,208	20,112
Additional dilutive shares related to share-based compensation		227	224	238	243
Diluted weighted-average outstanding shares		20,436	20,364	20,446	20,355
Basic income attributable to Viad common stockholders		$ 1.15	$ 1.37	$ 0.69	$ 1.70
Diluted income attributable to Viad common stockholders(1)	[1]	$ 1.15	$ 1.37	$ 0.69	$ 1.70

[1] Diluted income (loss) per share amount cannot exceed basic income (loss) per share.