Survey finds that over 75% of European hotels say they will NOT connect directly to Tripadvisor

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Recently we asked European hotels including the UK, what they thought about Tripadvisor´s new adventure into becoming a source of direct revenue for hotels.  The overall results of the survey demonstrate that Tripadvisor still has a lot of work ahead of them to convince hotels they can be a source of reservations as well as being a review site,

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At present nearly 80% of hotels are not connected to either Tripconnect or Instant Booking which suggests that Tripadvisor still has a long way to go to start and penetrate into getting hotels connected.  What is more surprising though is that over 75% of hotels said that they are not considering connecting to Tripadvisor over the next 12 months, which leads to the conclusion that a big majority of European Hotels still view Tripadvisor as only a review site.

This view is understandable when according to the survey when only a few hotels have connected to Tripadvisor but of those who have, 75% have received less than 24,000 euros in reservations over the last 12 months.  Hoteliers also think that Tripadvisor will not become a major source of reservations over the short to medium term.

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When it comes to advertising spend using Tripconnect, the majority of hotels do not have any budget set, for the hotels that do, this is very limited, which when all tied together with the other results in this survey, paints a clear picture that Hotels for the time being at least, continue to believe that Tripadvisor is the number one review site, but not ready to accept them just yet as a source of reservations.

However, there is a shining light for Tripadvisor that will aid their connectivity with hotels – Instant Booking.  By charging effectively a % of commission on reservations, nearly 60% of hotels viewed this positively.  From my experience of managing hotels, I can tell you that all Hoteliers love to receive business on commission, especially if the percentage they pay is what Tripadvisor is suggesting of between 12-15%.

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There is one thing that hotels will need to consider though if they do decide to connect to Tripadvisor. During our initial analysis, we found a large number of hotels promoting Tripadvisor reviews on their own website, with normally a link which takes you to your hotel´s review page on the Tripadvisor site.  A question all Sales & Marketing Directors should be asking themselves If Tripadvisor is wanting to become a source of reservations, why are you helping them from your own website, especially if a clear majority of hotels are not planning to connect to Instant Booking?  Yes, for sure promote your positive Tripadvisor reviews on your website but do so using tools that maintain your guests on your website, which in turn will aid and increase in direct bookings.

Hotelient can help you promote your reviews whilst keeping prospective guests on your website for you to increase direct bookings.  Email us for more information info@hotelient.net

About the author

John Kearney has over 20 years of Hotel Sales and General Hotel Management experience working for both Independent 4 & 5* Hotels & Resorts as well as with Intercontinental (IHG) and Radisson SAS for Hotels based in London as well as across Spain.

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