The impact of user-generated feedback and rating in the tourism industry is growing at lightning speed. Numerous empirical studies were carried out to determine the influence of user-generated reviews on traveling. The findings were astonishing: a 10% boost in customer ratings led to rising online reservations by more than 5%. In terms of money, travelers’ opinions affect about US$10 billion in online tourism purchases annually.
According to Forrester Research, 75% of tourists consider the comments and opinions of other customers as reliable information sources when preparing for journeys. Let’s see how rating and feedback impact travelers’ choices.
How to get maximum satisfaction from a car rental deal?
Nothing affects consumer overall satisfaction like the price paid for a service and the value for money, or price-quality ratio. Companies that offer more affordable deals, special discounts, and an opportunity to select a guaranteed model option tend to get higher marks. Based on consumers’ reviews, the cheapest rental in Amsterdam is Budget, and the most popular agency is Europcar. Given the rates for quality of service, overall satisfaction, cleanliness of the vehicles, and convenience of pick-up procedure, the top-ranked company is Alamo (8.6/10). For a large company of friends or family, travelers prefer to rent a van in Amsterdam. Spacious cabin, cost savings, and the ability to take with you everything you need make vans for rent the choice №1 for 7 or more passengers. Check all available van rental offers and pay attention to customer reviews, thus you’ll be sure of your choice.
Review guide for the right selection of housing
The power of traveler reviews is very high. The rating often becomes the last straw in making the final decision, because tourists, paying a pretty penny for a sightseeing tour or other travel activities, are afraid of disappointment.
The latest report of Transparent shows how the quality and number of reviews impact housing choice. In the U.S., apartments with several reviews only averaged less than 60% occupancy while those with 20 or more opinions determine more than 70% occupancy. Platforms such as Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com take into account customer feedback to rank housing options in a domino effect: more reservations and even more feedback.
Given the results of Phocuswright’s report 2021 on short-stay rentals, one-third of U.S. customers focus on review rates when comparing short-stay rental apartments of equal cost and comfort, making it the second most substantial aspect next to good Wi-Fi connection. If the accommodation has more reviews, then more guests have already used the service which creates more trust.
Where to look for verified feedback: Top-rated review platforms
No one wants to be deceived or disappointed, so searching for reliable platforms for travelers, where you can find verified reviews from real people, is a priority when planning a trip. Here is the list of the platforms with the most reliable user-generated content:
- Tripadvisor
- Trustpilot
- Yelp
- Lonely Planet.
The policies of these companies ensure the trust and reliability of the reviews that appear and let customers dispute content or flag suspicions like promotional reviews or feedback not based on a genuine experience.
Large travel-guidance companies have an investigation team of experts specializing in analyzing and leveraging data for fraud detection to help spot suspicious reviews. In this way, companies are able to protect users from review boosting (when the owner asks to embellish feedback), review vandalism (when someone tries to slander the company), or review optimization (when companies get payment for falsifying reviews on a business’s behalf).