Trip Advisor is a company dealing with online reviews. It gives travelers an opportunity to write reviews about their experiences in several hotels. Trip Advisor also provides chances for online booking of hotels whereby the customer is given past reviews that other customers had written about different hotels to enablethem to make a good decision in choosing the hotel to book(Kornfeld, 2013). Information about the location, prices and the number of the branches the hotel has is provided to the customers too as additional information to help them in decision making.

Statement of the Problem

Hotels have a responsibility to make sure that their clients are influenced positively so that they can desire to come back next time. The problem the hotels have is to try to influence the customers positively(Kornfeld, 2013). Customers are the driving force of any business, and without customers, hotel business will go down. The Hotel managers are trying to come up with strategies that can help them on ways of influencing the customers. The online reviews are the effective strategy the hotel managers are working to focus on implementing since many customers access the online reviews through TripAdvisor Company before booking the hotel. 

SWOT Analysis

Management of word of mouth is one of the strengths a hotel can have, and it is a primary key factor in purchasing of property. Many customers feel respected and are obliged to write a good online review about the hotel which will attract more customers. The feeling of being treated with more care and provision of excellent services gives the customers a personal feeling(Ady, 2016). It is a strength every hotel has and implementing it will yield profits to the business. The opportunity the hotels have is the power of influencing the customers through the social media team whose work is to respond to the client’s feedback online.;

The social media team should ensure that each customerfeedbacksbeen responded to very well. The competition from businesses of thesame kind is the threat that the hotels are facing.To deal with the competition, the hotel may decide to lower its prices or even brand its services such that they don;t look alike(Leydon, 2012). An example is the threats that Homewood Suites hotel which is part of the Hilton brand hotels faces from the Staybridge Suites Hotel and the Residence Inn. The weakness all the hotels are facing is ways of producing a positive review to attract customers and for Homewood Suites to succeed it should work on making sure that its consideration is more positive than of those other hotels.

Alternative Solutions

Alternative solutions to deal with the hotel’s weaknesses and competition can be by adding promotion services. Such services may include giving offers during some time or even lowering the prices.The development services should be seasonal and clearly outlined in the hotel’s manuals containing its information. The services should be maintained and be made quality even when the prices are lowered so as to attract more customers(Kornfeld, 2013). Customer services should also be improved to the higher levels to give them the personal feeling which will motivate them to come back again. Customer experiences are also important, and the hotel management should ensure that their customers receive good services so that when they write the reviews, they write good experiences they had in the hotel which will encourage many travelers to choose the hotel when booking.

Recommendations

I recommend that every hotel should put more stress on improving their services and making them classy a factor that can attract more clients and leave them with no choice but to write good reviews about the property. The customer’s experience should be maintained at high levels from the first day in the hotel to the last to keep records of the hotel.

1. Approaches to Make Sure That the Social Media Team Is Managing Online Reviews Appropriately

The management looks at the volume and the quality of reviews if it is increasing to know that the social media team is working effectively since it is one of the factors used by the customers in choosing which hotel to book. By doing that, the business is assured of many customers. The social media team of the hotel is burdened with the task to manage the reviews which include responding to what the customers have written about the hotel. The social media team should take their time and respond to every feedback by the customers online such that each customer feels that they have been answered(Harrison, 2014). Where the customers complained of poor services, the social media services should give promises to improve services next time to attract the customers. 

The social media team also has the task of providing clear and precise information about the hotel online. The customers who wish to get rooms online through the Trip Advisor (Kornfeld, 2013). Company are always given access to the hotel’s information to guide them in making decision. By providing information about the location, the prices, the services offered and the number of branches the hotel has by the social media team can work to the advantage of the hotel since customers used that as a factor in making their decision.;

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2. Encouraging Customers as a Marketing Tactic

Welcoming and encouraging customers at check-in and checkout is a market tactic of making customers feel that they are at the right place and can say something good about the hotel. The encouragement also includes assuring the customers of their safety in the place, and so they should not worry(Ady, 2016).There are different ways that people in business usetohandle their customers and main aim being to win the hearts of the customers so that they go praising the place and can come back. Business people mainly do that to increase their sales by attracting customers who can even recommend other customers to the same hotel. Even though the customers may write good reviews about the hotel, they feel obliged to praise the excellent services.

3. Other Forms of Media to Attract Travelers

The use of communication media like the radio and the television together with the Trip Advisor website can be more expensive since the channel is one way. The hotels should use the social media like the Facebook and Twitter where the customer can have a conversation with the hotel management team and have the answers he or she need first hand(Kornfeld, 2013). The media also gives a chance to bargain and enough time to convince the traveler to use the hotel by giving them the reason why the hotel was the best choice. Hotels can also send pictures of the hotel to their client and this makes the customers write good reviews about the property thus increasing its sales.

References

Ady, M. (2016). HOW HOTELS CAN STAY COMPETITIVE 2016. HOTEL ONLINE .

Harrison, R. (2014). HOW SHOULD HOTELS MANAGE ONLINE REVIEWS? HOTEL BUSINESS .

Kornfeld, P. T. (2013). Managing Online Reviews on Trip Advisor. 1-11.;

Leydon, T. (2012). Travel and tourism marketing: 6 resources to help you improve your online review rankings. 5to9 Branding fresh ideas for marketing travel and leisure brands.;