Accor starts TripAdvisor review feed experiment

Global hotel chain Accor is taking the step many other groups have so far feared to tread and will include TripAdvisor reviews within individual property websites.

accor hotels tripadvisor

The group has around 4,100 hotels in 90 countries and includes the Novotel, Sofitel, Grand Mercure and Ibis brands spanning the top-range through to budget accommodation.

Accor is keeping the project relatively low-key at present, stressing that it  is “experimental” in its current phase and is being tested in some countries ahead perhaps of a wider launch and official announcement.

It is difficult to determine how many hotel sites are included in the experiment at the moment, but essentially each individual property will have a module (like some other hotel sites) on the main landing page, inviting visitors to read a stream of the latest reviews (good or bad).

The reviews are then served in a pop-up, with links to further information and reviews via the main TripAdvisor site.

The idea of including TripAdvisor content on hotel-owned websites has not been universally taken up given the risks associated with potential customers finding a stinging review and going elsewhere.

Perhaps one of the most widely praised (mostly for the user experience and decision to throw in all manner of opinions) was an experiment by Sheraton in 2007 to include customer comments on its homepage.

It has since morphed into the SheratonBetterWhenShared project.

Related posts:

  1. TripAdvisor fixes review overload issue with new summaries
  2. TripAdvisor reviews make their way to Directline Holidays
  3. Eezeer relaunches review site, offers free app to hotels
Kevin May About Kevin May

Kevin May is editor of Tnooz. He joined as a co-founder in August 2009 after spending nearly four years as editor of UK-based business publication Travolution.

Passionate about the business of travel and the internet, Kevin played a major role in establishing Travolution in print, online, events and with an annual awards programme, as well as becoming a regular speaker and moderator at industry events.

Prior to Travolution, Kevin was web editor at Media Week (UK) and also worked in regional newspapers for two years at the Essex Enquirer. He started his career in journalism at the Police Gazette at New Scotland Yard in London.

Comments

  1. Régis says:

    Hi
    Actually it has been launch in all countries except France… It is more than a Pilot, but it has not been advertised, this is true

    http://www.accorhotels.com/fr/hotel-3610-grand-mercure-roxy-hotel/index.shtml
    http://www.accorhotels.com/fr/hotel-1312-sofitel-rome-villa-borghese/index.shtml

    I found this very clever, I can imagine some push back form hoteliers but at the end of the day almost all travellers are searching in TripAdvisor reviews before booking… and in this cas at least they are not tempted to go to Expedia ;)

  2. Pam says:

    I also noticed that when I was on Hotwire this weekend that they showed the average Tripadvisor rating for each property on it’s website. I thought that was interesting and a step on the right direction. I agree that those that book travel online alot typically look at the reviews in tripadvisor before booking so it just makes it that much easier for us.

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