Act Fast, TripAdvisor offer for business listings (which has never been offered at a regular undiscounted rate!) is now 20% off.  If you remember when the service; which allows accommodations providers to list their phone number and provide a direct link to their Web property first launched, the service was offered at 50% off.  The big threat was that after January the cost would skyrocket.  One year later, that offer looks like it was only a 37.5% discount!

Is it legal to offer a 50% discount that, well, isn’t?

Too Expensive

TripAdvisor knows it is outrageously expensive to advertise on business listings.  That’s why they have never asked anyone to pay full price.  Instead of removing the cash grab altogether as they do for restaurants and attractions, TripAdvisor  now offers hoteliers the option of making monthly payments for their listing!  Sounds like death by a thousand little cuts to me.

ROI – Is a Business Listing worth the cost?

When I first started marketing I used the cost of a new customer as a way to determine the relative value of my investment.

Using Trip Advisor’s math, I only need to earn six new clients directly from TripAdvisor to profit from the arrangement.

Sorry, a customer acquisition cost of $200 doesn’t allow much room for profit.

. . . and of course that’s if things go as well as Tripadvisor promises…..

What does TripAdvisor have to do to profit from the arrangement?

Income: $1200 (in the example sent me)

Expenses incurred:

• invoicing and accounting for the income generated.
• flipping the switch that turns on contact info like TripAdvisor already does for restaurants and attractions at NO COST.

Looks like a great deal for TripAdvisor, but for the accommodation sector in tourism, this cash grab is more than annoying.  It would be great if TripAdvisor could share some beaming hotelier success stories from business listings.

For travelers, getting advice from someone who has been there, done that has become second nature with traveler advice sites like TripAdvisor, Yelp!, Google Maps and others. But most of the time, we have no idea who those people are that are giving the advice.

Social Networking should be smarter
Is it someone like me? or are they someone with different values, interests and attitudes. I know I’ve seen reviews for places I’ve stayed that in no way reflect my experience.

It’s a foggy area that can make it difficult to interpret the relevance of travel reviews for me.  I want to know how much I have in common with the person leaving the reviewbefore assigning any level of credibility, validity or relevance.

The ideal travel review site would be a little more like LinkedIn and Twitter.

LinkedIn uses business connections to help me find people who are connected to people I know and easily network with people in my industry. Folks I’m connected to there have more in common with me than most, but the nature of my work, doesn’t fully define my interests and attitudes.

Twitter probably does the best job of finding people like me:
I’ve found quite a few people on Twitter, that I’ve later met in person and hit it off with from the get-go. I could have followed almost any early adopter on twitter and I would certainly have found a kindred spirit in the tech area, but these sort of connections clearly aren’t so easy for the non-techie. Twitters new “Suggestions of Users to Follow” tool may be a step in the right direction toward finding people who are a lot like me. Until now, twitter searches, twitter lists, Follow Friday advice has given me really neat, interesting people to follow, but it can be a lot of work. I wonder if Twitters algorithm, using people you follow and the people they follow as a starting point will offer users access to more people who are a lot like themselves.

Facebook integration with Travel Reviews

Many Facebook users I’m connected with have credibility and I trust their opinions because I already know most of the folks I follow there personally.  User profiles, photos, uploads, status updates and activities give me a good overall picture of any Facebook user’s interests and attitudes.

Wouldn’t it be great to connect my trusted sources to my upcoming trips?  Having my Facebook friends, Twitter followers, LinkedIn connections offer travel advice would be much more valuable than a collection of reviews whose credibility is in question.

As if in answer to this half-written blog post, along comes TripAdvisor TripFriends and Bootsnall Traveler Connect app.  Both connect with Facebook to enhance travel experiences.   TripFriends helps me connect with my Facebook friends to get advice from people I already know.  As Steve Kaufer, TripAdvisor founder says, “Get great travel advice from your friends before you go.”  Traveler Connect helps me find other travelers going to the same place I am, or connect with locals living there. According to Bootsnall founder Sean Keener, “I can ask travel questions, arrange to meet for a drink, and create some unique experiences not found in a guidebook.”

What’s Next for Travel Review sites?
I see a future where I’ll be able to get travel advice exclusively from people who share my outlook on the world.   Connecting all my social networks to travel reviews will take time, but these two projects are a great start.  Over time,  I’ll be able to quickly bring into focus the 10% of travel reviews that really mean something to me.

Have you seen any social network that comes closer to finding people like you than Twitter or LinkedIn?  Seen anything to rival the new TripAdvisor TripFriends and Bootsnall Traveler Connect projects?

TripAdvisor is now the largest travel website in the world with 35,382,000 unique visitors. The next largest travel website in the world is former number one and parent company of TripAdvisor, online travel agent – Expedia with over 33 million uniques.

Since four in five travelers read reviews on social media and the vast majority (95%!!) of travelers who’ve read them said such reviews were influential on the decision making process (PhoCusWright 2009), isn’t it time to reconsider earning travel reviews on TripAdvisor from your guests.

Here’s a quick review on how to do TripAdvisor well, with a comment from TripAdvisor head honcho Steve Kaufer confirming the strategies.

ps. it doesn’t require tourism industry to purchase business listings from TA.

TripAdvisor is a few months into their “pay to display” contact information with enhanced business listings and the tactic (at least early in it’s implimentation) has to be recognized as a failure.

For those in the industry who can’t afford to pay for displaying contact information (the service starts at $600/yr for properties with less than 10 rooms) the news that most have opted to not sign up is good.
Just 13% of accommodation businesses have listed with TripAdvisor, despite numerous invitations by email from the company to sign up.

With so much business being derived from TripAdvisor, TripAdvisor must have thought the enhanced listings would have been an easy sell to hoteliers when we first heard about the service this past November.

Offered to early subscribers at 50% off and still being flogged to hoteliers at 30% off, it is hard to believe that those who (like me) scoffed at the idea of paying to display contact information, will pony up even more cash for the opportunity. After all, other tourism businesses like restaurants get a free ride – what’s with hotels having to pay? It is hard to believe that as TripAdvisor moves to a pay full price model for the service that more hotels will be inclined to get on board.
As for the early adopters who got the steep discount on signing up, do you feel you are getting value from your enhanced business listing?

Restaurant Ratings and Reviews have been popular for some time now, but the new TripAdvisor iPhone app, LocalPicks makes it easy for diners to post reviews and even include a photo before they even leave the restaurant.

Consumer-generated mobile restaurant reviews will become an important marketing tool for restauranteurs in 2010.  Are you ready?

To refresh your memory, I’ve written about handheld review apps with Goodrec back in February,  and the free LocalPicks app when it first appeared in the iTunes store in July 2008.  I rely on this handy app to find decent places to eat whenever I’m traveling.  The user-generated review community at TripAdvisor hasn’t steared me wrong yet (although I’m sure I’ve missed out on some good places that have gotten lousy reviews by Tripadvisor diners).

What’s New and Interesting in LocalPicks by TripAdvisor

The new version of TripAdvisor’s LocalPicks app provides a filter of nearby restaurant suggestions based on user reviews, cuisine style, distance and price so I can suss out the best options for me and my growling tummy.

And of course each restaurant listing features restaurant phone number, so with I click I can dial and make reservations.  I can even get directions and use the built-in gps to navigate my way to the maître d’.

The Little Button that Changes Everything

While some applications like Goodrec have given diners the opportunity to make restaurant reviews on their iPhone before now, these apps had little chance to make an impact without dropping the reviews into the well-known, well-populated  TripAdvisor database.   The “Write a Review” button on the latest version of TripAdvisor’s LocalPicks app feeds handheld user reviews directly into TripAdvisor’s already burgeoning ecosystem of Traveler-generated reviews.

Writing Reviews on LocalPicks is possible right in the Restaurant

Like the TripAdvisor Website, the app gives users a variety of categories to rate restaurants including overall, food, service, value, atmosphere and the opportunity to answer a simple yet vital Yes/No question: Would you recommend this restaurant to a friend?

App users can even upload a photo from the restaurant.

Can you feel the power shifting to the consumer?

Are you excited or anxious now that your restaurant guests have the ability to rate or review your restaurant in the power of their hand?

As a consumer, the new power excites me.  As a tourism operator, the new power excites me even more!  As a restauranteur, you can choose to be threatened by this new wrinkle in the power of social handheld media or you can rise to the challenge and benefit from it by encouraging reviews by your patrons while they are still in your restaurant.

How your restaurant can benefit from the emergence of handheld ratings and reviews:

• Provide great service, serve great food and deliver value for money.  Educate waitstaff and kitchen staff that their job security may truly be in the hands of your patrons.
• Listen to the reviews and stories told by patrons and adjust your products, services when they aren’t up to guest standards.
• Leave a note on your receipts encouraging folks to leave a review.  Have your servers be on the lookout for handheld toting guests and offer an invitation to review your restaurant.
• Encourage regulars to take a moment to tell others about your restaurant on TripAdvisor – even if they do it from home, the reviews will show up for others who rely on TripAdvisor for advice.
• Offer bonuses to wait staff who succeed in encouraging their dinner guests to leave reviews.
• Print business cards with links to TripAdvisor or other relevant review sites your clients use.
• Create a community of caring customers by becoming social on sites like Twitter and Facebook.
• Print your Twitter handle on your receipts – and provide special value to your fans.
• If you are a DMO, CVB or other agency that supports tourism in your region, help your restauranteurs to understand the new power of the handheld consumer to influence their business.  Get them excited about offering great service.

The opening of Apple’s app store for iPhone is only a little over a year old and it has taken a bit of time for applications to catch up to the promise of the “Here and Now Handheld Web” – now that it’s here, all marketing is social.

What do you think? Will mobile ratings and reviews be as big as I think they will be in 2010?

TripAdvisor is leveraging the power of its network of travelers… some 25 Million Monthly users in order to pull cash from the wallets of business listing members. New enhanced business listings will include links to your Website, email address and phone number.

What’s the cost of Trip Advisor Enhanced Business Listings?

The cash grab, including the 50% off special LOW RATE for hotels with less than 10 rooms is a whopping $300. Larger hotels will be paying THOUSANDS of dollars. If your hotel has over 100 rooms get ready to shell out over $3000 (if you get in early!), that’s $6000 if you wait until after january, 2010.

For most smaller tour operators, bed and breakfasts, inns and hotels posting a link to your Web site and email and including your phone number in your TripAdvisor listing is a decision that will weigh heavily.

Can operators afford not to have the full listing of what has become the Yellow Pages of the Internet for bed and breakfasts, hotels and inns especially?

For those who track their inquiries and sales with religious ferver, the amount may easily be offset by new revenue from direct bookings. If you’ve never tracked business from TripAdvisor, it might be best to take a pass on this offer.

Best to Wait it out?

My advise is that tourism businesses need to wait a while to see if the value will be realized. TripAdvisor is sure to be gauging the response of operators to the pricing of this “value-added” service?? to its business members. If we all ignore the emails being sent out, perhaps TripAdvisor will be a little more small business friendly in the pricing of these enhanced listings. It’s worth hoping for isn’t it?

During a recession, businesses can get panicky about finding new ways to market their business inexpensively. I’ve worked with thousands of tourism businesses over the past five years and these two stories are my favorites for generating new revenue with little or no cost.

Disclaimer: “If you are in the tourism business, there is no shortcut to boosting your business in the Web 2.0 landscape. Be Great, or find another line of work.

Why Trip Advisor Matters:

• Word of Mouth has always been the most important lead generator for tourism businesses. In Web 2.0, Word of Mouse rules and your guests are your best marketing and sales agents.
• Trip Advisor is the #2 most frequently visited travel Web site on the Web.
• Trip Advisor search results not only show up in TripAdvisor.com but they are fed out to a number of Travel Web sites and services such as Google.com/maps (see top right)

Story #1: How one hotel operator boosted revenue 20% , while all around hotels were losing market share due to a decline in travel to the region

The tool: A simple laminated business card

• On one side: business logo and contact info
• On the other:

Thank you for staying at our Inn. In an effort to convey the quality of service and amenities offered we appreciate your comments at TripAdvisor.com. Looking forward to your next visit.

Use: When clients check out, they are given the laminated business card.

Results:

• Revenue up 20% with no other changes to marketing plan!
  
• The Hotel becomes ranked as #1 in the city on Trip Advisor
• All of this, despite the lack of any other search results showing their hotel web site
  

Why this works:

• the most obvious reason might be that happy guests will leave comments and these comments will generally be positive, but there is more to it than that.
• the card is laminated – yes, laminated. Most folk will have a harder time just tossing the card in the waste can, so it has a good chance of being used for its intended purpose and later, stuck to a fridge or filing cabinet for the next trip! Laminating the card unconciously tells your customer this is important, we took the time to ensure this card was prepared with care.
• MOST IMPORTANT REASON THIS WORKS: Staff at the hotel know this card is being handed out! If your guests are being encouraged to leave comments on your performance, wouldn’t your staff act more like an owner and give extra good service to your clients.
• This inn already has a culture of excellence and personal service – you can’t fake it. Even the best strategy will fail without quality.

Story #2: A Country Inn uses their CRM Strategy to climb to #1 in the Province on Trip Advisor

The tool: An effective email communication strategy with their guests, ensures that fans of the Inn have an invitation to rave!

Thank you for choosing our Inn during your recent visit to our area. We hope that we at least met, and maybe even exceeded your expectations. We are sure you are aware that more and more today’s travelers are relying on the opinions of fellow travelers when deciding where to stay themselves. In doing so, they often reference websites such as TripAdvisor to seek guidance. Therefore, we would greatly appreciate it if you would take the time to share your opinion . . .

Use: Approximately two weeks after their stay, every guest receives a personalized “thank you for your visit” email from the Inn’s proprietors.

Results:

• #1 b & b in the province on TripAdvisor
• TripAdvisor becomes #1 tracked new sales source
  

Why this works:

• The Hillsdale House Inn IS IN ALL LIKELIHOOD, the finest B & B in Nova Scotia! I haven’t stayed at many, but I couldn’t imagine a nicer experience than spending a few days with Paul and Val at their historic inn. I’ll definitely be back.
• Paul and Val establish a personal relationship with each of their guests during their visit. One of the little-known facts about traveler wishes: What most travellers want is to like their hosts and for their hosts to like them back.
• The email isn’t so much a business request, it’s more on the lines of friend to friend communication. The communication is personal. You can’t fake this. You earn the personal relationship with your guests with every interaction during their stay.
• Paul and Val have a CRM plan in place that results in their guests receiving followup email communication at a time when their experience is still fresh in their mind, and they have settled back into their routine at home. The note rekindles memories of their holiday.
• The email explains clearly why they are inviting their guests to post comments.
• Like any responsible tourism business, Hillsdale House tracks their business inquires and knows that new sales are being driven by TripAdvisor.

So after reading this, you have likely come to understand the value of a great CRM strategy with your guests? Your first two steps:

• Step one: Give great customer service and coach your team to behave like owners!
• Step two: Review your strategy for tracking sales and leads

Your Turn: Leave a comment!

• There are many Web sites for guests to share their experiences, reviews, photos, videos, stories. Do you know of a service that provides helpful information for travelers. Please tell us about your favorites.
• Do you have any insights into these CRM strategies? What are your favorite strategies for boosting Word of Mouse?

When an angry guest leaves your place of business, what do you do? If you don’t have an action plan, you must read this post.

Seth Godin writes that angry people are different. In tourism, as described on a previous post “10 ways I raved about my Halifax Java“, it is easy for any guest (including angry guests) to share with the world their feedback on their tourism / travel experience. When negative feedback about your tourism business, community appears on social networking sites like TripAdvisor, Frommers, or private blogs it is your fault. Tourism businesses must be pro-active in taking the necessary steps so that this potentially devastating action isn’t taken by an angry traveller. This post is all about defusing an Angry Guest Bomb before it impacts your business.

There are only two solutions to dealing with angry people:

• avoid them
• listen to them and acknowledge their anger

While the first option is perhaps the best way for tourism businesses to deal with angry customers, it may be difficult to know you are recruiting an angry customer…. but think about this for a minute.

Can you do things to avoid getting angry guests? I have a few suggestions:

• Focus on a clear vision of who your ideal guest is. Write a description, name them, think about their interests and motivations for choosing a vacation.
• Market to the needs and motivations of your ideal guest.
• Focus on a clear vision of who isn’t your ideal guest (aka – an angry guest and others that don’t fit your ideal guest profile). Ask yourself the same questions. What is the motivation of this traveler?
• Stop marketing with language that appeals to this person’s interests and motivations!

Please Comment: How do you keep angry guests from arriving on your porch?

Sometimes, for reasons you may not be able to control, you will get the wrong guest…. perhaps even, an angry guest. We tend to get one or two of these each year. So what are a few ideas on steps you can take that can lessen the impact that an angry person could have on your business

• we use a liability waiver / cancellation policy for each and every guest at our retreat. One of the statements guest agree to is: “Northern Edge Algonquin reserves the right to require a guest to leave prior to the scheduled end of their stay if such departure is deemed necessary for the well-being of our staff & other guests. In such cases a pro-rated refund will be provided.”
• a feedback form (optionally anonymous) allows us to gather feedback on a guests visit prior to their return home. If any issues are flagged, we call and check in with these guests before they get home, using language like, “It appears that you have had a disappointing stay, I would really like to hear more of your story and would like to make it right . . . .”
• asking guests upon departure “What could we have done to make your stay better?” is another question that can help defuse a potential Angry Guest Bomb.

Comment: How do you deal with Angry guests once they’ve headed out the door?