The power of guest reviews goes beyond improving your online reputation.
NB: This is an article from TrustYou
By turning feedback into valuable data, you can better understand what your guests like and dislike about your property and make adjustments where necessary. Ultimately, this will lead to higher ratings, more guests willing to book with you, and more revenue.
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Here’s where Impact Scores can help you drive performance. Impact Scores leverage all review data for hotels, and fill in the gaps between what people say and how that impacts the scores they leave. With the help of semantic analysis, we extract all relevant data from all reviews. This way, we can estimate the impact that, for example, room maintenance had on a performance score in a particular time span. These scores reflect different semantic categories (Service, WiFi, Parking, Location, etc.)
Impact Scores are split into negative and positive impact. For each category, we show how many points you can lose or gain from your performance score.
Each year, we look at the global and regional top and bottom three Impact Scores influencing hotels’ performance. Here are our key findings:
Global Impacts: Service Drives Performance, Price is a Major Concern
The top and bottom three global impact scores give a general overview of what hotels must focus on to drive their performance. Service, Hotel, and Location were the categories that positively influenced hotel performance. On the other hand, Price, WiFi, and Room were negative impacts, decreasing performance.
What Made a Difference: A Closer Look at Subcategories
We looked deeper into some subcategories for these impacts to give you an even clearer image of the data. There are two levels of data we extract from reviews. The first level – main categories – are broader topics for a general overview. The second level – subcategories – gives closer insight into what you need to act on.
For example, a hotel may notice that the Booking Process, a subcategory for Service, drives their performance while Reception – another subcategory – might be the main performance driver for another hotel. Having a clear understanding of subcategories is essential for setting up a dedicated action plan and monitoring the results.
Here are some interesting findings:
#1 Service: Friendly Staff & Management = Happy Guests
Two subcategories that drove performance were Service Friendliness and Management. When guests stay at a hotel, they expect to feel welcomed and cared for. Service friendliness plays a significant role in creating that experience. Focus on delivering a great customer experience for your guests and training your staff to shine through their attitude and behavior. Setting an example for your teams will raise the standards and prove to your guests that you ultimately care about offering high-quality services.
#2 Hotel: The Rise of the Boutique Hotel
In 2022, guests appreciated the unique, designer style of Boutique Hotels. Whether you fit into this category or not, one key lesson is finding a defining style for your hotel that instantly immerses guests into your story. Designing a unique space is an effective way to be remembered, and may bring you higher scores.
#3 Location: Top Attractions & Excursions Driving Positive Reviews
Sightseeing & Excursions were among the top influential subcategories across all quarters. List local attractions and tourist spots near your hotel to attract more guests, and to ensure you get more positive feedback. Having recommendations about the latest events, tourist tours, hop-on hop-off buses, and more can bring you closer to getting higher scores.
#4 WiFi: Primary Need in the Maslow Pyramid
With more digital nomads hitting the road and the rise of bleisure travel, WiFi earned its place in the travelers’ survival kit. Guests who experience poor WiFi connection are more likely to leave negative reviews, which can harm a hotel’s reputation and reduce future bookings. In a competitive hotel industry, a reliable WiFi connection is a differentiator and essential criteria for travelers looking for accommodations.
