Jul
14
Here's a nice article about why you shouldn't link to Tripadvisor from your website.
Take a look, then come back and join in the discussion.
Take a look, then come back and join in the discussion.
Most of the hotels who link to Tripadvisor do so because they see it as a way of associating themselves with positive customer feedback about their business.
Hotels which don't enjoy a decent rating with Tripadvisor are less likely to link to it. (and as a result don't send a proportion of their hard earned traffic straight into the arms of an online travel agent)
Let's be clear, in 25 years in the industry, it is my opinion that Tripadvisor is the last bastion of the sort of guests we all wish would stay somewhere else. Sure, there are lots of people who write nice things, or at least offer a balanced opinion, however there are more than a few who abuse the website to peddle their viscious bile. Whether they're right or not.
One very negative listing can destroy an otherwise unblemished reputation.
They don't even give the hotel managers much of an opportunity to respond. "Wronged" managers can only list a "management response" in a seriously limited way.
I have some experience of this in my career: One guest - who behaved abominably throughout his stay towards staff, other guests and indeed his own family - took exception to my suggestions that he calm down and behave himself (only the hotel owner prevented me from inviting the gentleman to leave). He left a sulphurous and quite untrue report about the hotel in Tripadvisor. Representations to Tripadvisor to have the report removed, or at least edited, were refused. C'est la vie.
If you want to publish guest comments (and I suggest you publish them all - don't censor them) get yourself a proper website. There are systems which can run this for you quite easily. It's not difficult to do. You see, having a proper website puts you in control of the interaction between you and your customers. If you don't censor it, you can't be accused of trying to make yourself out to be something you're not. Your website starts to build credibility.
I would argue that tripadvisor has questionable credibility. Very positive listings can easily come from people who haven't stayed at your hotel before, very negative ones... well, let's say that people who understand how these things work, know that the internet is stuffed full of rubbish. Look at bebo.
Controlling your own online feedback/comment system should also allow you to respond positively to each and every comment. If you got it wrong while the guest was staying, there is nothing more disarming than complete honesty - "Yes, we screwed up - this is what we're doing about it".. It is especially powerful when you put it online for all to see.
There is no such thing as the error free hotel. We all make mistakes. What's important is how you recover from them. You can do this so much better if you offer all your customers a means of airing their complaint in public if they want to.
Tripadvisor doesn't allow you, as a hotelier, to recover. Ditch it. And get yourself a proper website.
Hotels which don't enjoy a decent rating with Tripadvisor are less likely to link to it. (and as a result don't send a proportion of their hard earned traffic straight into the arms of an online travel agent)
Let's be clear, in 25 years in the industry, it is my opinion that Tripadvisor is the last bastion of the sort of guests we all wish would stay somewhere else. Sure, there are lots of people who write nice things, or at least offer a balanced opinion, however there are more than a few who abuse the website to peddle their viscious bile. Whether they're right or not.
One very negative listing can destroy an otherwise unblemished reputation.
They don't even give the hotel managers much of an opportunity to respond. "Wronged" managers can only list a "management response" in a seriously limited way.
I have some experience of this in my career: One guest - who behaved abominably throughout his stay towards staff, other guests and indeed his own family - took exception to my suggestions that he calm down and behave himself (only the hotel owner prevented me from inviting the gentleman to leave). He left a sulphurous and quite untrue report about the hotel in Tripadvisor. Representations to Tripadvisor to have the report removed, or at least edited, were refused. C'est la vie.
If you want to publish guest comments (and I suggest you publish them all - don't censor them) get yourself a proper website. There are systems which can run this for you quite easily. It's not difficult to do. You see, having a proper website puts you in control of the interaction between you and your customers. If you don't censor it, you can't be accused of trying to make yourself out to be something you're not. Your website starts to build credibility.
I would argue that tripadvisor has questionable credibility. Very positive listings can easily come from people who haven't stayed at your hotel before, very negative ones... well, let's say that people who understand how these things work, know that the internet is stuffed full of rubbish. Look at bebo.
Controlling your own online feedback/comment system should also allow you to respond positively to each and every comment. If you got it wrong while the guest was staying, there is nothing more disarming than complete honesty - "Yes, we screwed up - this is what we're doing about it".. It is especially powerful when you put it online for all to see.
There is no such thing as the error free hotel. We all make mistakes. What's important is how you recover from them. You can do this so much better if you offer all your customers a means of airing their complaint in public if they want to.
Tripadvisor doesn't allow you, as a hotelier, to recover. Ditch it. And get yourself a proper website.
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