On Holiday Group is to invite agents to film hotel and resort reviews for a trade version of its consumer video community Fresh TV.
The group, which owns dynamic packaging company Holidaybrokers and direct-sell tour operator Fresh Holidays, has five teams filming customer reviews in its most popular holiday resorts.
Thirty-five reviews have already been uploaded on its consumer site and it aims to have 500 reviews by the end of the winter.
The review section will be launched on On Holiday Group’s trade site in November. It hopes it can encourage agents, hoteliers and tour operator reps to give their reviews.
Chief executive Steve Endacott said: “Agents could video themselves in their shops, but people have to be honest.”
He admitted any negative consumer reviews could lead to some hoteliers refusing to work with the company. “We have 5,000 hotels on our websites. We are confident about our product but we would drop a hotel if it got bad reviews. We want people to tell the truth.”
The company is also trying to encourage hotels and tourist boards to video holidaymakers’ reviews to post on its sites.
“There is a degree of nervousness with hotels but they must have faith in their products. We can’t afford to have film crews all over the world but we can provide the technology for our local partners.”
Endacott said user review sites such as tripadvisor.co.uk relied on holidaymakers to post reviews on their return.
“Everyone sits back and waits for customers to do the work. We want to actively ask customers for their views,” he said.