Holiday rental reviews should be part of your marketing plan.

When consumers get online to book a holiday rental property, they generally want to know how other people enjoyed their stay, what activities are around the area, the best features of the property they stayed at and so on.

When it comes down to a guest making the decision to book a holiday property, showing positive holiday rental reviews on your website can be equally as powerful at increasing conversions as reducing prices or including special offers. These reviews can also double the browsing time on your site, which gives more chance for conversion. Reviews are so powerful these days they have become one of the most common forms of an online search. Guests are more likely to take notice of another guest review than other forms of marketing.

92% of consumers now read online reviews. This makes your reviews and the way your business handles them very important.

Does the Tourism industry really need online reviews?

The short answer is a resounding YES.

Customers want to know the types of places they should be visiting and what types of properties they should be staying at so they can plan their holiday. By having a lot of reviews online, visitors can get a feel for your business and what types of properties you have to offer. With so many holiday properties on the market and competition being higher than ever before, these reviews can set you apart from the competition and help the guest decide what property to book.

The same goes for other businesses in the tourism industry such as tourist attractions, local restaurants and shops. These reviews can help people make the final decision for their holiday.

Are good and bad reviews beneficial for my business?

YES. Creating trust with your guests is based on having a mixture of good and bad reviews. It is not always possible or realistic to have 100% satisfaction at all times. Consumers want to believe in authentic feedback and the mix of positive and negative reviews helps make this feedback more realistic. What consumers will look at with bad reviews is how you responded to the negative feedback.

How do I respond to a negative review?

Agencies can assist their business by responding with professionalism. This ensures that when others read these remarks you have been proactive in your approach to addressing any issues raised.

The most professional thing you can do when a customer leaves a negative review is to respond accordingly. This will show your guests that you validate and respect their opinions and are willing to work with them to resolve any issues. Doing this will avoid the situation escalating to a point that gets out of control and can damage your reputation.

In fact you should respond to as many reviews as possible, the good, the bad and even the ugly! This will be very favourable to future guests. Taking the professional route and offering a resolution is excellent for business.

How can I get guests to leave reviews?

It should be part of your business/ marketing strategy to get online reviews from guests.

Keep in touch with them once they have checked out and send them an email thanking them for their stay. Request feedback on the visit or ask them to leave a review on one of the noteworthy review sites such as Trip Advisor, Booking.com, AirBnb and so on.

There are many ways in which you can encourage the guest to leave a review. These reviews will help your popularity grow and can also make you easier to find online.

You can give your guests an incentive to leave a review such as an offer to enter a competition, a coupon code or a discount off their next stay.

Being proactive about how you get your reviews certainly helps.

Holiday Rental Reviews are extremely beneficial to your business.

As you now know, reviews should be at the forefront of your business strategy.

By taking your online reviews seriously, you will see improvements in your business and get a lot of repeat guests.

Reviews hold you accountable and that goes a long way to having an extremely successful holiday rental business. They will instantly boost your reputation and communicating with your customers helps you to build lasting relationships. Both important parts of having a successful business.

SecureBOOKIT Guest Review Templates

Making reviews simple for your holiday rental agency.

Coming Soon, the new SecureBOOKIT has guest review templates that are automatically generated and sent to the guest after they check out of their holiday rental. Once the guests sends the completed review back to the agent, the agent can approve or archive the review. If it is approved it is then published directly to that property on their website. Our guest review templates are essential for your holiday management agency and we are sure you will love how easy it is to get reviews from guests.

New communication templates are part of our Platinum package coming soon with the new SecureBOOKIT and SherlockPRO Holidays.

For more information on the new SecureBOOKIT, SherlockPRO Holidays or our guest review and communication templates Contact us today.