Why user reviews count for travellers
A new survey conducted by Booking.com reveals that travellers are no longer taking vacation images and descriptions at face value. Instead, savvy bookers are turning to “people powered” guest reviews to help them choose their next travel experience, particularly when it comes to those looking to stay in alternative types of accommodation.
Over half of Thai travellers (59 per cent) admit they have chosen not to book accommodation because of negative reviews about the host, despite the price, location and quality of the accommodation being exactly what they were looking for.
Insights obtained from 21,500 travellers across 29 markets also revealed that 84 per cent rate reviews as important, to help identify friendly and welcoming hosts. Booking.com also delved into its own user-generated data revealing that on average, the travellers rate the staff higher than any of the other categories that users can rate a property on, such as: services, cleanliness, comfort, value and location.
Nationalities were ranked by difference between the staff score and overall review scores, based on the reviews left by global travellers between January 2017 and January 2019. Only nationalities who left 100,000 or more reviews were included in this analysis.
