19 Aug 2018 TripAdvisor for Tour Operators: 3 Reasons to Get Started

TripAdvisor provides tour operators with the opportunity not only to upload unlimited photos and videos, run advertisements and shape your business profile, but it inevitably fills your marketing campaign with user-driven content that will help bring your experience to life online.

Here are the top reasons why you should be taking advantage of this platform.

1. It’s kind of a big deal

TripAdvisor can no longer be ignored because it is the world’s largest travel site. Globally, our latest Industry Research survey for 2018 revealed that the majority of respondents at 71.13% are connecting with TripAdvisor.

By signing up and filling your profile with content such as photos and videos, you’ll create a digital representation of the experience you sell. Over time your profile will be populated with spontaneous content (like reviews and photos) from your customers.

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2. People trust it

According to our latest Global Industry Research results, review websites (for example TripAdvisor) was rated at 40.76% to be one of the most effective channels to increase visibility of the respondents’ tour and activity businesses.

With this in mind, a tour operator needs to think of two major things:

• Make sure you give them the best experience possible. When people visit your tour or activity they should have such a fantastic time that they recommend it to future visitors to the area. This is something to aim for – obviously, you can’t force them to pass on their experiences to their friends.
• Understand how to deal with consumer opinion. The reason TripAdvisor is so popular and so powerful is because the reviews are from honest consumers with nothing to gain from saying good or bad things about you. However, this may mean that you get the odd complaint here and there. You have to be responsive and learn how to take negative feedback with grace and tact.

People will always trust reviews over your branded content – whether it’s from friends or from other online consumers. Listen to all the feedback you get and tweak your business if you’re noticing a pattern In cases where if someone is being rude, you will just have to respond in a professional and respectful way.

3. You can do so much with it

It’s important to utilise all your opportunities on the site. TripAdvisor offer tools to help tour operators create the ultimate online presence for their tour or activity.

• It gives tour operators the ability to upload photos and videos, including ‘casual’ user-taken photos. This feature helps you make sure that you will have great photos that attract visitors.
• It lets you interact with visitors both current and future in offering advice and answering questions, facilitating their planning.
• It gives you widgets which you can add to your website. Some widgets display your latest reviews and awards, which can help lend your business authority. Other widgets can be used to encourage customers to give you a review on TripAdvisor.
• You can also add a “Book a Tour” button.

Interested in learning more about the latest trends and insights for your tour and activity business? Download the newest Industry Survey eBooks today.

Want to find out more?

Get your hands on the Australia and New Zealand Industry Survey results:

Or grab the latest United States and Canada Industry Survey results: 

Topics customer service, social media, tour operator, tourism business strategy, tripadvisor