Are Online Guest Reviews Really That Important?
In Tripadvisor's Top Travel Guidance Resources in 2023, 36% of the 5618 travellers surveyed identified travel review websites as the second most popular resource used when planning their travel experiences.
Yet, despite the growing importance of online guest reviews to the traveller in the research phase, there are accommodation operators who continue to question the importance of online guest reviews to their business.
Responding to guests who have taken the time to write about their experience at your hotel demonstrates to them, and to your future guests, that you are genuinely interested in their opinion, that you are appreciative of their positive commentary and will take learnings from a negative review - with four out of five travellers believing a hotel that responds to reviews cares more about their guests.
Online guest reviews can help level the disparity that exists between the global accommodation operators with seemingly unlimited budgets and the independent hotelier that is offering a truly unique experience to their guests. Online guest reviews do not cost anything and can assist hotels to maintain a constant online presence, drive better search ranking results and can be shared across your other channels including website and social media – becoming an important part of your marketing strategy.
Here are some tips for using online guest review responses to market your accommodation experience:
The excellent levels of customer service that you pride yourself on delivering does not stop on the guest’s departure - personalise your review response by addressing the guest by their name and always say thank you.
When writing your response, use it as an opportunity to showcase your accommodation experience to your next potential guest – remember that you are also speaking with the person who is reading the review, not just the person who wrote it.
Be specific by including the name of your restaurant, identify the different wildlife that guests will see during their stay, describe the types of rooms or suites that you offer by name to help future guests select the accommodation that is best suited to their travel needs, detail how you cater to families or the features of your accessible accommodation experience.
Maximise the opportunity to explain how your hotel operates – your hours of reception, how your check-in process works, car parking etc.,
Despite all your efforts to deliver amazing experiences all the time, we are human and do not always get it right and you cannot make everyone happy – there will always be the people that complain about Stonehenge being boring or the Eiffel Tower being overrated. No one wants to receive a negative review, but how you respond provides you with a valuable opportunity to show both the reviewer, and your future guests, that you are listening and how you will address the issues raised. And, in time, the rare negative review, when surrounded by positive reviews, will quickly fade.
And, for independent hotel operators, there are additional advantages to online guest reviews. Unconstrained by global brand standards and operational guidelines, you can quickly adapt your accommodation experience based on your guest’s feedback following their stay to ensure you are continuing to deliver exceptional guest experiences and in turn, encourage more positive online guest reviews.
*Resources: Trip Advisor, SiteMinder
