The Value of Reviews for the Holiday Industry

This week, Igniyte wants to take the time to show how customer reviews can impact your corporate reputation online if you’re in the holiday industry.

The True Value of Reviews

Trust Pilot recently released a paper tackling this issue. Titled; Trust Economy Report, The True Value of Reviews,’ it uses data to show how reviews effect consumer spending habits.

The paper show that that online reviews have the potential to generate up to 40% of additional revenue each year, then goes on to point out how, by providing figures to illustrate the effect that reviews have on customers.

These figures are telling, 77% of UK consumers admit to checking online reviews before making any purchase. Meanwhile, 62% said that after reading a positive review, they’d be more likely to do business with the company in question. Finally, 20% have been shown to spend 10% more with the company that has a good review.

Stops People from Having a Bad Experience

Alternatively, the figures supplied by Trust Pilot show us the flipside; the effect of negative reviews. Consider this; 60% of consumers have posted a review online; 83% of which were positive. 59% of the people who wrote negative reviews, admitted to doing so specifically to stop other people from having a bad experience.

Data indicates that the lions share – 89% – of UK consumers are influenced by negative reviews. Almost as many – 78% – admitted that reading such reviews could dissuade them from making a purchase. Furthermore, 17% would let a single negative review put them off dealing with the company in question.

The Positive Effects of Dealing with a Negative Review

Through this, we see how a review which damages your reputation can directly impact your profit margins – it persuades consumers to divert their custom away from you, depriving you of capital. Yet the situation isn’t impossible to deal with.

Trust Pilot CMO Jan Vels Jensen once said that “by making the effort to deal with negative reviews, you can diffuse their impact on your bottom line.” We see this borne out, through the fact that 15% of online shoppers admitted that if a company responded to, and successfully handled, a negative review, they’d be more likely to do business with them in the future.

TripAdvisor Receives Almost 280 Million Unique Users a Month

When it comes to the holiday industry, these figures hold a particular significance. This is because of the sheer amount of the holiday-going-public who are using reviews to make their holiday decisions.

One such online holiday review site – the largest in the world – is TripAdvisor, and their stats are telling. As of 2014, TripAdvisor receives almost 280 million unique users a month. It boasts over 170 million reviews, covering 4 million business and properties, as well as over 140,000 destinations.

Reaping the Benefits of Successfully Dealing with a Negative Review

We see the direct effect that customer reviews can have on your reputation in the holiday industry. More consumers than ever are looking at holiday review sites, and more consumers than ever are letting reviews dictate their purchasing choices.

This means that a negative review has the capability to drive potential holidaymakers away. Yet effectively dealing with a negative review could draw them back. That is why it’s essential that holiday companies actively work to protect their reputation online; failure to do so could deplete their profit margins.

If you would like to find about how Igniyte can help you to manage reviews for your hotel or business please contact us here for a confidential discussion.