Online Reviews Getting Hotels' Attention
Consumer Web sites such as Tripadvisor are causing a stir in the hospitality industry.
MAY 23, 2006. Before the Internet, travelers searching for a hotel used to either rely on guidebooks or stick with a big-name chain.
While the advent of Web sites such as Expedia and Travelocity enabled travelers to get price quotes and watch virtual tours of a number of hotels, they still couldn't find out how prompt room service was, how friendly the staff was or if the bathroom towels were extra soft.
Now they can, with increasingly popular consumer review travel sites such as Tripadvisor.com and Igougo.com.
So influential are the sites that some independent hotels say as much as 75 percent of their business comes from their referrals.
Large chains take the sites seriously as well, with general managers checking to see how their hotels are perceived in the marketplace and holding meetings to discuss negative reviews.
"If you are reading third-party reviews, you will pay more attention to those than to advertising, an AAA rating or even a travel writer's opinion," said Jerry Morrison, a San Diego hotel industry consultant and analyst.
Smaller hotels often outshine their more well-known counterparts on Tripadvisor.com, the most popular of the sites, with more than 4 million reviews.
But why do people feel compelled to share their experiences with strangers?
The motivations behind posting a review about one's travel experience is a little bit bragging and a good dose of altruism, said Brooke Ferencsik, Tripadvisor's spokesman. "Travelers feel compelled to help other travelers out," he said.
All the sites say they review all submissions closely to make sure that no false postings make it through.
To counteract negative reviews, most sites also allow hotels to respond directly to a complaint on the site.
Morrison said that while a positive review won't persuade someone to book a hotel, a negative review will cause them to not select it.
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