Half of UK accommodation owners not using free TripAdvisor listings

Reviews giant says that 16,000 properties missing out on photos and descriptions

TripAdvisor has revealed over half of accommodation owners in the UK are missing out on potential business by not taking advantage of its free listings.

Along with other consumer trends, a study by the review giant estimated 16,000 free property listings have not been claimed on the TripAdvisor website.

The firm said this could mean that photos and descriptions may not reflect how owners want to represent their company.

Business owners are able to set up and manage their property listing for free and add photos, update amenities, respond to reviews and view analytics on their property.

Martin Verdon Roe, B2B hotels vice president, said: “As we can see from the Travel Trends Study, travellers from all over the world are looking at coming to stay in the UK, each with different wish lists for their accommodation.

“But if your hotel or B&B is not accurately described on TripAdvisor, you run the risk that travelers won’t find you.

“Once an owner or employee claims a TripAdvisor listing, which they can do for free, it just takes a few minutes to make sure that a property is accurately described by ticking the amenities available and uploading some high-quality images.

“This is one of the easiest ways to make sure your property is visible to the millions of global travelers looking at TripAdvisor for their next trip.”

The report found that hotel amenities searched vary between nationalities, for example, 60% of Chinese travelers expecting Wifi in their room and US travelers are likely to research accommodations with air conditioning.

The study’s other findings show that China has had the largest increase of 133% in UK destination views between 2018 and 2019. The US currently shows that Chinese visitors has decreased.

Countries such as Costa Rica and Cape Verde have shown a spike for UK travel destinations and locally, Bicester has seen the largest increase of 26% for interested overseas visitors.

The study shows that visitors from the UK and US rate hotels the most positively and Luxembourg visitors are the most critical of UK hotels.

Fabrizio Orlando, TripAdvisor industry relations manager, said: “Overall, these results are great news for the UK hospitality industry – we’re seeing real growth in interest from many countries and resoundingly good reviews from travelers.

“These findings not only paint a positive picture for the UK tourism industry, but they also provide the foundation for a strong marketing strategy for hospitality businesses.”