Bookers and travellers trust hotel reviews

Checking hotel reviews before booking a room has become a standard procedure for many travel bookers and business travellers. Research shows that hotel managers really care about hotel reviews on review portals. Internet users believe up to 30 per cent of the reviews are fake.

In an ITB Academy webinar for tourism managers, the findings were revealed from a survey among 1,000 internet users, 17 review portals and over 1,500 hotel managers.

Nearly 96 per cent of those polled said that review portals are an important help for booking accommodation and that they used them often or always before choosing a hotel. 70 per cent of the people that took part in the survey said the hotels were as good as their reviews. 20 per cent found them to be even better than fellow travellers’ reviews.

When asked about fake comments customers have different opinions - close to 30 per cent of users believe a large percentage to be fake. Portal operators think that one to five percent of the reviews on their sites may be fake. Good news from hotels: 71 per cent of hotel managers say they take critical comments seriously and that they made corresponding improvements.