A new study shows L'Hermitage Hotel in Vancouver is getting a $64 return for every dollar it spends on a business listing through TripAdvisor, a user generated travel review site.
The study, commissioned by TripAdvisor and conducted by Forrester Consulting, found that a business listing that costs L'Hermitage $200 per month pays for itself in one day.
Glenn Eleiter, general manager of the boutique hotel, confirmed the study's conclusions.
"We don't spend any money on marketing the hotel, yet we're 95% occupancy all summer long," Eleiter said.
International travellers who go to TripAdvisor to research hotels will find L'Hermitage at the top of the list. That is no accident, Eleiter said. Two years ago, it ranked ninth. The rankings are based on reviews posted by hotel guests.
Eleiter said he started paying attention to what his guests were saying about his hotel when he discovered just how many people had searched reviews of L'Herimtage. By responding to both criticisms and praise, the hotel started bringing up its rankings organically.
"Almost immediately, the reviews became more and more glowing," Eleiter said.
The hotel then started subscribing to TripAdvisor's business listing. The listing allows potential patrons to easily contact a hotel or restaurant via website, phone or email without having to do a search via Google or travel sites like expedia.ca or kayak.com.
"What we're finding is that we're receiving more emails directly to the hotel and more website bookings directly to the hotel," Eleiter said. "About two reservations a day, minimum, come in through the TripAdvisor channel."
