Trends from TripAdvisor’s latest index shows increasing optimism over the economy from accommodation owners.
In the UK 27% of owners believe the economy will improve in the next six months compared with 19% in December 2011 when the study was last carried out.
The majority of UK owners, 79%, describe their business as profitable or very profitable and the country is the third most profitable across Europe after Turkey and Germany.
Overall European accommodation owners are less optimistic than their peers in North America and Latin America with only 34% believing the economy will improve in the remainder of the year compared with 60% in the US and 68% in Latin America.
Respondents were also asked about the impact of the Euro crisis with 87% of UK owners saying it will have an impact over the next six months and 29% saying the impact will be major.
The survey of more than 25,000 owners worldwide, including 2,500 in the UK, also reveals social media and mobile trends.
- 56% say it’s very important to offer booking via mobile
- 36% of properties that don’t currently offer wifi plan to do so in the next six months
- Nearly two-thirds of property use some form of social media to attract guests and hotels with 50+ rooms are twice as likely to use social media as smaller properties
- Turkish, Russia and German hoteliers come top in Europe and the Middle East for using social media to engage guests
- 83% of properties invite feedback from guests and more than 78% encourage them to provide it via sites such as TripAdvisor
Related posts:
About Linda Fox
