THE FOUR CHARACTERISTICS OF ‘HIGHLY ENGAGED’ HOTELS

TripAdvisor has released a white paper on the link between hotel performance and engagement with guest reviews. (Download the full report here)

While hotels may perform various tasks to engage guests, Atmosphere’s analysis shows “highly engaged” hotels on TripAdvisor share the following four traits:

ONE - Registering and verifying as the owner of a property

By registering in the TripAdvisor Management Center and verifying its relationships with the property, a hotel’s management team takes ownership of the property’s TripAdvisor page. By maintaining and updating their TripAdvisor listing, they can confirm the details on the page are accurate, which helps increase travelers’ trust and interest in the property.

TWO - Publishing 10 or more hotel-supplied management photos

This is a clear case where “more is better.” Hotels have a business responsibility to present themselves and their guest experience as accurately as possible. Management photos do this extremely well and are an opportunity for owners to showcase their properties as they would want guests to see them.

THREE- Responding to at least 25% of its TripAdvisor guest reviews

Not every review requires a response, but it’s important that some reviews do get the acknowledgement they deserve from hotel management. There’s a good reason for this. Management Responses can help shift guest attitudes about the hotel – and in quite a considerable manner. Why? Because these responses are a person-to-person connection. Atmosphere Research shows, worldwide, that travelers who write positive or negative reviews appreciate receiving Management Responses to their comments

FOUR- Make sure their direct contact information is available

Hotels that subscribe to TripAdvisor Business Listings are able to “complete” their TripAdvisor listings by showing three direct contact points, such as a phone number, website URL and email address. This enables hotel owners to make contact information conveniently available to travelers as they’re searching for hotels on TripAdvisor. The Business Listings “Special Offer” feature allows hotels to improve their visibility on TripAdvisor by presenting travelers with promotions, including packages and offers that may be available exclusively via the hotel’s website. By using Business Listings to publish their contact information and promotions, hotels position themselves to increase both their exposure on TripAdvisor and capture more bookings through their own distribution channels.