TripAdvisor sees Thailand reviews soar by triple digits

[Lite Beer]

TripAdvisor sees Thailand reviews soar by triple digits
SUCHAT SRITAMA
THE NATION

Jean Ow-Yeong, head of media relations for Asia-Pacific at TripAdvisor

BANGKOK: -- The number of Asia-Pacific destination reviews on TripAdvisor increased by 74 per cent in the past year, with triple-digit growth in some markets, including Thailand.

The most searched domestic destinations for Thai travellers on TripAdvisor were Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, Hua Hin and Phuket. For international destinations, Thais did most of their searches on Hong Kong, Singapore, Siem Reap, Kuala Lumpur and London.

According to a PhoCusWright report, the Asia-Pacific online travel industry will outpace the total travel market in the 2013-16 period. Online travel bookings will surge 51 per cent to US$123.9 billion (Bt4 trillion), 32 per cent of the entire travel sector.

Jean Ow-Yeong, head of media relations for Asia-Pacific at TripAdvisor, said it would continue focusing on building local content and partnerships with leading companies.

"In Thailand, we have partnerships with the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Asiatique The Riverfront, and Minor Group's Anantara Hotels and Resorts, who feature our review content on their websites … or through joint review collection," she said.

According to a TripBarometer study by TripAdvisor, booking through online travel agents was one of top choices for Thai travellers. The travel review site also said more and more travellers would go online.

"We enable travellers' bookings through hotel price comparison searches," she said.

TripAdvisor is the world's largest travel site with more than 200 million reviews and opinions on 4.4 million hospitality businesses in 145,000 destinations. It has more than 315 million monthly visitors and operates sites in 45 countries in 28 languages.

In recent years, the site has focused on providing mobile products, and this has really paid off - 150 million people have downloaded the TripAdvisor family of applications. Guides for more than 300 cities can be downloaded and used in offline mode to avoid data charges.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/TripAdvisor-sees-Thailand-reviews-soar-by-triple-d-30250274.html

-- The Nation 2014-12-21

[canuckamuck]

I have no idea what they mean by destination reviews. Do they mean people who visited Thailand are writing reviews and the number of these reviews is increasing? If so wouldn't it be prudent to mention whether or not the reviews are positive?

It's like a company claiming that they are really busy lately, but neglect to say that they are busy handling complaints.

[clockman]

Smoke and mirrors! Do not believe everything you see on the web.

[bunuel]

I have no idea what they mean by destination reviews. Do they mean people who visited Thailand are writing reviews and the number of these reviews is increasing? If so wouldn't it be prudent to mention whether or not the reviews are positive?

It's like a company claiming that they are really busy lately, but neglect to say that they are busy handling complaints.

I have written reviews for Trip Advisor, and you are entirely correct. All this means is that there are more on-line reviews of Thai travel product on Trip Advisor. Who has written these reviews and what they say are more relevant, and that is the unknown variable here!

[Andrew65]

Sounds like a lot of the "positive reviews" were by "domestic travelers"

[madmitch]

How does this compare to other countries? The figures are worthless without knowing the overall Tripadvisor figures.

And what does the increase refer to? Year on year? Overall increase in the total number of reviews?

[kotsak]

Ratings are overrated..

[MarkmBha]

Plausible. People are wondering if it is safe to come under Marshal Law.

[phuketandsee]

Don't trust a word of it. Remember when they shut down the review page for Koh Tao after the murders?

And they've refused to post my negative review of Tiger Kingdom here in Phuket without giving me any explanation. I have 98 reviews and the wouldn't answer me.

So many of their reviews are fake. You can easily tell by phrases like "home away from home", "hidden gem", "best Italian food in Thailand" etc from people with only one or 2 reviews.

[4evermaat]

^^the problem with review sites like tripadvisor is that they do nothing to verify the authenticity of the poster. The poster themselves and then additional verification that they visited the spot/country. Easy to do these days with sms, gps, etc.

[aliep]

TripAdvisor do get a lot of fake reviews, but they're easy to spot, typically 1 time posters, but equally, TripAdvisor are quite good at spotting them, they check cookies, IP addreses, ISP's, browser strings and screen resolution. Your computer "leaks" your identity, not always accurately, but close enough to draw a likely conclusion..

They recently bought viator the online booking company and appear to be "manipulating" rankings to improve their opportunities for commission on bookings, purporting to be impartial whilst at the same time making money on bookings seems like a slippery slope to me.

[dddave]

When I travel around SE Asia, I use both Trip Advisor and Agoda reviews extensively and almost always end up with a hotel that I like. I ignore reviews that are over the top with praise and those with an ax to grind. The objective ones are usually obvious and after reading several, one usually has a pretty good idea of what the place is like.

One thing I find especially helpful is reviews that give an accurate assessment of a hotels location and it's proximity to local attractions and restaurants, something that hotels often distort in their promotional material. So frequent these days to find a hotel calling itself "The Downtown Wherever" when it is actually miles out of town.

[arrowsdawdle]

I have no idea what they mean by destination reviews. Do they mean people who visited Thailand are writing reviews and the number of these reviews is increasing? If so wouldn't it be prudent to mention whether or not the reviews are positive?

It's like a company claiming that they are really busy lately, but neglect to say that they are busy handling complaints.

Now that's what you call an astute observation and post, eh?

[thhMan]

Ive noticed that the locals give glowing reports, but tourists/expats do the opposite and say it like it is, which is not always positive.

The most common issues seem to be worn out, dirty establishments and second being rude staff. Of course this is my personal observation

I also noted that the maps are way off... I think owners of these establishments, think that if they sit at home and click the business location here, means that it will be in the correct place. Ive been out in the sticks, in carparks, across other sides of freeways on many occasions.

My comments are based on locations in Chiang Mai

I find the restaurant reviews great and the user photos excellent.. I do disregard owner photos as some of them are either sideways, doctored or just fake....

A trick I have started using is when using the map, I use Street View and many times I see the location in some field or dirty soi with no business establishment in the area that I can discern... Its a pity that Trip Advisor allows this map nonsense as it devalues their service and ruins a great evening with the family as we spend way too long trying to find a place (mainly restaurants).

Edited December 21, 2014 by thhMan

[arrowsdawdle]

When I travel around SE Asia, I use both Trip Advisor and Agoda reviews extensively and almost always end up with a hotel that I like. I ignore reviews that are over the top with praise and those with an ax to grind. The objective ones are usually obvious and after reading several, one usually has a pretty good idea of what the place is like.

One thing I find especially helpful is reviews that give an accurate assessment of a hotels location and it's proximity to local attractions and restaurants, something that hotels often distort in their promotional material. So frequent these days to find a hotel calling itself "The Downtown Wherever" when it is actually miles out of town.

The key is to look at the number of reviews. There are so many shills with post quantities so high you'd think they were TV posters.

[spermwhale]

Another typical example of the poor reporting skills of Thai "reporters" who are brainlessly spoon-fed information and to afraid to ask further questions that might lead to an interesting read. That's too much work for them.

[spermwhale]

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Ive noticed that the locals give glowing reports, but tourists/expats do the opposite and say it like it is, which is not always positive.

The most common issues seem to be worn out, dirty establishments and second being rude staff. Of course this is my personal observation

I also noted that the maps are way off... I think owners of these establishments, think that if they sit at home and click the business location here, means that it will be in the correct place. Ive been out in the sticks, in carparks, across other sides of freeways on many occasions.

My comments are based on locations in Chiang Mai

I find the restaurant reviews great and the user photos excellent.. I do disregard owner photos as some of them are either sideways, doctored or just fake....

A trick I have started using is when using the map, I use Street View and many times I see the location in some field or dirty soi with no business establishment in the area that I can discern... Its a pity that Trip Advisor allows this map nonsense as it devalues their service and ruins a great evening with the family as we spend way too long trying to find a place (mainly restaurants).

I had to eat the entire three day stay at a place in Chiang Mai which advertised itself as "10 minutes" from the night market. Well in actuality. it was a 20 minute drive into nowhere at a place they billed as a "romantic" hotel. Too bad I was there with my buddy. There was nothing there. False advertising to say the least.

[FireMedic]

Another typical example of the poor reporting skills of Thai "reporters" who are brainlessly spoon-fed information and to afraid to ask further questions that might lead to an interesting read. That's too much work for them.

And ones that are too stupid to ask. Too bad most of the reviews in Thailand are about scams and rip offs, but I guess they weren't going to report on that.

[FireMedic]

To prove my point, I just went on TripAdvisor. Type in Thailand Scam Rip-Off:

Search results for "thailand scam rip-off"

All results

(6,731,688)

Reviews

(4,826,333)

Forums

(1,905,355)

[Lupatria]

The biggest marketing stunt: There is no such thing as bad publicity. A glass is half full or half empty. And the TAT is surfing on the high waves of the empty glass.

[upena]

TripAdvisor and the Tourism Authority of Thailand are strategic partners. So, this is meaningless. And, reviews are not toursts

[cruisemonkey]

On the Destination Forums, there's form of censorship wielded if a handful of people (members with vested interests) click on 'Report Post' (for any reason). The post/thread gets deleted automatically because it hasn't painted a picture of all being: 'butterflies, waterfalls, rainbows & unicorns'... even though the post complies with the guidelines. Other posts, not in in compliance with the guidelines are allowed to stand.

TripAdvisor never communicates - one is never told why posts/threads mysteriously 'disappear'. Likewise, the reason(s) for rejection of a submission for a new listing of a business in order to write a review.

Take everything you read on TA with a huge chunk of sodium chloride.

[Tatsujin]

Seems to me the increase in reviews on TripAdvisor are wholly of the NEGATIVE variety, and those that are positive are often bought and paid for.

[leon9mm]

I use tripadviser for checking hotels. It's been ok for me up till now..travellers tell it the way it is,all you've got to do is balance it out..far better than agoda and hotels.com etc with their biased reviews,and bad reviews don't seem to make it to their sites.ive been there..and booked some awful hotels from their reviews..I like tripadviser but would not be so silly as to beleave everything...after all if you really like a hotel and want it unfashionable so to speak you could give it a low rating..but overall as I say it's about the best guide for me when balancing out reviews of hotels...

[wabothai]

Tourism is down and no manipulation of figures from whoever is going to change that. Wake up folks at TAT. you may want to spend more useful time on getting western tourists back. Cheap Chinese (who are now shopping in Russia), Indian honeymooners, etc. Start by abolishing marshal law.

[samuibruno]

On the Destination Forums, there's form of censorship wielded if a handful of people (members with vested interests) click on 'Report Post' (for any reason). The post/thread gets deleted automatically because it hasn't painted a picture of all being: 'butterflies, waterfalls, rainbows & unicorns'... even though the post complies with the guidelines. Other posts, not in in compliance with the guidelines are allowed to stand.

TripAdvisor never communicates - one is never told why posts/threads mysteriously 'disappear'. Likewise, the reason(s) for rejection of a submission for a new listing of a business in order to write a review.

Take everything you read on TA with a huge chunk of sodium chloride.

sorry but you are wrong

when you report a post being inappropriate , its usually because its not supposed to be there

for many reasons [its on the drop down box when you select it ]

and they are checked before action is taken

so you cant just get it deleted because you dont like it

myself advertise on tripadvisor [paid and unpaid] and its one of the best tools for advertising if you are in the tourist industry

when ive contacted trip advisor i usually get a timely response

if you read terms and conditions you may find that tripadvisor states that they can remove whatever they want and they dont have to tell you why

however as theres many derogatory posts , including personal slander , false and personal advertising or just people bad mouthing /spouting off about others for no reason

there has to be some control

ive reported many many inappropriate posts on tripadvisor

most have been removed , but some not

mostly its businesses/persons advertising themselves which is totally not allowed [and clearly stated in forum guidlines ]

[HerbalEd]

I have no idea what they mean by destination reviews. Do they mean people who visited Thailand are writing reviews and the number of these reviews is increasing? If so wouldn't it be prudent to mention whether or not the reviews are positive?

It's like a company claiming that they are really busy lately, but neglect to say that they are busy handling complaints.

Evidently you've never read these types of reviews. The bad reviews are very helpful to get the true and balanced picture of the destination, hotel, restaurant, etc.

[HerbalEd]

Smoke and mirrors! Do not believe everything you see on the web.

Especially comments on tv.com.

[WhizBang]

TripAdvisor is in partnership with TAT.

Nuf said.

[Mister Fixit]

I have no idea what they mean by destination reviews. Do they mean people who visited Thailand are writing reviews and the number of these reviews is increasing? If so wouldn't it be prudent to mention whether or not the reviews are positive?

It's like a company claiming that they are really busy lately, but neglect to say that they are busy handling complaints.

I have written reviews for Trip Advisor, and you are entirely correct. All this means is that there are more on-line reviews of Thai travel product on Trip Advisor. Who has written these reviews and what they say are more relevant, and that is the unknown variable here!

I too have written TA reviews, but I wonder in this case whether there isn't an army of TAT scribes beavering away trying to big up Thailand ...

Edited December 21, 2014 by Mister Fixit