With money as tight as it is today, making sure you get real value for the money you spend while travelling is more important than ever. So how do you make sure the hotel or restaurant or even the flight you choose will give you that value for money? Use TripAdvisor for planning your trip and their app from your mobile, while on the go.
The TripAdvisor website gives you lots of options for finding out the quality, amenities, location, etc. of the hotel, restaurant and flight you might be considering for your holiday or business travel. They also show the special deals you can get and allow for easy booking right from the website. You can find out which hotels are family friendly (young kids or teens), pet friendly, for singles or seniors. You can download a list of the best hotels and the dirtiest ones for 2011. In all, they cover over 400,000 locations with descriptions, prices and reviews from people who have actually experienced the places and/or services. If you haven't yet decided where to go, the TripAdvisor website gives you options for what you might want to do while away from home, like adventure, beaches & sun, wellness (spas), etc. Click on the option you want to explore, then on Inspire Me and voilà, the choices are presented to you, along with pictures, prices, availability, popularity, maps, contact information and reviews for each.
Using the app for TripAdvisor while on the move lets you to scan the reviews before you commit yourself to a hotel, restaurant or any other attraction and lets you make a much more informed decision. The Trip Advisor app is available in 20 countries and in 13 languages. (Best of all, the app is free!) While your experience is fresh in your mind, you can write your own review from your mobile device or your computer when you get home. As the world's most popular travel community, TripAdvisor can be an excellent resource for hotels, restaurants, attractions and flights as well. With more than 35 million reviews posted by real people and accessible by computer or mobile device, TripAdvisor can help these businesses to be seen for the quality and value they offer.
By utilising some of the marketing materials TripAdvisor offers e.g. a downloadable pdf asking people to write a review, find it here
http://webdesigncardigan.co.uk/tripadvisor-visits/. The flyers can be downloaded, printed off and left in appropriate places so people are reminded to rate the establishment, their services and facilities. You never know, this could lead to being voted onto the Travelers' Choice Awards!
By being on TripAdvisor, an establishment is just a click away from thousands of potential customers and since TripAdvisor is seen by Google as an 'authority site', a listing on it can significantly improve the page ranking of that business' website. Special offers, pictures and positive reviews are amongst things that can put a hotel or restaurant on the first page of searches within local areas. Trip Advisor also sends this type of information directly to its members via email
Some establishments have complained about reviews being derogatory, and undoubtedly some are, but TripAdvisor has standards that reviews must adhere to and advises, "... when reading through the reviews throw out those that appear overly critical or overly complimentary. What is left is the collective wisdom of the community." If an establishment has concerns about a particular review, they can contact Trip Advisor or respond directly to the negative review. TripAdvisor does not verify reviews nor will it be held liable for inaccurate information on the website.
Ultimately, for every establishment, the more reviews they can get, the better because a small handful of negative or overly-picky people can't then spoil their overall image.
Monika Nolte is a freelance writer, researcher and marketer. Tripadvisor ratings will help your establishment get more customers and enable holiday makers to get the best free advice.
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