The study analysed user behaviour on the online review site, tracking which factors led travellers to look for more information about hotels and B&Bs, either through clicks on the property’s TripAdviosr page or via booking enquiries.
It found that hotels which provide a management response to reviews on TripAdvisor enjoy 17 per cent higher levels of engagement with travellers and are 21 per cent more likely to receive a booking enquiry than those with no management responses.
Researchers also revealed that the average review rating of hotels and B&Bs rose in correlation with the rate of response to recent reviews, with properties that have responded to 65 per cent of reviews enjoying an average review rating of 4.15 per cent, compared to a 3.81 per cent average for those with a zero per cent response rate.
Photos photos photos
The study also found that hotels with at least one photo of their property on TripAdvisor enjoy 138 per cent more engagement from travellers and a 225 per cent more booking enquiries than those which have no photos.
Properties with over 100 photos on the site enjoy 151 per cent more engagement and a 238 per cent increase in booking enquiries compared to those with no photos.
“Looking at the results of this study, a clear theme emerges: the more engaged the business owner, the more interested the traveller,” said Marc Charron, President, TripAdvisor for Business.
“It’s no secret that travellers want to see pictures and read reviews of a property before making their booking decision. What’s really key is the upward trend in average review ratings, traveller engagement levels and booking enquiries on the site, the more frequently a hotel owner responds to reviews.
“Taking part in the conversation and demonstrating that the owner cares about feedback has a very real and measurable effect on converting a traveller from a casual browser into a potential guest.”
The factors that drive the most traveller engagement on Tripadvisor pages:
(ranked by level of impact on traveller engagement)
1. Number of photos
2. Total number of reviews
3. Management responses in the past year
4. Number of reviews in the past year