Online reviews work, so why do so few hotels use them?
Sep 25, 2014
Consumer reviews are effective sales drivers, and a trusted source of information for users, but very few hotel brands seem to make use of them. Econsultancy looked at some of the UK's hotel chains to see who is using reviews and, if so, are they doing it well.
It may seem obvious, as the case for reviews on ecommerce sites is beyond doubt, but it seems hotels are reticent about this. Perhaps anxiety around TripAdvisor is partly to blame. There are enough cases of fake and malicious reviews to make many hoteliers think twice.
However, as a recent study shows, reviews actually encourage people to spend more:
- If prices are the same, users are 3.9 times more likely to choose a hotel with higher review scores.
- When hotel prices are increased for those hotels with higher review scores, people are still likely to book.
- The study found that 76% of customers were willing to pay more for a hotel with higher review scores.
Get the full story at Econsultancy