Hotels are spending longer esponding to online reviews, according the third annual "European Hotelier Pulse-check" by Choice Hotels Europe.
It found that 63% of the European hoteliers who responded to its survey estimated they spent between one and three hours every week reading and responding to online reviews about their hotels, up from 61% last year.
However, 6% now spend up to half a day responding to reviews, double the amount recorded last year, with 14% of British hoteliers claiming they spend an entire afternoon each week to respond.
For the first time, the vast majority of European hoteliers (87%) ranked price and value as the most important factor to securing repeat business, knocking the quality of the rooms off the top spot.
However, 86% of UK hoteliers ranked staff service as the most important feature to ensure guests returned to their hotels.
There was a divided response as to what room rates may do next year. 37% of European hoteliers said room rates will return to pre-financial crisis levels, but 40% disagreed. 51% of British hoteliers believed room rates would trend upwards as did 44% of French respondents.
When asked to predict the leading travel industry trend for 2014, 65% pointed to a growth in mobile bookings, while just under a quarter (24%) thought social networking channels would establish a foothold in travel bookings.
Source: Travel Mole
