Dying to read hotel reviews? Set aside an entire day

Friday, 15 Nov, 2011 0

With the proliferation of hotel reviews, it would take someone almost one month just to read the ratings of a single hotel…if someone wanted to take the time.

So says a consultant speaking at the World Travel Market.

Jakob Riegger, managing director of Munich-based consultancy TrustYou, said the average single property now has 10,000 reviews on 50 websites, according to an official press release from the organization. He estimated that a small hotel chain would attract enough reviews to provide 300 days’ reading.

He urged hoteliers to use online reviews to their advantage and actually ask guests for them.

“It is actually very valuable. The response rate is very high, unlike if you leave cards in the room. International hotels get 10-15 times more reviews directly from their own guests than on online travel agencies and review sites,” he said.

These reviews could then be collated and the good and bad points acted upon, he said.

Riegger said tourism authorities were increasingly using reviews to determine star ratings, with Switzerland and Germany already taking them into account.

Debbie Hindle, managing director of public relations company Four BGB said social media was “the best possible customer research tool you will ever have in the world”.

She said it prompted “huge retention and advocacy”, was valuable in natural searches and was an excellent reward and sales channel.

Hindle said she disagreed with the idea that people did not want to buy in a social media environment, but added:

“Social needs to be social, you have to listen to what they are saying, respond and then give extra value in order to convert. I’m not saying everyone should try to make social media commercial, I’m saying don’t discount it.”

By David Wilkening

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