Author – SOPHIE CARTWRIGHT  – Guestline

It’s no secret that hotels benefit from great reviews from guests with 93% of hoteliers stating that online traveller reviews are important for the future of their business. And its common knowledge that potential guests read these before making their choice but just how much of an effect do reviews have on your occupancy and most importantly revenue?

In 2001, the first ever TripAdvisor review was published – fast forward to 2016 and 340 million unique monthly users are hitting the site – I’m sure you will agree, these are pretty impressive figures! But what are these people doing? What influence does the content have? How can you control this?

In a recent survey of 35,000 travellers by TripBarometer, 88% voted ratings and reviews as the second most important factor when it comes down to booking, only being trumped by price.
A recent TripAdvisor study on Swissotel showed a 74% increase in reviews gave a direct traffic increase of 48% – ultimately generating commission free direct bookings.

So, how can you increase your reviews and your ratings?

TripAdvisor have launched Review Express, making it easier than ever to ask guests to write a review on TripAdvisor and boost your engagement levels. Fully integrated with Guestline’s property management system, Rezlynx, you can engage with guests post-stay to encourage valuable feedback and tempt repeat bookings.

You can utilise the customizable templates to automatically send emails to your guest once they have checked out making it an easy and direct solution to generate reviews.

Studies show that traveller reviews make a real impact on travellers’ decision-making process. Review Express makes it easy for hotels to get the fresh reviews travellers want to see when they’re ready to book. Take control of your reviews today –

Contact Guestline Software specialists at Tierney’s for more information on a fully integrated review module, Review Express, in your Rezlynx PMS.

Tierney’s are a preferred partner of Guestline’s Cloud Software Solutions across Ireland. Call us today on 065 6828 28