Hotel guests read 6-12 reviews before booking, says new TripAdvisor survey.

Its not surprising that 80% of those surveyed read at least 6-12 reviews before making their decision, and they’re most interested in recent reviews that will give them the freshest feedback.

TA is remaking itself as a hotel friendly marketing company. Its meta search lets hotels get their own direct booking engine in front of hotels at the point of purchase. When asked about TripAdvisor’s recently launched Hotel Price Comparison function (meta search), 51 percent agree that it ‘has helped me save time during my planning process’ and 52 percent agree that TripAdvisor’s meta search ‘has helped me find the right hotel at the right price’.

Its a service that hotels will not find on the OTAs that use their own engine and take commissions. TA lets hotel bid for the exposure and charges a dollar or so for each lead. Very Cost effective it seems, but that price may change as OTA compete for the business. My guess is that TA clients like to book direct and may choose hotel options over OTAs in any case.

See more at: http://hotelmarketing.com/index.php/content/article/hotel_guests_read_6_12_reviews_before_booking_says_tripadvisor_survey#sthash.Xhm4avia.dpuf