Two different photo-catalysts consisting of tungsten oxide supported on zirconia and niobia have been studied. The photoactivity of the samples has been investigated in both the absence and presence of H2O2 for the photo-oxidation of 4-nitrophenol in aqueous suspensions and compared to that of WO3 and of the pure ZrO2 and Nb2O5 supports. Both catalysts were found to be photoactive, although no beneficial influence of the presence of tungsten oxide on the reaction rate was observed in the absence of H2O2. The presence of hydrogen peroxide was observed to be beneficial for all of the samples. Scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, diffuse reflectance and laser Raman spectroscopies, surface area and porosity determination, as well as Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy monitoring of surface acidity were used to characterize the catalysts.