TECHNOLOGY : WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT
custom-built widget with selected quotes from TripAdvisor , Facebook and Twitter that are hot links to reviews or posts . “ We ’ ve selected to feature a series of reviews that encompass different aspects of a travel experience ,” Simon says .
Most major brands have taken one of two different approaches to adding online reviews — putting TripAdvisor review widgets directly on their websites or creating their own user-generated review system for loyalty club members .
Which is the most effective route ? The answer depends on whether customers trust third-party reviews without stay verification versus reviews from the brand ’ s system written by verified guests . “ The jury is still out on the trust factor for private reviews for a single brand versus incorporating a neutral third-party resource ,” Cole says . “ Guests may be skeptical that brands will be likely to reveal negative reviews on their websites .”
Accor added TripAdvisor reviews onto its website in 2010 . Ahead of launching the reviews widget , Accor worked with TripAdvisor to create a training kit for hotel managers to increase the number of positive reviews . Accor says in addition to helping ensure users stay on its website , featuring the reviews has created greater trust among its customers , pressured its hoteliers to maintain quality standards and increased conversions .
“ This development was based on the XML feed provided by TripAdvisor for all Accor hotels ,” says Jean-Luc Chrétien , executive vice president , sales , distribution and loyalty , Accor . “ The cost was really minimal , and the ROI is the longer retention of users and higher conversion ratio .”
In September , Best Western International , Phoenix , launched a similar TripAdvisor review widget next to each property on its brand website , which contains the chain ’ s booking engine . “ We expect revenue growth to continue and improve with our recent and future planned enhancements ,” says Dorothy Dowling , senior vice president , marketing and sales , for Best Western . “ By embedding TripAdvisor reviews directly onto the brand website , we are simply streamlining the user experience and showing our guests there is complete transparency when it comes to our hotels .”
While some hoteliers may be intimidated by giving TripAdvisor reviews such leverage during the booking process , Best Western sees things differently . “ We understand there are going to be instances where a customer is not happy with their stay , and that may be reflected in a review , but we don ’ t view that as a risk but rather as an opportunity for us to respond and show our customers just how important their business really is to us ,” Dowling says .
One of TripAdvisor ’ s disadvantages is the lack of verification of whether reviewers actually stayed at the hotel or not . TripAdvisor was barred from marketing itself as “ honest ” and “ trusted ”
MORE ONLINE USERS ARE VIEWING WEBSITES FROM THEIR MOBILE PHONES AND TABLETS — it is critical for us to distribute relevant content whenever , wherever and on whatever devices the customers want to access our information .”
– Mark Simmons , vice president , sales and marketing , SilverNeedle Hospitality
SilverNeedle Hospitality ’ s website automatically resizes itself to fit the Internet browser accessing it .
in the United Kingdom after a government agency ruled consumers were too likely to be fooled by fraudulent reviews . TripAdvisor maintains the vast majority of reviews on its website are legitimate and there is “ zero tolerance ” for hoteliers and reviewers breaking policy . Penalties include getting a red badge for phony reviews posted on the hotel ’ s review page .
To mitigate the risk of consumers choosing not to book based on false reviews , hotel companies like IHG and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide have created their own review systems in which loyalty program members that stayed at a property can post reviews .
With development assistance from outside agency Bazaarvoice , Austin , Texas , Starwood in 2011 launched its review system that allows guests to publish positive or negative reviews in the Starwood Preferred Guest area of each brand ’ s website . Notes Alyssa Waxenberg , director , mobile and social media , for Starwood , “ We have processes in place to ensure that all guest reviews are validated for that stay so users can feel confident in the reviews they are reading .”
60 HOTELS November 2012 www . hotelsmag . com