Drive traveler engagement with photos

Did you know that properties with 30 or more photos have over 45% more traveler engagement than those with 10 or less? Visuals continue to be an important part of your property’s listing on TripAdvisor. Here are a few tips to help you optimize your photos:

- Make photos a priority: There’s no limit to the number of photos you can add to your TripAdvisor property page. Build your listing’s photo gallery by adding five photos each month.

- Change your primary photo: The primary photo is your most visible image – it shows up in search results and the index for your location. Grab potential guests’ attention by regularly updating the photo to reflect the seasons, enhancements to the property, etc.

- Track your photo performance: Assess how well your photos are performing with the Snapshot in the Management Center (in the Your Property Overview section). Look for the Visitors viewing photos metric to see the percentage of travelers who view your photos. Improve those numbers over time by testing different primary photos or uploading various styles of images.

For more tips and detailed instructions on how to add photos to your listing, check out this guide.

Raise Your Glasses to India’s 2013 Travelers’ Choice Award Winners

Earlier this month, TripAdvisor for Business traveled to New Delhi to present at SATTE 2013, the 20^th edition of one of South Asia’s leading B2B travel and tourism trade exhibitions.  While in India, we also had the pleasure of congratulating 70 of the country’s 104 Travelers’ Choice Hotel Award winners at a TripAdvisor awards evening held at The Leela Palace.  A good time was had by all, from the award winners who traveled from nearby to join us, including the General Manager of The Leela, Tamir Kobrin, to those who made the journey from over 1,000 miles away in Kerala.  A toast to this year’s award winners!

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Study: TripAdvisor reviews and online reputation management can impact hotel booking

A new study conducted by PhoCusWright^® on behalf of TripAdvisor shows just how important TripAdvisor reviews and online reputation have become in the online booking process. Most notably, the study has found that 53% of respondents will not book a hotel that doesn’t have reviews on the site. And an overwhelming 87% agree that TripAdvisor hotel reviews “help me feel more confident in my decisions.”

Additional findings:

• 74% of respondents state that they write reviews because they want to share a good experience with other travelers
  • Only 5% state that they focus more on the negative when reading reviews to check for hotels and avoid potential pitfalls
  • 84% agree that an appropriate management response to a bad review “improves my impression of the hotel”

“The findings of the TripAdvisor survey reveal that, to thrive, hoteliers must actively encourage their guests to share their candid experiences online and also respond to their reviews when they do,” said Stephen Kaufer, president and CEO, TripAdvisor. “Otherwise, more than half of travelers may either ignore the property or pick a more responsive one.”

To view all of the results, see the infographic below.

Survey shows what attracts travelers to North American property pages

The results of a recent TripAdvisor study reveal that North American properties saw a rise in owner engagement based on how many reviews, visuals and management responses there are on their TripAdvisor pages.

Reviews
Having more reviews positively affects traveler engagement.

• Accommodations with 11+ reviews see 26% more engagement than those with fewer reviews
• Accommodations with 50+ reviews see 27% more engagement than those with 10 or fewer reviews

Management Responses
The more you respond, the better. Properties that write management responses also tend to have higher ratings.

• Accommodations with more than 5 management responses see 10% more traveler engagement than those with less than or equal to 5 responses

Visuals
Travelers are drawn to photos and videos – adding visual content can have a big impact!

• Accommodations with 30 or more photos have 41% more engagement than those with 10 or fewer photos
• Accommodations with at least one video have 34% more engagement than properties without a video

To add or update photos and videos, go to the “Manage your TripAdvisor page” section of your Management Center.

To encourage reviews, write management responses and post photos and videos, go to your TripAdvisor Management Center.

Survey shows what attracts travelers to Asia Pacific property pages

The results of a recent TripAdvisor study reveal that Asia Pacific properties saw a rise in owner engagement based on how many reviews, visuals and management responses are on their TripAdvisor pages.

Reviews

Having more reviews positively affects traveler engagement.

• Accommodations with 11+ reviews see 10% more engagement than those with fewer reviews
• Accommodations with 50+ reviews see 42% more engagement than those with 10 or fewer reviews

Management Responses

The more you respond, the better. Properties that write management responses also tend to have higher ratings.

• Accommodations with more than 5 management responses see 18% more traveler engagement than those with less than or equal to 5 responses

Visuals

Travelers are drawn to photos and videos – adding visual content can have a big impact!

• Accommodations with 30 or more photos have 49% more engagement than those with 10 or fewer photos
• Accommodations with at least one video have 32% more engagement than properties without a video

To encourage reviews, write management responses and post photos and videos, go to your TripAdvisor Management Center. 

Survey shows what attracts travelers to European property pages

Have you wondered what makes travelers spend more time on certain TripAdvisor property pages? TripAdvisor recently conducted a study and found that the more reviews, content, and management responses an accommodation has on TripAdvisor, the more engaged travelers will be.

Here is a breakdown of the results for Europe:

Reviews
The number of reviews can make a big difference! The study found that European properties with more reviews attract more attention from travelers.

• Accommodations with 11+ reviews see 28% more engagement than those with fewer reviews
• Accommodations with 50+ reviews see 38% more engagement than those with 10 or fewer reviews

Management Responses
According to the study, hotels that post management responses see higher rates of engagement from travelers, and also tend to see higher ratings.

• Accommodations with more than 5 management responses see 17% more traveller engagement than those with less than or equal to 5 responses

Visuals
Having more photos and videos can give properties an edge over their competitors.

• Accommodations with 30 or more photos have 42% more engagement than those with 10 or fewer photos
• Accommodations with at least one video have 21% more engagement than properties without a video

To encourage reviews, write management responses and post photos and vides, go to your TripAdvisor Management Center.

New slideshow feature brings photos to life

On TripAdvisor, rave reviews, thoughtful management responses, and a lovely business description will get you far. But a stunning photo is worth a thousand words.

Site research has shown that travelers are 150% more engaged with listings that have 20+ photos than with those that have only a few. This means that the more visual proof of your inviting amenities you give to travelers, the more interested in your business they become. And quality matters!

Your TripAdvisor property page gets a makeover

 The property page on TripAdvisor is a very important one:  it’s where travelers go to get the details they need in order to make their booking decisions.  So when travelers told us that this page was so full of information that it was often hard to find the most important parts, we made some changes.  We’re happy to introduce a new, streamlined property page that puts your critical information front and center. 

Creating a TripWow slideshow for your listing

TripAdvisor data shows that travelers love photos and the more a listing has, the more engaged they are with that property. A great way of adding more photos to your listing and differentiating them from candid traveler shots is to create a slideshow and upload it to your TripAdvisor listing as a video.

TripWow is a free tool that allows you to create professional looking slideshows with captions, maps, etc and set them to music. Though originally developed as a way for travelers to display and share their vacation photos, TripWow is also a great alternative to an expensive video for property owners. You can showcase your property using handpicked photos to give potential customers a taste of what to expect when they book with you.

There are a selection of different themes to choose from which allow you to reflect the type of property you manage. If you are a beach resort property there is a seaside theme suitable for you; there are also themes that compliment countryside locations, cruises, boutique properties and even backpacker hostels. There are also several themes where you can customize the color to match your branding.

Take some time to explore the different themes and decide which one is right for your property. Then choose high quality photos that you think best represent your business and save them into a folder on your computer. Don’t use scans or low resolution photos – they won’t display well in your slideshow.

Once you have uploaded your photos you can add your property name, choose the order of photos, add captions and select music, and then preview your slideshow until you are happy. You can choose to post the slideshow on Facebook, share it with your friends or embed it on your site or blog. Once 10 people have viewed your slideshow you will also be able to download the file to your computer.

To add the video to your TripAdvisor listing go to the ‘Manage your Listing’ tab on the Owners’ Center and click on ‘Post a Video’. Fill in all the details, being sure to add some tags so your video can easily be found, upload the file and it’s ready to be viewed!

Rated on TripAdvisor and proud of it!

Accommodation owners are understandably very proud of their ratings on TripAdvisor and they aren’t shy about telling the world! We regularly receive photos from around the globe featuring examples of businesses showcasing their rankings with imaginative and resourceful marketing.

How are you letting travellers know about your rating? Let us know in a comment as we’d love to hear what other creative and original things people are doing around the world to advertise their position on TripAdvisor.