How to optimize your TripAdvisor presence as a tour operator

Online Travel Agencies usually have very high commissions, however they offer an ensured flow of constant reservations and a much wider range of opportunities. TripAdvisor is one of the most popular platforms and it works worldwide, which is why it has around 160 million visitors each month, according to Statista. This makes it a great OTA  to use for selling your tours. Its ranking method is very easy to understand because it works very similarly to search engines, like Google, the best options will be shown on the first page.

Be more attractive to customers on TripAdvisor

First of all, managing a profile on any OTA is a constant job, it doesn’t end after the upload of the tours. So, checking regularly how your content is doing and answering questions and feedback will show you as a present and caring tour operator in the eyes of possible visitors. Some general tips on being more attractive on OTA’s like TripAdvisor are:

1. Mind and take care of your profile: keep it updated with detailed and useful information, as well as high quality and attractive photos that show the experiences you are offering.
2. Answer quickly to any inquiries: efficient communication can mark a difference when a prospective client is deciding travel plans, it can keep you from missing out on reservation opportunities.
3. Offer special prices and deals: packages, additional services and promos only found on OTA’s will help you increase the amount of sales on them.
4. Manage your reviews: answer promptly and professionally to all your reviews, positive and negative, it will show a commitment to customer experience and satisfaction.
5. Compare prices: compare, analyze and adjust prices based on fellow tour operators, that way you will have more competitive prices on the market.
6. Highlight your strengths: display your added values and differences from the competition to stand out.
7. Remember to use attractive audiovisual content: high quality images and videos of your tours can inspire trust and desire in potential customers.

How does the TripAdvisor algorithm work? 

To correctly optimize your TripAdvisor profile you need to understand how the platform works. The algorithm is based mostly on your online presence and reviews, so to start you should know that -just like Google- the top three positions of the first page are the spots you want to achieve to have more clicks and opportunities for reservations. Reviews are right at the core of the algorithm: they are analyzed under three parameters, quality, quantity and recency.

• Quality of reviews: they work with the traditional 5 star system, however, a complete review helps you rank better and it includes photographs and a full and personal description, sometimes even the tour guide’s name. The ratio between passive, positive and negative reviews will impact the most on your ranking.
• Recency of reviews: the more recent the review, the more weight it has when ranking.
• Number of reviews: you will only need just enough for statistical significance and comparison, but it does not affect your ranking very much.

Tips to rank better on TripAdvisor and get more sales

Since reviews are the biggest factor for the TripAdvisor ranking, in order to fully optimize your profile, you will need to have them as a constant focus when managing your account. However, for your customer service quality and also your TripAdvisor presence, you should also keep reviews from clients prioritized before and during the tour itself. 

• Getting new reviews: it can be a hard challenge, but a strategy to get visitors to leave them could be offering a giveaway or further opportunities (like discounts on future purchases) for customers who leave a review. Another more traditional and obvious strategy, that we tend to forget, is to just ask for the reviews at the end of the tour.
• Answering reviews: show your customers and potential clients that you care about them and their experience by answering promptly and professionally to all reviews, negative or positive. When there are complaints, make sure you address them and not take them personally. Don’t give a standard answer and don’t create fake accounts to leave more reviews, this will only hurt your online reputation and you will get penalized by TripAdvisor. Really take in the feedback to keep improving your tours.
• Invest in multiple sales channels: uploading your tours on several OTA’s will only increase your chances for bookings and reviews, but you should also have your own direct sales channel. It will be difficult to manage all your profiles and reviews, which is why TourReview offers the perfect solution: a single dashboard to manage and respond to all your reviews from each OTA, as well as detailed analysis in downloadable and graphic reports.

The TourReview software analyzes all reviews through AI and BI giving you different types of scans and examinations, like a sentiment analysis, graphics comparing tours during specific periods of time and you can schedule all analysis to be sent as reports to whoever you need to. So, TourReview is the key to improving your online reputation, positioning your tours or experiences and increasing sales numbers.

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