Reviews:
The Good and the Bad
By Lina Eroh
Do you love or hate TripAdvisor?
It probably depends on whether you think your reviews are fair, right?
Well we have some good news for you.
A 2012 study by PhoCusWright found that almost 60% of TripAdvisor users ignore extreme comments and only 5% say they focus on negative reviews.
That said, TripAdvisor reviews are extremely important. The site has more than 260 million monthly users and has become an essential part of any trip planning.
Travelers are growing more and more reliant on reviews by their peers, and more than half of TripAdvisor users say they won’t book a hotel if it has no reviews at all! Pretty crazy, right?
(If you prefer a visual way of processing data, here's an infographic illustrating the findings.)
While this study was specific to hotels, I think it's just as important for tour and activity operators.
Like hotels, travelers have many choices. Paragliding or bungy? Bike tour or wine tasting?
Like hotels, there's lots of competition even once the choice has been made. Even if you've decided to stay at a five-star hotel, there are lots of five-star hotels to pick from. And just because you've decided to do a watersport doesn't mean you've decided which one.
And like hotels, there's (usually) a significant price for the purchase. Tours and activities aren't a cup of coffee. It's how you spend your whole day and, for many travelers, how your remember your vacation.
How does your TripAdvisor listing reflect on your business?
If you have to go to your page to check, you're already doing something wrong.
Here are some TripAdvisor must-dos for tour and activity operators:
- Claim your TripAdvisor account so you can add a link to your website and contact information
- Ask each customer to leave a review before saying goodbye
- Respond calmly and factually to any negative reviews
- Don't feel the need to respond to every review--it's overkill
- Don't go crazy over your ranking--the most important thing is to be present and to have reviews that speak to the uniqueness of your product
Happy wandering!
Lina