The majority of hoteliers have decided against requesting a “fresh start” on TripAdvisor following major renovations since it updated its policy on refurbishments, the independent review site has revealed.
Although TripAdvisor added the review removal policy last October, the update made in July for reasons of “clarity” made waves in the media.
Under the policy, hotels that can provide building permits, materials invoices or press releases to prove that the renovations were “indeed structural and completed” are eligible to have all old reviews deleted from the site. They are then unaccessible by travellers or hoteliers, and will no longer affect the property’s “Popularity Index”.
“It means you can start again from zero – you’re like a new hotel. There is currently a lot of money being spent on refurbishments,” global vice president sales TripAdvisor for Business Julio Bruno told Travel Today.
However, despite the feature being added on the back of demand from hotel owners, surprisingly few have taken it up, he added.
“Most hotels don’t want to take out the old reviews,” he said. “People prefer to leave them there – it shows people they have improved.”
Reverting to zero reviews wipes their Popularity Index completely, so while some opt to remove them in order to start with a clean slate, others are happy to keep them on in order to maintain their ranking, building on it as a base.
