TripAdvisor reveals findings from survey of over 100,000 travellers and hospitality business owners about the influence of reviews. According to consumers, the three most important things that make a review helpful are that it concentrates on facts (cited by 56%), that it provides a lot of detail (48%) and that it’s concise and to the point (41%).
LONDON, UK – Nearly three quarters (73%) of UK businesses have taken steps to improve service as the result of an online review, according to a survey of over 100,000 respondents by TripAdvisor. The findings come as TripAdvisor unveiled a new Guide to Writing Helpful Reviews, with useful review-writing tips for consumers based on a survey of over 100,000 travellers and hospitality business owners.
“Reviews have become a powerful tool; travellers around the world rely on reviews to help them plan and book their holidays. In fact, more than half will not make a booking decision without reading reviews from others”, says Barbara Messing, Chief Marketing Officer, TripAdvisor. “With more than 200 million reviews and opinions and growing on TripAdvisor, we wanted to provide new and seasoned reviewers with insights from our passionate community – from what motivates them to contribute, to the top tips for writing helpful reviews,” she adds.
What makes a review helpful?
- TripAdvisor asked the community – and the votes are in:
- According to consumers, the three most important things that make a review helpful are that it concentrates on facts (cited by 56%), that it provides a lot of detail (48%) and that it’s concise and to the point (41%).
- In terms of the style of the review, 83 percent of travellers want to read a balanced view, and over two thirds (69%) say it’s important to provide the context for why the reviewer liked or didn’t like something
- When it comes to the content of a hotel review, almost two thirds (64%) of travellers want a review to mention the condition of the hotel, and just under half (49%) say it is important to mention the quality of service
- For restaurant reviews, four out of five travellers (81%) say they want to hear about the food quality, followed by the service (66%)
- For attraction reviews, it’s all about the advice: three quarters (75%) of travellers want a review to include practical tips that can improve their experience
Claire Kaye, a family travel reviewer on TripAdvisor, offered her advice on writing reviews, “What didn’t I know before my visit that would have been useful information in advance? That’s the question I try to answer whenever I write a review, especially when offering advice to others travelling with children.”
Why review?
More than eight in ten reviewers (83%) say they write reviews because ‘they want to share useful information with others’ and because ‘they find reviews helpful, so they want to give back.’
Ensuring their reviews are as fresh as possible, more than two thirds (68%) of travellers say they write reviews within two days of their trip or experience, and 70 percent say it takes them 10 minutes or less to write a review.
The survey also revealed the biggest turn-offs for people when reading reviews: overly picky reviews are the #1 turn-off among travellers (54%), followed by a lack of detail or specifics on what the reviewer experienced (50%) and bad grammar (42%).
TripAdvisor Travel Advocate Wendy Perrin, who has been a travel journalist spanning two decades, shares her tips, ”What I have found to be really beneficial is to include in your review what you wished somebody had told you ahead of time, pinpointing what was out of the ordinary or unique about the experience, as well as taking a photo of the view from your hotel room”.
Vast majority of UK businesses take reviews on board
The survey also highlighted the importance of reviews to UK business owners, and the key role they play in influencing improvements.
In fact, nearly three quarters (73%) of UK hospitality businesses say they have taken steps to improve service as the result of an online review, and 85 percent agree that online review sites like TripAdvisor have had a positive impact on the hospitality industry and service standards.
Nearly two thirds (59%) of UK businesses say they check their reviews ‘whenever a new review comes in’.
Jackie Grech, Policy Director, British Hospitality Association, commented on the launch of the guide, “TripAdvisor reviews are of critical importance to the industry which aims to provide the best service and offer to guests. It is a great thing for the industry and customers to have a guide that emphasises the importance of customer reviews and to take care to use that powerful voice to provide a useful, honest, realistic review of your experience on TripAdvisor.”
Tatiana is the news coordinator for TravelDailyNews Media Network (traveldailynews.gr, traveldailynews.com and traveldailynews.asia). Her role includes monitoring the hundreds of news sources of TravelDailyNews Media Network and skimming the most important according to our strategy.
She holds a Bachelor's degree in Communication & Mass Media from Panteion University of Political & Social Studies of Athens and she has been editor and editor-in-chief in various economic magazines and newspapers.
