Independent Study: Resort attributes $84,639 of incremental bookings to TripAdvisor Business Listings

“Obtaining incremental bookings through TripAdvisor Business Listings is important to our resort.” - Nilson Junior, Salinas do Maragogi Resort marketing analyst

In January 2013, TripAdvisor commissioned Forrester Consulting to conduct an independent case study on Salinas do Maragogi, a 236-room all-inclusive resort on northeastern Brazil’s Coral Coast. The resort became a TripAdvisor Business Listings subscriber in November 2011. The Salinas do Maragogi team believed Business Listings would drive incremental, qualified traffic to the property’s website and give them an opportunity to increase booking revenue. The team also believed Business Listings would make the resort more visible to prospective guests.

Forrester has analyzed the property’s use of Business Listings and reported* the following results:

• $13 in incremental bookings for every dollar spent on Business Listing
• 955% return on investment (risk adjusted) over three years
• 8 month break-even point on initial investment
• $84,639 in incremental bookings (risk adjusted) over three years

“Business Listings brings customers right to our site and gives us more qualified targets. It brings us visitors who definitely want to book an accommodation, they know what they want, and they’re more qualified to spend a greater amount at our resort.” - Nilson Junior, Salinas do Maragogi Resort marketing analyst

To read more about Salinas do Maragogi’s Business Listing experience, check out our one page overview. To learn more about Business Listings, visit www.tripadvisor.com/BusinessListings. You can read the full report here.

*In the TripAdvisor-commissioned study “The Total Economic Impact of TripAdvisor’s Business Listings,” conducted by Forrester Consulting, January 2013.

Edinburgh Attraction Uses TripAdvisor to Great Advantage

Hotels around the globe recognize the value of TripAdvisor to attract travelers.  Accordingly, hundreds of thousands actively manage their TripAdvisor presence to bring guests through their doors.  In the world of attractions, though, it’s a slightly different story: the community as a whole has not tuned into TripAdvisor as a game-changing opportunity in quite the same way. There are, of course, exceptions. Scotland’s Camera Obscura and World of Illusions is one of those stories.  Watch this video and hear about it in their own words!

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Louvre Hotels Group adds TripAdvisor content to new sites

In January, Louvre Hotels Group announced the launch of new web sites for its Premiere Classe, Campanile and Kyriad brands. As part of this relaunch, the Group partnered with TripAdvisor to display each property’s rating and five most recent reviews on these brand pages.

According to Louvre Hotels Group, a key objective for the new sites included simplifying customer interactions. TripAdvisor ratings and reviews were incorporated to improve customers’ online experience – putting all of information they need in one place. The Group also hopes to improve online conversion rates through the transparency of the reviews and by leveraging TripAdvisor’s reputation.

When asked about the partnership with Louvre Hotels Group, Maud Larpent, Senior Manager, Partnerships at TripAdvisor said: “This initiative demonstrates the Group’s commitment to transparency and means that visitors to the brands’ websites will be able to base their booking decisions on the views and opinions of travelers. We are also looking forward to helping Louvre Hotels Group collect feedback from their customers and to working with hotel management to highlight the importance and influence of their responses to customer comments.”

To learn more about displaying TripAdvisor content on your own website, visit www.tripadvisor.com/widgets.

TripAdvisor ratings and reviews on the newly launched Campanile website

Business Listings’ Mobile Upgrade: Get Your Special Offer to Millions of Travelers On-The-Go

TripAdvisor has announced a Mobile Upgrade for Business Listings, a powerful way to increase your visibility to tens of millions of travelers each month. Today, when you post a Special Offer as part of your Business Listing subscription, travelers planning their trips on their computers will see it. However, 35 million monthly mobile travelers will not. That’s where the Mobile Upgrade comes in! Learn more about why you should incorporate mobile traffic into your marketing strategy – including how a Mobile Upgrade helps – with this quick clip:

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If you purchased your Business Listing online, you can sign up for a Mobile Upgrade at www.tripadvisor.com/mobileupgrade. If you secured your Business Listing by phone, call 1-866-322-5942 (US, toll-free) or 0-800-098-8460 (UK, toll-free) to learn more and sign up.

Down Under with TripAdvisor for Business

Want to learn more about online marketing strategies and how you can reach TripAdvisor’s 60 million unique monthly visitors?  If you are in Australia, join us on Thursday, Feburary 21^st at the Emporium Hotel for our first-ever Master Class in Brisbane!

In addition to industry experts from TripAdvisor, including Brian Payea (Head of Industry Relations) and Avril Carter (Territory Manager for Australia, Business Listings), the Master Class will feature guest speaker Liz Ward, CEO of Australian Tourism Data Warehouse (ADTW).  ADTW is Australia’s national database and digital distribution platform, and is renowned as the world leader in digital tourism information solutions.

Liz has led the ATDW for ten years and was influential in its formation 12 years ago.  Previously Liz enjoyed many years with Tourism Queensland, leading their International Marketing operations and e-Marketing departments.  She was also recently nominated as a Tourism Queensland Board Member in 2012.

With 20 years of experience working with IT and tourism, Liz has been carving out strategies and leading teams to support the Australian tourism industry through a very dynamic period.  Liz has a passion for assisting Australia’s small businesses to engage in this fast-moving environment and to understand and embrace technologies that enhance their businesses.

Space and time is running out – register here for the Master Class today!

The details:

Where: Emporium Hotel, 100 Ann Street, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane

When: Thursday, February 21

Sessions: 9:00am – 12:00pm or 1:00pm – 4:00pm

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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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

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

For UK Hoteliers: VAT Numbers and Your Business Listing

Please note – this post applies to UK hoteliers only.

As of 23 January 2013, TripAdvisor will be processing payments for your property’s Business Listing in the United Kingdom. As a result, VAT will now be applied to your payments. If you’re a UK Business Listings subscriber, you should provide your VAT number to us so we can properly reflect it in your invoices.

Submitting your VAT number is easy:

• Log in to your TripAdvisor account at www.tripadvisor.co.uk
• Select “Your Business” from the drop down menu under ‘Your Business & Account’
• Click on ‘Manage Your Business Listing’
• In the top-right box, select ‘Add a VAT number’
• Enter your VAT number in the box provided
• Click ‘Confirm’

Please note – only the registered representative who purchased your Business Listing will be able to submit your VAT.

To learn more about VAT and your Business Listing, check out this one-pager.