Reviews essential for travel buyers
Consulting reviews is an essential stage of the travel planning journey and a powerful tool for travellers to decide on which travel programme to buy, according to the 2015 Custom Survey Research Engagement.
The research was an independent study of 14,991 respondents conducted by Phocuswright on behalf of TripAdvisor.
Phocuswright fielded an online consumer survey, between 8 to 29 April 2015, driving responses via pop-ups on TripAdvisor websites in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Brazil, Russia, Australia, India, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.
The survey targeted users of the website’s hotel reviews who have also purchased lodging for travel within the past 12 months, and planned their own trips. Respondents were invited to participate in the survey, while visiting the TripAdvisor website via a link which directed them to an online survey instrument.
According to the study, TripAdvisor users read multiple reviews across several sources before making a decision on where to stay, visit or eat. 79% of TripAdvisor users will read at least six to 12 reviews across four to 10 properties before deciding where to stay.
The study also showed businesses with lots of reviews to choose from, fresh anecdotes from customers and thoughtful responses from staff are more likely to appeal to users. With the results revealling that four in five TripAdvisor users believe that hotels which respond to reviews care more about their guests.
According to the findings 63% of TripAdvisor users want one convenient location to read reviews, compare prices and book.
TripAdvisor chief marketing officer, Barbara Messing, said the majority of our users are coming to TripAdvisor not just to read reviews but also to compare options for their trip, make an informed decision and book.
“With travellers now finding the end to end solution they need on the site, peer generated reviews are as important as ever. Just as we continue to encourage our community to share their travel experiences, we remind businesses of the importance of engaging with travelers and responding to those all-important reviews.”
TripAdvisor® is the world’s largest travel site, enabling travellers to plan and book trip. It offers trusted advice from real travellers and a wide variety of travel choices and planning features with seamless links to booking tools that check hundreds of websites to find the best hotel prices.
