The New Face of a Winning Hotel Listing – Promoting Cleanliness on Booking Platforms

At this point in time, it’s safe to say that cleanliness is and will be the word of the day for many days to come. In the travel and hospitality industry, things are shifting and transforming at a very rapid pace and the traveler behavior is one of the most poignant and impactful changes. Meeting traveler expectations has been the top priority of hotels and third- party channels even before the crisis, however, those expectations are now significantly enhanced by the need (not want) for a clean and safe environment.

Traveling in the current scene is definitely tricky - along with pressing health concerns, many questions arise in the minds of travelers. Will I be safe? Is the hotel that I’m booking prioritizing cleanliness? Are they taking enough sanitation measures? All of these questions need to have a clear answer in order for the post-COVID-19 traveler to confidently go through with a booking. 

Hotels as well as OTAs, travel management companies, or destinations, have the same responsibility, the one of ensuring trust in today’s key hotel categories: cleanliness, health, and safety. While this might not sound like a difficult task and, in general, all the safety measures are being taken care of by the hotel management, communicating the end result to travelers can pose a challenge. Especially when it comes to third party channels, that have no direct control over the internal operations of the listed hotels, ensuring travelers that they are making the right choice when choosing to book an accommodation is a rather sensitive matter.

By now, it has become clear that the 21st-century traveler bases a great part of their booking decisions on guest reviews. While exploring a hotel’s website, offers, and images are what draws visitors in, it is ultimately the opinion of former guests, who have actually experienced a stay at said hotel, that impacts the booking decision. But with so many options out there and such a limited time, travelers prefer summarized review content, in order to get a clear overall picture of a hotel’s reputation in a timely and effective manner. 

OTAs and other booking platforms are successfully using review widgets in order to guide travelers’ booking decisions in the easiest way possible. Widgets like scores, the Meta-Review, or badges make a great impression on the website visitors, enabling them to consume vital information in a quick and visually appealing way. Now more than ever, apart from categories that tackle the quality of the rooms, the location, the staff, or the food, the need for insurance of cleanliness has risen among travelers.

At TrustYou, we want to make sure that hotels and booking platforms alike have the best means of guiding travelers in their booking journey. This is why OTAs, travel management companies, and other third parties that are using the TrustYou Review Marketing widgets have the option of leveraging our semantic analysis in order to highlight certain categories that previous guests have rated in their online reviews. As a booking platform, the biggest challenge is to create the best possible match between travelers and accommodation providers. In these trying times, it’s crucial to remember that, although personalization of the booking journey is still a top priority, there is one thing that all travelers currently have in common: the need for safety and a clean, sanitized hotel environment. 

Room cleanliness is one of the most impactful hotel review categories that is highlighted by the TrustYou semantic analysis and especially now, it poses a particularly high significance for travelers. It’s important to anticipate users’ interest in this category and enable them to filter their search by what matters most to them. By using the cleanliness review category and allowing travelers to personalize their booking journey, booking platforms ensure that they keep up with rising demands for cleanliness and hygiene and help travelers make the best decision.

If you are interested in more details about the Review Marketing widgets, feel free to reach out to our team and we will gladly assist you in properly and effectively promoting cleanliness online. 

If you are looking for more information and insightful advice on how to push through the crisis and prepare for recovery, check out our exciting Recovery Race campaign

Catalina Brinza

Catalina is a social media and data enthusiast. At TrustYou, she's on a mission to bring the most out of travel and hospitality data. One day, she hopes to experience Japan's culture to its fullest.

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