Most of the time, potential guests first check reviews on the Internet before they decide on a hotel. This makes online reviews critical in that they have a direct impact on the image of a property.
Minimizing the number of negative reviews can be possible through contact with customers writing reviews. But who are these customers? Which group comments more: women or men? How old are those who seem to be the most active in this field? Do vacationers or business travelers comment more on the Internet?
The answers of these questions will be help you identify those writing online reviews about you and manage such reviews better.
What do the numbers tell?
An online survey conducted on guests writing online reviews about their hotel experiences might shed light on some aspects we tend to forget.
In 2002, the average annual number of reviews per hotel was 3, while it has reached up to 465 currently.
46 % of guests that stay at a property prefer sharing their experiences on the Internet.
81 % of guests find reviews useful, while only 19 % tell that they cannot relate to any of the reviews. 49 % do not book without seeing online reviews.
53 % of guests writing reviews are female and 47 % are male. However, men give an average of 7,8 points out of 10 for properties, while women give only an average 7,8, which is quite low.
The age of people commenting the most varies between 35 and 49, by 45 %, which is followed by people aged between 25 and 34 that correspond to 30 %. The lowest rate is between the ages 13 and 17 by 0.5 %.
58 % of the guests writing reviews accommodate for holiday purposes, while 36 % do so both for business and travel purposes. 6 % accommodate only for business purposes, which means that vacationers spend more time writing online reviews.
22 % of potential guests read online reviews on their mobile device. Therefore, you definitely need a mobile-compatible website to catch any bookings by a guest under the effect of a positive comment.
According to research, the most popular review website is TripAdvisor with 60 million reviews, followed by Booking.com with approximately 14 million reviews and Expedia with 4 million reviews.
One cannot deny the importance of online reviews. No property would necessarily be willing to take the risk of ignoring it. Furthermore, if you are worried about negative comments, it is possible to twist them to your favor.
If you also want to accept online bookings both via mobile devices and PCs, and promote your hotel on various channels HotelRunner is there for you. Create your account now and test how our offers can benefit you.
