It may seem obvious, but many hotels are still not acting on it, and their revenues are suffering accordingly. The latest study from TripAdvisor shows that Reviews, Photos and Responses to Traveller Feedback are directly linked to increased visibility on TripAdvisor, the world’s largest travel site. And increased visibility assists increased sales.
TripAdvisor® has announced the results of a study of the factors most likely to increase traveller engagement with European accommodations on the site as measured by an increase in page views. The study reveals a strong correlation between hotels with a greater number of reviews, photos and videos and a notable increase in travellers’ interaction with their property pages.
The study also found that, in Europe, hotels that post management responses to traveller reviews not only see a higher rate of engagement with travellers, but they also tend to see higher ratings.
Small increase in reviews = big impact
The TripAdvisor study found that a greater number of reviews attract more attention from travellers, as European accommodations with as few as 11+ traveller reviews see 28% more engagement than hotels with fewer reviews. Hotels with 50 or more reviews on the site see 38% more engagement with travellers than those with 10 or fewer.
According to the study, even a small increase in the number of reviews a property receives helps drive more interaction from travellers.
Management responses = higher engagement, ratings
TripAdvisor offers a free online marketing platform – called the TripAdvisor Management Centre – that gives businesses access to free resources and tools to help them drive more business, manage their online reputations and monitor their progress on the site.
The Management Centre includes a management response tool that empowers business owners and representatives to respond to traveller reviews.
TripAdvisor studied the impact these management responses have on traveller engagement and found that European properties with more than five management responses see 17% more engagement from travellers than hotels with less than or equal to five management responses.
More content = more traveller engagement
Hoteliers may submit photos and videos of their properties through the TripAdvisor Management Centre. This content supplements those photos and videos submitted by travellers.
TripAdvisor examined the degree to which the presence of photos and videos on hotel pages impacts traveller engagement with European accommodations.
The study revealed that European properties with 30 or more photos have 42% more engagement than hotels with 10 or fewer photos.
As for video content, European properties with at least one video have about 21% more engagement than properties without a video.
Hotels ‘strongly encouraged’ to act on these results
Julio Bruno, global vice president of sales, TripAdvisor for Business commented:
“We strongly encourage properties in Europe and around the world to post management responses and update their photo and video content through the free TripAdvisor Management Centre.
“We also encourage them to ask their guests to share their candid feedback on TripAdvisor. Our data show that taking these small, yet important measures can give property owners an edge over their competition.”
Listening and responding to guests
And Alan Garland, E-Marketing Manager, Apex Hotels confirms the need for this two-way communication with guests:
“Listening to our guests and responding to their needs underpins everything our staff do. Having a tool such as Tripdvisor enables us to extend this principle to one of the key touch points in the customer research and planning process.
“TripAdvisor allows us to engage with customers by giving them a greater insight into our hotel through reviews and images of our property.
“Monitoring reviews to see where we can enhance the guest experience, and having our General Managers respond directly to guest feedback, are invaluable opportunities for us.”