guest reviews
How Much Should a Hotel Website Cost?
Lodging Interactive | August 12, 2024
Lodging Interactive offers a SaaS model where a hotel pays a nominal fee upfront and continues with monthly payments for the term of the contract, after which the website is fully owned by the property. Thanks to website and hosting technology advancements over the past 15 years, spending tens of thousands of dollars to build a high-converting hotel website is no longer necessary. This is important for hotel marketers to understand, as they typically allocate less than 5% of their annual budget to marketing. “Independent hotels typically allocate about 4-5% of their total revenue to their overall marketing budget. Within this budget, ...
How Can Hotels Use PMS Capabilities to Improve Guest Review Scores?
Audrey MacRae | June 18, 2024
Property-management systems are improving communication between hotels and guests and establishing new norms when managing online reviews and long-term relationships; Learn more by visiting Maestro at HITEC Charlotte in Booth 1844 By Audrey MacRae Hospitality has traditionally been a reactive service model. Guests shop for hotel stays, peruse reviews, secure a booking, attend their stay and depart with a review in mind. However, travelers have often been known to leave reviews mid-stay as issues or surprises challenge and delight them. Operators who fail to account for these guests are open to allowing negative reviews to color their proper...
Almost Every Hotel or Resort Customer Reads Guest Reviews
Accor | June 17, 2024
A staggering 97% of hotel guests have consulted guest reviews when looking to book a stay in a hotel or resort, according to a new report from Accor, a world leading hospitality group. The report, based on research1 carried out amongst 5,000 travellers across five European countries who stayed in a hotel or resort during the last 12 months, reveals that almost four in ten (38%) guests do so every time they book a stay, and a further 38% do so most of the time. According to the study, guest reviews and ratings are the second most important factor in the booking decision process, ranking just behind rooms and amenities, and surpassing cri...
Drive More Bookings: Innovative Strategies for Hotel Landing Pages
Lodging Interactive | May 16, 2024
For the past 25 years, it has become evident that most hotels fail to adequately capitalize on opportunities presented by seasonal holidays and event business drivers. The lack of optimization of these revenue opportunities is due in part to two factors: (1) the DOSM simply doesn’t have enough time and resources to organize marketing materials, and (2) the hotel’s website lacks the ability to create marketing landing pages ‘on the fly,’ which rings especially true for branded properties. Today, potential guests are overwhelmed with endless social media distractions; hotels must cut through the noise and guide potential guests strai...
Customer Satisfaction Climbs Again as Travel Industry Rebounds to Pre-Pandemic Levels, ACSI® Data Show
the ACSI | April 23, 2024
ANN ARBOR, Mich., (April 23, 2024) — If last year’s industrywide customer satisfaction improvement pointed to the travel industry returning to normal, then this year’s marks confirm it: Travel is back! Satisfaction across airlines, lodging, car rentals, and online travel agencies climbs again, returning to prepandemic levels, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI®) Travel Study 2023-2024. The airline industry stands out, hitting an all-time customer satisfaction high of 77 after a second straight 1% year-over year improvement. “Airline customer satisfaction has climbed to new heights, reaching scores not...
“No” Is an Easy Answer
Shep Hyken | April 4, 2024
By Shep Hyken If a customer asks you to do something you haven’t done before, “No” is an easy answer. Why? Because… We don’t do that. We’ve never done that. We don’t carry that product. That’s not our policy. And more reasons – or excuses – like these. Recently, I was the keynote speaker at a conference, and the CEO, who spoke just before me, teed up my presentation perfectly when he talked about going the extra mile. His approach to this concept was realistic. He said, “No one will be able to go the extra mile every time.” He emphasized that unless the customer has some kind of emerg...
Successfully Fielding Legitimate Guest Complaints AND How to Stop the “Full Refund Scammers”
Doug Kennedy | April 3, 2024
Sponsored By Travel Outlook, Better Talent, and Track Hospitality Software Register your team and participate live, or view the recording, of Doug Kennedy’s next 40-minute training webcast scheduled for Friday, April 19, from Noon – 12:45pm EST. REGISTER HERE “While the vast majority of guests who complain simply want to be heard and have their issues resolved, a small but vocal minority intentionally seek out issues they can use to argue for compensation, discounts, or even a full refund,” said KTN President Doug Kennedy. “Unfortunately, untrained staff and first-level supervisors cave all too easily, and worse yet, grow cyn...
Should Revenue Management Be Involved in Reputation Management?
HSMAI | March 18, 2024
By Monika Morrobel, CRME, CHDM, Area Director of Revenue Management, Pyramid Hotel Group, HSMAI Revenue Optimization Advisory Board Member Recognition of Reviews as Influential Decision Drivers: Consumer behavior is heavily influenced by reviews, with a staggering 95% of potential guests considering them before making a booking. Direct Correlation Between Reviews and Revenue: Even marginal improvements in positive reviews can lead to substantial revenue gains, with a mere 0.5% increase potentially translating into a remarkable 25% boost in revenue. This underscores the tangible impact of reputation management efforts on the bottom lin...
