by Martin Dinham, Director, digital marketing agency Guava
Last week the Department of Media, Culture & Sport announced that it was ending its support for the current UK star based system for rating hotels, in favour of a system using customer generated reviews hosted on websites such as Tripadvisor.
Whilst the news perhaps raises more questions than answers, it does reflect the industry’s reluctant acceptance that checking independent internet reviews has become a habitual part of the hotel and holiday selection process for the majority of customers.
It’s understandable that such significant shift will have an impact on the travel industry, in particular how travel agents price and sell hotels and holidays.
However, with the majority of holidays now purchased online its clear that something needs to change to support the offline travel agents.
Many customers now visit a travel agent to find a holiday, then leave before purchasing that deal to research the suggestions online, check reviews and compare prices before deciding whether to return to make that purchase.
Moving to a system where independent customer reviews are available at the point of sale this might actually help agents to close deals on the spot.
If bricks and mortar travel agents can then combine these reviews with price guarantees the customer would have everything they need to confidently book in one place.
If the government does back such a scheme then central to its success will be giving the customer something they are confident in using.
Right now sites like Tripadvisor provide a valuable resource, but can these reviews be fully trusted and do they provide the kind of granular assessment delivered by the current national Quality Assessment Scheme?
With a customer review based system, constant social media monitoring will become an essential business practice for every hotelier and travel agent.
Failing to respond and address negative comments and discussions hosted on blogs, review sites and social networks could well have a direct impact on their business.
As more people become familiar with portals or sites like Google or Tripadvisor to check user-generated reviews, the more they will trust whatever is put in place by DCMS. It’s clear that consumer habits are changing, the question remains is the travel industry ready to change too?