TripAdvisor Launches Guide for Writing Helpful Reviews Based on Survey of More Than 100,000

4 out of 5 U.S. Travelers Write Reviews Because They Want to "Give Back" to the Community

Overly Nitpicky Reviews Biggest Turn-Off for TripAdvisor Users

NEWTON, Mass., March 18, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TripAdvisor^®, the world's largest travel site*, today unveiled an online travel review guide with useful review-writing tips based on a survey of more than 100,000 travelers and hospitality business owners¹.

"Reviews have become a powerful tool, as travelers around the world rely on reviews to help them plan and book their trips," said Barbara Messing, chief marketing officer, TripAdvisor. "In fact, more than half will not make a booking decision without reading reviews from others,² and hospitality businesses are listening – seventy percent of businesses surveyed have taken steps to improve their quality of service thanks to reviews left by travelers."

"With more than 200 million reviews and opinions and growing on TripAdvisor, we wanted to provide new and seasoned reviewers with insights from our passionate community – from what motivates them to contribute, to the top tips for writing helpful reviews," she added.

Why U.S. Travelers Write Reviews:

The top reasons U.S. travelers say they write reviews are because "they want to share useful information with others" (88%) and because "they find reviews helpful, so they want to give back" (86%), consistent with the global trend.

Ensuring their reviews are as fresh as possible, 67 percent of U.S. travelers say they write reviews within two days of their trip or experience, and 72 percent say it takes them 10 minutes or less to write a review.

What Makes a Review Helpful:

TripAdvisor asked the community what they find most helpful when reading reviews. Among U.S. respondents:

• The three most important things they look for in a review are that it concentrates on facts (61%), that it provides a lot of detail (53%) and that it's about a recent experience (40%).
• In terms of the style of the review, 79 percent of travelers want to read a balanced view, and 72 percent say it's important to provide the context for why the reviewer liked or disliked something.
• When it comes to the content of a hotel review, 71 percent of U.S. travelers want a review to mention the condition of the hotel, and 52 percent say it is important to mention practical tips that can improve their experience.
• For restaurant reviews, four out of five travelers (81%) say they want to hear about the food quality, followed by the service (63%).
• For attraction reviews, it's all about the advice: 84 percent of U.S. travelers want a review to include practical tips that can improve their experience.

The survey also revealed the biggest turn-offs for travelers when reading reviews: overly picky reviews are the number one turn-off among U.S. travelers (57%), followed by a lack of detail or specifics on what the reviewer experienced (50%) and bad grammar (47%).

TripAdvisor travel advocate Wendy Perrin, who has been a travel journalist spanning two decades, shares: "What I have found to be really beneficial is to include in your review what you wished somebody had told you ahead of time, pinpointing what was out of the ordinary or unique about the experience, as well as taking a photo of the view from your hotel room."

Novelist and avid TripAdvisor reviewer Rebecca Forster agrees, adding: "Try to write the way you talk, and don't forget to include specific examples. Was the bed in the hotel room comfortable? Kick that up a notch and tell the reader why. Was there a featherbed and duvet on the bed? Details are the hallmark of a good review."

The TripAdvisor guide to writing helpful reviews is available at: http://www.tripadvisor.com/TripNews-a_ctr.reviewerguideEN

¹Based on a survey of 95,608 travelers and 7,215 hospitality business owners, including 34,304 total respondents from the U.S.

²PhoCusWright's "Custom Survey Research Engagement," prepared for TripAdvisor, December 2013. 

About TripAdvisor

TripAdvisor^® is the world's largest travel site*, enabling travelers to plan and book the perfect trip. TripAdvisor offers trusted advice from travelers and a wide variety of travel choices and planning features with seamless links to booking tools that check hundreds of websites to find the best hotel prices. TripAdvisor branded sites make up the largest travel community in the world, reaching 315 million unique monthly visitors**, and more than 200 million reviews and opinions covering more than 4.5 million accommodations, restaurants and attractions. The sites operate in 45 countries worldwide, including China under daodao.com. TripAdvisor also includes TripAdvisor for Business, a dedicated division that provides the tourism industry access to millions of monthly TripAdvisor visitors.

TripAdvisor, Inc. TRIP manages and operates websites under 24 other travel media brands: www.airfarewatchdog.com, www.bookingbuddy.com, www.cruisecritic.com, www.everytrail.com, www.familyvacationcritic.com, www.flipkey.com, www.thefork.com (including www.lafourchette.com, www.eltenedor.com and www.iens.nl), www.gateguru.com, www.holidaylettings.co.uk, www.holidaywatchdog.com, www.independenttraveler.com, www.jetsetter.com, www.niumba.com, www.onetime.com, www.oyster.com, www.seatguru.com, www.smartertravel.com, www.tingo.com, www.travelpod.com, www.tripbod.com, www.vacationhomerentals.com, www.viator.com, www.virtualtourist.com, and www.kuxun.cn.

*Source: comScore Media Metrix for TripAdvisor Sites, worldwide, December 2014

 **Source: Google Analytics, average monthly unique users, Q3 2014; does not include traffic to daodao.com