Australian B&B finds TripAdvisor “Levels the playing field”

Kerrin Cridland and her husband own a bed and breakfast in Stanthorpe that has thrived on TripAdvisor, with 114 out of 119 five-star reviews and multiple Travelers’ Choice awards.  The couple works hard to make the most of the site, believing that it gives small properties like theirs visibility, credibility, and a chance to compete against the big hotels.  Hear Kerrin explain how Diamondvale B&B Cottages has built their success with guests and online:

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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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How properties are sharing their Travelers’ Choice Awards

Following the announcement of the 2013 TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice Hotel Awards, properties have been posting their wins all over the web! They worked hard to provide the best hospitality to their guests and are ready to celebrate their success. We’ve seen numerous hotels showing their excitement through Facebook, Twitter, and press releases.

Take a look to see how hotels are promoting their achievements:

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Wondering how you can promote your Travelers’ Choice Award? Learn more about it here!

Travelers’ Choice Hotel Award Profile: Casa Sirena

Casa Sirena, a 6-room B&B on Mexico’s Isla Mujeres, has been named to the 2013 Travelers’ Choice Hotel Lists for Top 25 B&B’s in the World (#17) and Top 25 B&B’s in Mexico (#1). Owner Steve Broin recently wrote a Management Response that demonstrates his commitment to guest satisfaction: “It is one of my greatest pleasures when hotel guests become good friends who visit again and again…”

Based on this comment, it’s not surprising to see that over 98% of travelers have rated their Casa Sirena experience as “Excellent,” helping the property win a Traveler’s Choice Award for the second year in a row.

Casa Sirena has excelled at promoting its new Travelers’ Choice award. On Facebook, they are featuring a picture of their Travelers’ Choice standing: www.facebook.com/casasirena. Past guests are able to “Like” the photo and add encouraging comments. Casa Sirena is also using TripAdvisor’s Facebook app to showcase its reviews and accolades to people who visit the business’ profile.

The B&B has shared the good news on its website, too. The Travelers’ Choice award is displayed on the main banner and a widget has been added to the site footer. Casa Sirena markets its amazing reviews by including a TripAdvisor review widget on its home page as well.

Congratulations to Casa Sirena on its 2013 Travelers’ Choice selection! To view the complete list of winners, visit www.tripadvisor.com/travelerschoice.

Casa Sirena’s home page with TripAdvisor awards and reviews

Celebrations All Around

Across the globe, business owners like you are celebrating their success on TripAdvisor with colorful stickers, award plaques and much more. How will you celebrate your achievements?

Watch the Celebration Video:

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Building a Travelers’ Choice Hotel Award Campaign: L’Hermitage Hotel, Vancouver

L’Hermitage Hotel has made the 2013 Travelers’ Choice Lists for Top 25 Hotels in the World (#18), Top Hotels in Canada (#1) and the Top Hotels for Service in Canada (#3). This 60-room property has over 1,100 reviews with 98% of guests rating their experience as “Excellent” or “Very good”. The 2013 award is the property’s third win in as many years.

When an award is won, it’s easy to celebrate and then shift back to focusing on providing great hospitality. But L’Hermitage had a different approach when it won its 2012 Travelers’ Choice award. It took full advantage of the award throughout the year by building a campaign around it.

First, L’Hermitage uses a TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice widget on its home page to showcase the award to potential guests. Next, it created a special “TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice Awards Package.” This appears on the property’s home page along with a link to its TripAdvisor reviews. The special package uses the well-known award to attract guests to book at a Traveler’s Choice winning hotel.

Building a campaign around a Travelers’ Choice Hotel Award is a great way to get mileage from your accolade for months to come.  To view the complete list of winners, and see how other hotels promote their awards, visit www.tripadvisor.com/TravelersChoice.

L’Hermitage Hotel’s “TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice Awards Package”

Baros Maldives: Using Management Responses to connect with guests

Congratulations to Baros Maldives for collecting its fifth annual Travelers’ Choice Hotel Award!

Baros was named to eight Travelers’ Choice Lists:

• Top 25 Hotels in the World (#8), in Asia (#3) and in the Maldives (#1)
• Top 25 Luxury Hotels in the World (#18), in Asia (#5) and in the Maldives (#1)
• Top 25 Hotels for Service in Asia (#21) and in the Maldives (#3)

Exceptional customer service and hospitality has driven Baros’ success. Nearly 90% of travelers give Baros Maldives an Excellent rating. A quick scan of the property’s reviews reveal hundreds of glowing comments like:

“…The pristine waters and clear blue skies that greeted us every day definitely made our holiday in Maldives wonderful, but it was the knowledge that if we needed anything, the resort staff would do their utmost to help that made the holiday a truly amazing experience.” – emailjoannhere, December 29, 2012

Once a review is posted, a General Manager or Resort Manager responds to it within a few days, thanking the guest for staying and for their comments. They also discuss how constructive feedback will be addressed and encourage future stays.
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Shuhan A, Resort Manager at Baros Maldives, responded to this review
January 8, 2013
Dear emailjoannhere,

Thank you very much for the detailed review you left with us. We are delighted that you have spent your holidays on our small tropical island and that you enjoyed your stay with us.

I assure you that the details you have mentioned for improvements are closely looked into and will be improved to make sure your next stay will be even more memorable.

Warm Regards,

Shuhan
Resort Manager
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This property’s commitment to service is clear even after guests have left for home. Congratulations, Baros Maldives, on your 2013 Travelers’ Choice Hotel Awards! Keep up the great work!

To view the complete list of Travelers’ Choice Hotel winners, visit www.tripadvisor.com/travelerschoice.

Travelers’ Choice Hotel Award Winner: Casa Portagioia, Tuscany

2013 marks Casa Portagioia’s fourth consecutive year of being selected as a Travelers’ Choice Hotel. This year, the property’s been selected as the Top B&B in the World, in Europe and in Italy. Over 99% of its guests’ ratings are “Excellent” with travelers sharing things like “An atmosphere in which guests feel part of a special family.” Based on what guests are saying, Casa Portagioia’s commitment to world-class service is a strong factor in pleasing travelers and earning top ratings.

Casa Portagioia follows several TripAdvisor best practices to market their exceptional property and rave reviews, including:

• Adding videos to the listing: TripAdvisor surveys show that properties with at least one video on their listing have over 30% more engagement than properties that don’t. Casa Portagioia has uploaded multiple videos, allowing guests to see more of the B&B and local area. Ready to try out your skills as a director? Check out this helpful guide to get started.
• Promoting awards with TripAdvisor widgets: Casa Portagioia uses TripAdvisor widgets to promote its numerous Travelers’ Choice Hotel awards. Widgets can help you show off your TripAdvisor accolades, display and collect reviews and much more. Find out how widgets can work for you at www.tripadvisor.com/widgets.
• Using the slideshow feature:  As a Business Listings subscriber, Casa Portagioia’s owner photos are automatically transferred into a stunning Photo Slideshow that captures travelers’ attention and helps make a strong first impression. If you’re a Business Listings subscriber, you can check out this guide for more information on how to use the Photo Slideshow feature.

 Congratulations to Casa Portagioia for its fourth annual selection as a Travelers’ Choice Hotel! To check out the rest of the winners, visit www.tripadvisor.com/TravelersChoice.

Travelers’ Choice Hotel widgets on Casa Portagioia’s home page

Meet the 2013 Travelers’ Choice Hotel Winners!

TripAdvisor has announced the winners of the 11^th annual Travelers’ Choice Hotel awards, recognizing the world’s top properties for remarkable service, quality and value. It’s our biggest year ever with over 6,000 winning properties from 82 countries worldwide. Millions of TripAdvisor member reviews and opinions from across the globe were used to select the winners. Award categories include: Top Hotels, Best Luxury and Bargain, Best for Service, Top Small Hotels and Top B&Bs and Inns. You can view the complete list at www.tripadvisor.com/TravelersChoice.

If you’re a Traveler’s Choice Hotel award recipient – congratulations! Promoting your award is a great opportunity to share the news with past guests and attract new ones. You can also use your award to create buzz for your business in the local media – there’s even a free press release template in your Management Center. For more information on how to spread your good news, check out our tip sheet. Also, if your business is on Twitter, send a celebratory tweet to @TripAdvisor4Biz and we’ll retweet your message to all of our followers.

Stay tuned to tripadvisor4biz.wordpress.com for more 2013 Travelers’ Choice Hotel features including winner profiles and information on live and on-demand award webinars.

TripAdvisor announces the 2013 Travelers’ Choice Awards

Join us Thursday to learn how to promote your awards!

Are you a recipient of a TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice or Certificate of Excellence award? Congrats! Take advantage of this great opportunity to spread the news of your success with the world’s largest travel community.

Join us Thursday, June 14 at 2 p.m. EDT to learn more about all of the great ways to promote your accolades (and attract new guests to your property at the same time!).

If you have any questions, there will be a 15-minute Q&A after the presentation. Click here to register.