Reviews play an increasingly important role within the modern travel industry, which is why the concept of review management has become so important. By using the right techniques and strategies, companies can help to amplify positive feedback and limit the damage caused by negative reviews. In this article, you will learn more about the importance of reviews, the value of review management, and 10 tips for companies looking to improve in this area.

Table of Contents:

What is Review Management?

Review management is the continuous process of monitoring customer reviews, increasing the number of positive reviews left, limiting the damage caused by bad reviews, and responding appropriately to customers who leave reviews. The main goal is to develop and maintain a positive reputation and/or brand image.

Ultimately, review management efforts within the travel industry are intended to ensure that customer reviews have a positive effect, leading to more bookings or sales, and improved revenue generation. Additionally, these efforts should lead to fewer negative reviews, more positive feedback, and better customer relationships.

The Importance of Review Management

The concept of review management has become increasingly important in recent years, for good reason. According to statistics and research compiled by learn.g2.com, almost 95 percent of shoppers read online reviews before making purchases, and 97 percent say reviews influence their buying decisions.

This applies to B2B companies too, with 92 percent of B2B buyers saying they are more likely to purchase after reading a trusted review. Moreover, companies that make it easy for customers to find online feedback are rewarded, as displaying reviews have been shown to increase conversion rates by as much as 270 percent.

In terms of what they are hoping to find, 68 percent of customers say they are interested in the reviewer’s experience, or interested in the problems the reviewer experienced when dealing with a particular company.

Positive reviews can provide those considering a purchase with the sense of certainty required to follow through with that intention. When your company has enough positive reviews and a good ratio of positive-to-negative reviews, your online reputation can help to attract more customers and boost sales.

Which Travel Industry Companies Should Consider Review Management?

Given the importance of online reviews and their influence on the purchasing decisions made by customers, it is fair to say that virtually all companies operating in the travel & tourism industry today could benefit from review management. After all, review management has become a marketing tool, and the companies that manage their reputation most effectively will have a significant competitive advantage.

In particular, companies operating in the hotel industry, airline industry, car rental industry, cruise industry, and parts of the entertainment industry aimed towards travelers could all benefit greatly from the ability to manage online reviews. The same applies to travel agents, management companies, and tour operators.

10 Review Management Tips for Travel Companies

With the value of review management established, it is important to understand how to manage reviews effectively and improve your reputation. Below, you will find 10 specific tips for travel companies.

1. Provide an Excellent Customer Experience

On a basic level, the single biggest step you can take to achieve success is to focus on providing the best possible experience for your customers. No amount of strategy and careful review management can deliver the same benefits for your overall reputation that offering a genuinely great experience can.

By focusing on delivering what customers want, you can ensure people leave a positive impression of your company. This, in turn, functions as organic review management, resulting in better reviews.

2. Ask Customers to Leave Feedback Online

A successful review management process relies on your business generating reviews in the first place, so it is vital to encourage your customers to leave feedback. This can be done in several ways. For instance, you could send an email request after a customer checks out of a hotel or uses a booking platform.

It is important to keep a steady flow of reviews coming in. Travelers increasingly make purchasing decisions based on online reviews, and recent ones will better reflect what your business offers.

3. Look for Trends in Online Reviews

Once your travel company generates many online customer reviews, an important management step involves looking out for some of the key trends within these reviews. What aspects of your company – and the product or service you offer – are most commonly mentioned? Are there problems that are brought up repeatedly?

Consider the words and phrases reviewers use to describe you to build a picture of how they feel.

4. Respond to Online Reviews From Customers

It is important to remember that when customers leave negative reviews, you have a right to reply, and you do not have to leave the review to stand. There are various ways you can reduce the damage of negative reviews. For example, if you dispute their version of events, you can provide your own account of what transpired.

Of course, you can also respond to positive reviews, which may encourage other users to leave feedback.

5. Think About How You Communicate

While your branding strategy will significantly influence marketing communications, you must adopt a different approach to review management. Generally, reviewers want to be treated as individuals, so you must speak to them like a person and avoid sounding too robotic or unnatural.

Other potential customers reading your online reviews will also appreciate seeing a human touch from you. Refer to people by name and avoid leaving replies that sound generic or like stock responses.

6. Face Up to All Legitimate Criticism

Every travel company will attract bad reviews from time to time, but you must face up to legitimate criticism properly. Do not be afraid to own up to mistakes; make sure you learn from them and do not repeat them. Tell customers you will address the issue(s) they raised and follow through with that promise.

Refusing to acknowledge valid complaints can come across very badly, as can promising to make changes and failing to actually deliver. Over time, if you listen and learn, the good reviews will far outweigh the bad.

7. Manage Your Listings Pages on Review Sites

Many of the major review platforms, such as those dedicated to hotel reviews, will allow you to manage your own listings page, and you should take them up on this as much as you can. For customers, review pages may be their first point of contact with your business, so make sure you provide the best first impression you can.

This means keeping photographs up-to-date, ensuring all descriptions are still relevant, and so forth.

8. Ensure Customer Feedback is Visible

While many potential travel industry customers will actively seek out reviews independently, it can still pay to make this process easier. A great way to display confidence in your reputation and the customer experience you provide is to showcase online reviews on your website and social media platforms.

Provide direct links to your listings pages on some major review platforms, and consider allowing reviews directly on your website too. Showcasing positive reviews is a great way to get website visitors to convert.

9. Devise a Review Management Strategy

Once you generate many reviews, you must develop a clear review management strategy. For instance, you need to be clear on who will manage and respond to reviews, and devise a system for feeding important information back to key decision-makers.

Staff members tasked with this job must also know the best practices and common pitfalls to avoid.

10. Make Use of Reputation Management Software

Finally, one of the best ways to manage your reviews is to use reputation management applications. As an example, hotel reputation management software allows hotels to monitor reviews left across multiple platforms from a single place. The software sends notifications when new reviews are left, allowing you to respond quickly.

In the article “Reputation Management Software for Travel Companies”, you will learn more about how this software can be of benefit, not only for hotels but also for airlines, restaurants, and other businesses in the tourism industry.

Review management is important within the travel and tourism industry because many customers make purchasing decisions based on the reviews they read. For this reason, travel companies must take the necessary steps to manage their reviews, generate more positive feedback and reduce the impact of any negative comments.

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Revfine.com is a knowledge platform for the hospitality & travel industry. Professionals use our insights, strategies and actionable tips to get inspired, optimise revenue, innovate processes and improve customer experience. You can find all hotel & hospitality tips in the categories Revenue Management, Marketing & Distribution, Hotel Operations, Staffing & Career, Technology and Software.

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This article is written by:

Martijn Barten

Hi, I am Martijn Barten, founder of Revfine.com. With 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry, I specialize in optimizing revenue by combining revenue management with marketing strategies. I have successfully developed, implemented, and managed revenue management and marketing strategies for individual properties and multi-property portfolios.