Websites such as Tripadvisor, Booking, Expedia or Trivago assure that the best publicity is to make clients happy
Going to a travel agency, booking a hotel and waiting to get on site to see if we have chosen well or not. It is past history. Choosing a destination, reviewing numerous websites, comparing and choosing the hotel. It is today’s reality.
The way to do tourism has changed greatly since the Internet in general and in particular recommendation websites are considered essential tools to plan trips, from those that consist of traveling the world to those that mean merely going around the corner. Websites such as Tripadvisor, Booking, Expedia or Trivago are used equally to learn information on the restaurant in the neighborhood you’re having dinner at tonight, as well as to plan a two week trip to the other side of the planet.
What the hotel chains or restaurants themselves state is a mere anecdote if we compare any additional information we can find on these websites. Customers give their opinion, share their experience and even upload their own photographs. According to official data from comScore Media Metrix, Tripadvisor websites reached 315 million unique visitors per month in 2014. According to this website, they have “more than 200 million opinions on more than 4.5 million accommodations, restaurants and attractions.”
This is a phenomenon that knows no borders. Trivago is available in 25 languages and compares over 50 different platforms. Meanwhile, Booking.com is available in 40 languages and offers accommodation in 211 countries. Every day, over 800,000 nights are booked through this website.
Undoubtedly these websites have the power and consolidate with the way they operate that the best publicity is to make clients happy.
In fact, there is no brand that does not take them into account. Hotels check every day what they say about them, analyze their weaknesses and compare with the competition. There are teams dedicated exclusively to this and to answering the comments left by the clients who passed through their facilities.
The power of these sites goes beyond that. Even at the risk of being penalized by these platforms, there are hotels that subtly offer rewards and awards for positively rating their services and facilities. The number 1 is highly coveted and almost anything goes when it comes to achieving it. However, few succeed bypassing the rules.
