MUNICH - TrustYou released its most recent study on that shows that hotels can significantly impact their online reputation by collecting online reviews. The study is available for free download.
To understand the relationship between travelers and online review patterns, the study surveyed individuals who have traveled within the previous 12 months. Both leisure and business travelers were considered in this survey, and the 920 U.S. consumers who participated had traveled and booked their accommodation. The study revealed that the majority of guests have left at least one review about their experience with an accommodation. Out of these reviews, guests state that they usually leave very positive reviews. Further, when an accommodation asks a guest to write a review, they are over three times more likely to get a response: plus, there is a much higher chance that the guest will leave them a 5-star review.
Key findings of the study:
- The majority, 54%, of guests have experience writing and submitting at least one review in the previous 12-months.
- On average, 95% of traveler reviews are positive; 93% of travelers’ most recent reviews are reportedly positive.
- When a review is requested by an accommodation provider, guests are 3.6x times more likely to leave a review.
- Reviews are also 16% more likely to be “extremely positive” 5-star reviews.
After price, “Review Score” is the most important decision variable that travelers need to be convinced to book a certain accommodation.
The findings lead to the clear conclusion that it should be in the best interest of any accommodation to manage their online reputation and to positively impact it by collecting and building online review content. To support these efforts, providers should adopt a comprehensive review marketing strategy to share and display their positive reputation across the web, which in turn convinces more future travelers to book their accommodation. Additionally, gaining feedback from guests is a valuable method to gain relevant data that encourages positive operational changes.
“This study reaffirms how important it really is to be on top of your reputation as a hotel provider. The white paper demonstrates that 80% of travelers who received a survey to evaluate a hotel’s performance also left a review. In comparison, only 22% of travelers wrote a review without having been asked. Hotels can easily close this gap with a post-stay survey software that allows hoteliers to manage guest feedback and reviews from the entire web simultaneously”, says Benjamin Jost, CEO of TrustYou.
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