(Berlin, 13 November 2010) Personal recommendations are becoming more and more important on the Internet. Buyer power is increasingly being strengthened through "Like" buttons and other recommendations. Guest reviews have become one of, if not the most important "web currency" for hotels. Now, with myHotelRank, the Berlin-based travel technology specialist GIATA has developed an innovative tool for the efficient managing of hotel reviews, which can also generate bookings from GIATA's partner sites.
"With myHotelRank, the hotelier can generate authentic hotel reviews, actively manage these in dialogue with their guests and distribute the reviews on their own websites as well as on Twitter, Facebook and GIATA's partner sites. GIATA already provides content in the form of hotel descriptions, images, POIs and videos to its almost 18,000 touristic partners (among them major tour operators such as TUI and Thomas Cook, travel and review portals like TripAdvisor and HolidayCheck, CRS/GDS and travel agencies). Therefore it was a logical step to also distribute hotel reviews and thus 'unique content'. Hotels profit through an improved ranking and more bookings with our partners", explains Michael Jarugski, Sales & Marketing Manager at GIATA.
The functionality of myHotelRank is relatively simple:
1. Generate reviews: The hotelier contacts guests after their stay and invites them by email to review their stay at the hotel on the independent site www.myHotelRank.com. The myHotelRank email system supports the hotelier in doing this, and automatically sends emails in 11 languages. The guests review the location, room and the service, among other things, and give a rating of up to six stars. On request, hoteliers can define individual questions about their hotel. Only reviews from hotel guests who actually stayed in the hotel are generated.
2. Managing reviews: the system automatically publishes positive reviews. Negative reviews (those with only one to three from a maximum of six stars) are not immediately published, instead they are held in a mediation process for 14 days. During this time hoteliers can be proactive and talk to their guests about causes and solutions. If the guest chooses to remain with the negative review, hoteliers can comment on it before it is published.
3. Distributing reviews: The hotelier actively controls distribution and decides how many unique reviews are displayed on myHotelRank and how many should be distributed on GIATA's partner sites. The reviews can be made visible via a chart ("myHotelRank box") on the hotel's own website and also published on Twitter and Facebook.
"With myHotelRank the hotelier actively acquires, influences and controls their hotel reviews. Prominence on the Internet increases through improved visibility on Google, social media networks and GIATA's partner sites. This automatically leads to more bookings. And through active dialogue with guests the hotelier continues to optimise quality at their hotel", explains Michael Jarugski.
Notable hotels at home and abroad were among the first of myHotelRank's customers. "31 million Germans use the Internet when planning their holiday. Seven million of those are significantly influenced by hotel reviews. It is therefore essential for us to be intensively and, most importantly, actively engaged in this field. myHotelRank provides us with a very intelligent way to generate authentic hotel reviews, thus highlighting our service quality,” says Sandro Klee, Head of Sales, Residenz Hotels & Resorts in Berlin.
"myHotelRank offers us an uncomplicated way of carrying out numerous important marketing tasks with just one tool. The system even allows us to seize hold of our current Achilles' heel and turn it into a strength. We increase our direct bookings, we offer our guests an independent review portal and we can directly address guests' needs based on their reviews, thus continually increasing our quality standards. Last but not least, we also increase our PageRank on Google. The system thus creates real added value for both the guest and the hotelier", explains Denise Meyer, Director of Sales & Marketing, Hollywood Media Hotel Berlin.
"myHotelRank is a multiuse tool for our hotel, in order to increase sales (sales & marketing), communicate with our guests (guest loyalty) and improve the hotel's performance (value for money), which, combined, lead to higher revenues," declares Frantzis Argyropoulos, Director, Mastichari Bay & CITI LIVE HOTEL, Kos, Greece.
Review platforms are becoming more and more important when guests are making their decision and have an enormous influence on the guest's choice of hotel. The large number of platforms makes it increasingly difficult for guests, as well as hoteliers, to gain an overview. In particular, an immediate reaction to reviews that make false or exaggerated claims online is not always possible. myHotelRank makes it possible for us to develop a sustainable review system and at the same time stay in contact with our guests. The transparency of the system garners guests' trust, thus winning regular guests and, through their recommendations, new guests", summarises Thomas Eder, General Manager, Hotel DAS REINISCH Schwechat.
myHotelRank is subject to a fee and costs 0.50 euros per room/month, however no more than a maximum of 120 euros per month. Hotels can test myHotelRank for two months free of charge. Further information: www.myhotelrank.com
About GIATA: GIATA GmbH was established in Kassel in 1996. Today its head office is in Berlin and it has over 150 employees. The company partners are three private individuals in Germany as well as Sabre-Holdings (Dallas/USA). GIATA is internationally sought-after as a digital content supplier for tourist service providers' travel offers. Major companies such as TUI, Thomas Cook, Hotelbeds, ITS, FTI, Alltours, Öger Tours, Expedia, Opodo and Lastminute.com are among its more than 18,000 touristic partners. In addition, GIATA distributes images and texts from 220,000 represented hotels via the Internet in over 18,000 travel agencies, all major CRS/GDS (Amadeus, Sabre, Travelport), as well as all relevant Internet booking engines and major travel portals. Since November 2006 GIATA has offered over 35,000 hotel descriptions (continuous texts in eight languages) as well as Fact Sheets (in a further 22 languages) and hotel images via XML. The "Multilingual Hotel Content" is presented on hotelopia.com, for example. Further information: http://www.giata.de/en/produkte/fuer-hotels.html