Uncovering the Benefits of Guest ReviewsHow online reviews can help you connect with your customers, find out what they really want, and promote your hotel, restaurant, or attraction.

TripAdvisor-branded sites make up the largest travel community in the world, with more than 30 million monthly visitors, 11 million+ registered members, and 25 million+ reviews and opinions of properties and destinations.

Contact: widgets@tripadvisor.com

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Uncovering the Benefits of Guest Reviews

Find your Owner’s Center at: www.tripadvisor.com/owners

Why are guest reviews important?

Now more than ever, travelers are carefully checking reviews before deciding to book. And 87% of people looking for hotels are influenced by reviews1.

A recent survey shows that recommendations from consumers generate higher levels of trust than advertising or branded websites2.

Recommendations from consumers

Brand websites

E-mail I signed up for

Consumer opinions posted online

Newspaper

Magazine

TV

Radio

Brand sponsorships

Search engine ads

Ads before movies

Product placements

Online banner ads

Text ads on mobile phones

Trust “somewhat”

Trust “completely”

1 comScoreInc/The Kelsey Group Nov 2007. Source: Forrester NACTAS Healthcare, Travel & Customer Experience Online Survey2 Forrester Q2 2008 Benchmark Survey

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Uncovering the Benefits of Guest Reviews

Find your Owner’s Center at: www.tripadvisor.com/owners

3 e-consultancy/Bazaarvoice, 2007 Online4 Jupiter Research/Bazaarvoice survey of 1,000 online shoppers, December 2007

Reviews increase conversion ratesWhen potential customers go to your website, you have a great opportunity to convince them they should choose your hotel, restaurant, or attraction. Reviews can help reassure guests and compel them to book. According to a 2007 survey of 360 e-commerce websites, adding guest reviews had the following impact3:

• 56% lifted conversion• 77% increased traffic • 42% increased the average shopping basket

Reviews make customers trust your brandTrust in online reviews was found to be at its greatest when reviewers told both sides of the story4. People are looking for balanced information, and having only positive reviews could be viewed as inauthentic.

The good news is that, on balance, most reviews are positive – for example, on TripAdvisor, the average rating is 3.74 out of 5.

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Uncovering the Benefits of Guest Reviews

Find your Owner’s Center at: www.tripadvisor.com/owners

A snapshot of ratings on TripAdvisor

Reviews can reveal what your customers wantReviews give you the opportunity to find out what is important to your customers, so you can quickly respond to them with a high level of service and build confidence in your brand.

“Why do travelers pay attention to what their fellow travelers have to say? Trust. Fully 42% of US leisure travelers trust what other travelers say and share more than a company’s advertising or other marketing communications.”- Forrester: Using Digital Channels To Calm The Angry Traveler, August 4, 2009

Distribution of ratings (scale of 1-5, 5 being highest) for 817,000 properties featured on TripAdvisor.

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Uncovering the Benefits of Guest Reviews

Find your Owner’s Center at: www.tripadvisor.com/owners

How can you make the most of guest reviews?

Travelers trust other travelers, so you can benefit by tracking what your guests are saying and displaying their comments on your website.

Monitor what your customers are sayingOn TripAdvisor, you can opt to receive e-mail alerts every time TripAdvisor publishes a new review of your hotel, restaurant, or attraction (free registration required).

TripAdvisor reviews are the trusted source for millions of travelers looking for unbiased advice on hotels, restaurants, and attractions worldwide. Anyone can write a review, from first-time customers to your most loyal patrons.

To find all the resources you need, visit your business resources page on TripAdvisor at www.tripadvisor.com/owners

Not listed on TripAdvisor yet? Go to www.tripadvisor.com/pages/getlisted.html

“Hotel companies who do not today have a member of staff fully dedicated to monitoring consumer review forums on the web are missing out on what has become the most valuable guest feedback channel available.”- Bill Walshe, former CMO of Jumeirah Hotels

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Uncovering the Benefits of Guest Reviews

Find your Owner’s Center at: www.tripadvisor.com/owners

Engage customers with an enhanced listingIn order to give travelers the most up-to-date information about your property, you should add as much to your listing as you can.

Photos – choose eye-catching images that will capture people’s attention Videos – provide a visual guide that is just like the real experienceDescription – include as many details about your property as you can

Please refer to the “Manage your listing” section in your Owner’s Center to add this content to your listing. Also, be sure to verify that your property details are accurate on TripAdvisor.

“Manage your listing“ section in the Owner’s Center

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Uncovering the Benefits of Guest Reviews

Find your Owner’s Center at: www.tripadvisor.com/owners

Show your guests you value their feedbackIf you wish to respond to a guest’s comment, you can easily do so, demonstrating your commitment to customer care. Clearing up misunderstandings, giving your side of a situation, or even just thanking the guest for their review can speak volumes about the level of service they can expect to receive at your establishment.

An example of dedicated customer service from a hotel manager

“If you stumble, as all hotels do from time to time, a well-written response to a negative comment is your strongest sales tool... The fact is that most comments are positive; negative comments with a well-composed answer can be just as strong as a positive comment.”- Neil Salerno, Hotel Marketing Coach

http://www.htrends.com/article40077.html (7/22/09)

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Uncovering the Benefits of Guest Reviews

Find your Owner’s Center at: www.tripadvisor.com/owners

Promote your business with reviews and awards on your site

TripAdvisor review badges• Broadcast what satisfied

guests are saying• Keep travelers on your site

while they research• Entice customers just as

they’re deciding to book

“Recommended on TripAdvisor”& “Bravo“ award badges

• Show off the recognition you’ve earned

• Associate yourself with one of the biggest names in travel

• Make it easy for people to see your reviews on TripAdvisor

“I actually had someone come to look at my hotel yesterday (though they were staying elsewhere!!!) just because of my widget and TripAdvisor. They are going to stay with me in the future. I think it’s great!”- Jane Matthews, 2 River’s Lodge

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Uncovering the Benefits of Guest Reviews

Find your Owner’s Center at: www.tripadvisor.com/owners

Solicit reviews from your guests*Invite customers to write a review while their experience is fresh in their minds. Pick up your customized Write-a-Review link from your business resources page (free registration required), and include them on your website and e-mails.

* Please note that we do require that reviews are not solicited through incentives, discounts, upgrades or any kind of special treatment on current or future stays in exchange for reviews. Any property found to be offering incentives may be subject to penalty. It is also a severe violation of TripAdvisor’s guidelines to attempt to submit reviews written by the ownership or management of a property, posing as guests /patrons.

Write a Review widgetGathering more positive reviews is the best way to increase your visibility on TripAdvisor. These products make it easy for you to collect more reviews and show your customers that their opinions matter.

The Write a Review widget is available in two sizes

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Uncovering the Benefits of Guest Reviews

Find your Owner’s Center at: www.tripadvisor.com/owners

Track your performance

You can now instantly access your performance, as determined by your guests, including trend and competitive analysis, and a Customer Satisfaction Index. These statistics aggregate data from TripAdvisor reviews about your customers’ satisfaction and are the most up-to-date information available for your property. You can track customer satisfaction trends, decide which reviews need a response and assess how you compare to your competition. To get to your dashboard, just go to your Owner’s Center, sign in, and click on the “Track Performance” tab.

Each dashboard includes:Customer Satisfaction Index – a new scoring system that rates each review from 0-100 based on seven key TripAdvisor ratings, including: overall, value, recommended by traveler, cleanliness, service, room, and location.Recent reviews – the eight most recent reviews, categorized according to key metrics and enabling quick identification of issues with cleanliness, service, and moreTrends – compares a property’s rank against competitors, and against the aggregate rank of nearby properties

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Uncovering the Benefits of Guest Reviews

Find your Owner’s Center at: www.tripadvisor.com/owners

About TripAdvisor

TripAdvisor is the world’s largest travel community with more than 30 million unique monthly visitors, more than half of them coming from outside the United States. TripAdvisor features more user-generated content than any other travel site: 11 million+ members have contributed more than 25 million reviews and opinions, and 2 million+ traveler photos, on more than 1.1 million hotels, attractions, and restaurants in 70,000 cities.

TripAdvisor operates in the following countries:• U.S. (www.tripadvisor.com)• U.K. (www.tripadvisor.co.uk)• Canada (www.tripadvisor.ca)• Ireland (www.tripadvisor.ie)• France (www.tripadvisor.fr)• Germany (www.tripadvisor.de)• Italy (www.tripadvisor.it)• Spain (www.tripadvisor.es)• China (www.daodao.com)• India (www.tripadvisor.in)• Japan (www.tripadvisor.jp)• Sweden (www.tripadvisor.se)• Netherlands (nl.tripadvisor.com)• Brazil (www.tripadvisor.com.br)

“We have been delighted by the significant increase of business generated by TripAdvisor. Previously word of mouth had been our best source of new business. However, TripAdvisor provides word of mouth on the World Wide Web and the results have been phenomenal. TripAdvisor users are discerning and experienced travelers who know what they are looking for. Over half of all of our new bookings are generated through TripAdvisor.”- Kath and Liam Berney,The Cottage in the Wood Country House Hotel & Restaurant, Lake District, UK