Tripadvisor: Is it only good for the top positions?

The efficiency of Tripadvisor for top hotels is uncontested. But what about the others, should they invest in more advertising and getting more reviews with Tripadvisor if they are below the top 50 for their city? This study gives some facts about the efficiency of Tripadvisor link and pay-per-click advertising for hotels at all levels.

We conducted this study after receiving an offer to promote hotels on Tripadvisor’s “Show Prices” button. To determine the validity of paying for clicks on this button we wanted to see the effect this could have on hotels that aren’t in the top 10 for their destination. After this conclusive study we have integrated the Tripadvisor PPC solutions to our advertising campaigns services for hotels. For more information on this click here.

Per Tripadvisor’s own statistics 72% of travelers begin their search for a hotel or for travel advice on Tripadvisor’s website. With over 40 million visitors per month it is the number one travel site in the world and probably the most popular hotel review site to date.

Method of tracking bookings

As not all hotels have purchased the Business Listing link we couldn’t simply track the bookings generated with Tripadvisor as a referral, besides that would not necessarily be correct way to track since a guest could have found the hotel using Tripadvisor and then gone off to compare rates and finally searched for the hotel on a search engine to book on the hotel’s website. We analyzed the bookings made and surveyed the guest to find out how they had found out about the hotel. Here are the results of the analysis.

Grouped by Ranking

Effect of Tripadvisor Rank on Bookings

In top 50

26%

Definition: Hotels ranked within the top 50 of all hotels in their destination.

Within 25%

Definition: Hotels listed in the top quarter of all hotels in their destination.

Within 50%

Definition: Hotels listed in the top half of all hotels on their destination.

Grouped by Average Price

Effect of ADR on Tripadvisor Bookings

Boutique ($350+)

19%

Definition: Boutique or Luxury hotels with average prices from $350 and up.

Average ($150 – $250)

13%

Definition: Good hotels with no particular design elements, average prices around $150 to $250.

Budget (-$100)

13%

Definition: Budget or cheaper hotels with average prices below $100. Location not taken into account.

Grouped by Number of Reviews

Number of Reviews effect on Tripadvisor Bookings

More than 200

24%

Definition: More than 200: Hotels with more than 200 Reviews.

100 to 200

Definition: 100 to 200: Hotels with 100-200 Reviews.

Less than 100

13%

Less than 100: Hotels with less than 100 Reviews.

Conclusion: Is it worth advertising on Tripadvisor for hotels ranked below the top 10?

Hotels that are in the top 20% for their destination, obviously get a lot of bookings from this position. What is interesting however is that hotels below the top rankings get 9% of their bookings from Tripadvisor on the hotels surveyed. What this study reveals is that being 25% or within 50% from the top of the ranking the share of business from Tripadvisor is the same. If you’re thinking that 9% is not much consider the fact that Tripadvisor is within the top 3 most efficient platforms to generate bookings for hotels.

The quality of the hotel obviously plays a large role in the business received from tripadvisor as is evidenced by the second graph based on the ADR. Cutting prices doesn’t seem to be a large factor in customer satisfaction, at least not near as large as quality of the hotel and it’s service which. A guest is more likely to remember a great experience than a great price.

The number of reviews does not play a big part in the bookings generated as is evidenced by the last graph.

As mentioned above, based on this we decided to offer the “Show Prices” pay-per-click advertising model to our clients.

by Martin Soler

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Thomas Mackey

What rank will Tripadvisor have after the transformation of Google adding their own comment site for review?

http://www.wihphotel.com/mag/author/tonywihp/ Tony Loeb

Hi Thomas,

That’s a good question. I could answer it with the two following points:

1) It’s been years since Google is having reviews directly availables on it (via Google Places) and it has never been really used.
2) You have to remember that Google is a Search Engine before everything. Users are thinking of Google as a tool to find websites or specific informations. Not a tool that will suggest them which product to buy.

So for me, whatever Google does in the futur, it won’t affect that much the specialized websites. Tripadvisor is known in the travel market since years and users trust in it to help them find a hotel. It is not going to change before a long time… and if it does, the change will be so slow that we’ll have years to re-adjust our marketing strategies.

Hope this answer your question…

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Berk

Which one is less costly for a hotel owner direct booking from tripadvisor or booking from affiliates (like booking or agoda etc.) ? Do you have a study for average CPC revenue of Tripadvisor ?
Tourism SEO

This is a great group of charts and visualizations to prove the importance of properly marketing on Tripadvisor.

I have been working with bed and breakfasts and some tour operators where I live, and the stats are accurate. Those that have taken the leap towards marketing online should be using this as a form of advertising. What I found though, is that content is key to leading to the sale, and a great experience is needed to lead back to a positive review. When I talk about content, I simply mean the copywriting and the photos, or the videos that are hosted in their Tripadvisor business profile, or on their websites. I live in Canada, and we have many four season activities to be had throughout the year. Unfortunately, most businesses put of dated content that is for the summer. This means that tourists looking for skiing information, snowshoeing, or snowmobiling opportunities are met with a picture of the front of the building in the summer and some random pictures of the gardens. The best practice is to show what there is to do within 40 mins, and to make it SEO friendly and inspiring for the reader. Content is Key!

Great Company! I will keep watching!

Justin Skultety -Natural Happiness Tours/ Tourism SEO
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