Online reviews are a trusted source of info when planning holidays

What traveller doesn’t check out the opinions of others before making a reservation at a hotel or restaurant?

In a study by Ipsos Mori for TripAdvisor, 52% of respondents in a sample representing 12 countries said they would never choose a hotel without first checking online reviews.

While online reviews are common on the web, TripAdvisor’s platform has become the standard resource for travellers with its 760 million comments regarding restaurants, airlines, and lodgings.

As such, although the Ipsos study was commissioned by the American travel review giant, the findings are still an indicator of the habits of travellers doing research before making reservations.

Nearly three quarters (72%) of survey respondents reported frequently or systematically reading TripAdvisor reviews before making decisions about lodging, restaurants, or experiences. Comments about lodgings are especially successful, with 81% reporting that they frequently consult them.

Vacationers feel the need to reassure themselves of an establishment’s quality before booking: 79% stated they are more likely to choose to stay in a hotel with a higher approval rating.

Also, 78% take only the most recent comments into account, while 55% read several reviews to get a general sense of reviewer opinions. An average of nine reviews are considered before booking decisions are made about hotels and restaurants.

While the platform has recently been subject to criticism for the harshness of some reviews towards tourism and restaurant professionals, 39% of the travellers stated that they do not take the more extreme opinions into account.

This “Power of Reviews” study polled 23 292 TripAdvisor users from 12 markets (Australia, China, France, German-speaking countries, India, Italy, Japan, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the United States) between May and June 2019.

The study was targeted at users who had visited the site during the 12 previous months.

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