Social M edia and Technology: The Influence

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1 Consortium Journal of Hospitality and Tourism 19:2, 2014, ISSN: Social M edia and Technology: The Influence CATHRINE LINNES College of Business Hawaii Pacific University PAUL KOWALSKI College of Business Hawaii Pacific University JOSEPH LEMA Hospitality & Tourism Management The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey WENDY LAM Hospitality & Tourism Management Hawaii Pacific University JEROME AGRUSA Hospitality & Tourism Management Hawaii Pacific University This research focuses on the impact of social media on toda industry. Reference will be centered on TripAdvisor due to its dominant market position within the travel industry market segment. Specifically, this study will examine how: (1) social media technologically connects and interfaces with customers for feedback, reviews, and surveys, in order to reach more users and to increasingly gain popularity; (2) TripAdvisor Address correspondence to Jerome Agrusa, PhD, Hospitality and Tourism Management at Hawaii Pacific University, (808) , jagrusa@hpu.edu

2 Soci al Medi a and Technology 55 interfaces with Facebook and is present on other social media websites like LinkedIn and Twitter; (3) every year, TripAdvisor awards destinations ards; (4) once awarded, these destinations and properties will bear primary sequence in main search engines and will therefore gain popularity; (5) with these advantages, the hotel industry is to be educated and made aware of the dynamics of social media and the importance of monitoring; (6) one of the main reasons why social media like TripAdvisor i ncreases in popularity is both current and post stays; (7) as a result, there is a growing importance paid by Hoteliers towards social media, which requires changes of behavior and skills of leaders to adapt to social media; (8) and finally, KEYWORDS: Social media, technology, Hawaii hotels, TripAdvisor INTRODUCTION In this modern age of travel and tourism where ultra-competition exists in all areas, consumers have also become increasingly conscious of their purchase decisions. experiences, as well as recommendations from trusted parties has increased as options have multiplied across various segment i.e. product/services, geographic location, price structure, amenities/ facilities, packages, etc. Over the last decade, human behavior has seen an increasing familiarity and around the world increases, so do the users of travel review websites. Web based programs have thus evolved through the Internet to increase sales and at the same time provide resources that allows consumers to purchase or acquire support to make the purchase decision (Shankar, Smith, & Rangaswamy, 2003). Live feed systems that have emerged through the Internet allow consumers to communicate and relay their feedback. With the advancement of technology and the increasing importance for communication, social media was established via the Internet that served multiple purposes for both consumers as well as sellers.

3 Linnes et al. 56 Market capture and maximization have become a common goal for service providers. There are numerous websites known for offering advice from real travelers as well as a variety of travel options and planning features. These travel websites compile the opinions and experiences of many previous customers in one convenient place, making it easily accessible to virtually anyone. Because word-of mouth advertising is so powerful, these websites can have a great influence in attracting customers (De Bruyn & Lilien, 2008). Owens (2012) argues that user-generated reviews are critical in the decision making process and may reassure a customer on their decision to commit to the reservation Travel review websites have essentially revolutionized word-of mouth advertising. With multiple websites that allows for hospitality organizations to be marketed as well as rated, for instance, Yelp, Four Square, Facebook, Urbanspoon, and Twitter; this study will focus on TripAdvisor and its significant contribution and impact on the hotel industry in Hawaii. It has been over 15 years since the social era started and TripAdvisor assists potential guests in making their decision where to stay or where to dine along with other sources of information on a destination. Founded in 2000 by Stephen Kaufer, TripAdvisor is one of the first usergenerated websites. Information about hotels, flights, vacation rentals, and restaurants as well as the yearly winners can be found on the website. Twelve years later, TripAdvisor has over 260 million monthly visitors and over 125 million reviews which covers over 3.1 million accommodations, restaurants, and tourist attractions (TripAdvisor, 2013a). The website is available to the public without any charge. The travel website is from publishing reviews about travel destinations to comparing prices of hotels and flights, while showing the lowest price available on the Web. TripAdvisor is used by customers for different purposes. One of the most common purposes is to research the destination prior to travelling or visiting a restaurant and making a decision based upon the reviews. The travel website also posts forum discussions, which can be helpful to customers in making a decision if the selected destination, hotel or restaurant will meet their needs and expectations. Access to the ser as well as posting a review, but it is highly recommended as it allows personalizing the website. The use of Trip Advisor is slowly becoming an integral part of trip planning. According to Ong (2012), 61% of those surveyed stated they use reviews to narrow down their choices. In addition, nearly all the respondents of a Travel Weekly survey indicated

4 Soci al Medi a and Technology 57. The survey also stated that 98% of the respondents who used travel review websites said they would use them again (Chipkin, 2012). Due to these factors, review websites such as TripAdvisor TripAdvisor is used worldwide and operates in 34 countries including websites in North America, South America, Australia, Europe and Asia (TripAdvisor, 2013). In China, the company operates under the brand daodao.com and kuxun.cn (TripAdvisor, 2014a.). Currently about more than 20,000 hotels and restaurant can be found on the travel website daodao.com even though it was just launched recently in Daodao is becoming one of the biggest travel websites and is constantly expanding in China as well as worldwide. The company manages and operates websites under 19 other travel media brands and together the sites attract more than 69 million monthly visitors (ComScore, 2012). (1) Social Media Technological Connects and Interfaces Customers for Feedback, Reviews and Surveys Before social media gained the importance and reputation which it currently has agents, friends or families. Recommendations or information about the destination were compare multiple reviews about a destination. Although times have changed, the importance of word of mouth (WOM) recommendations are still one of the most dominant factors prior to making a travel decision (Looker, Rockland, & Taylor- Ketchum, 2007; Smith, 1993). Through the use of the Internet and the increase of communication, WOM has gained even more importance. Websites such as TripAdvisor connects customers with each other and makes information and reviews about hotels, vacation rentals and restaurants accessible to the broad public. TripAdvisor also allows customers to compare different reviews of past customers with each other and includes a ranking of similar properties. Therefore, the customer can compare similar restaurants and hotels at the desired destination with each other. In addition, Trip Advisor hosts forums about different travel related topics. The opportunities to network or to gather information are endless.

5 Linnes et al. 58 (2) TripAdvisor Interfaces with Facebook and Other Social Media Trip Advisor recognized the need to market their website on a variety of social media websites. Internet marketing allowed the company to advertise their services and product free of charge. TripAdvisor is represented on the following social media websites: a. website with more than 277 million registered members in over 200 countries (LinkedIn, 2014). TripAdvisor has currently 43,726 followers from LinkedIn as of February, 2014 b. On Facebook, which is a social networking service with more than 1.23 billion active users as of December 31, 2013 (Facebook, 2014a), Facebook users have currently 740,804 likes on TripAdvisor and 21,054 are talking about it (Facebook, 2014b). Facebook allows creating and joining interest groups and becoming a fan of a page. Organizations like TripAdvisor use this as a form of free Internet advertisement. In 2007, TripAdvisor paid Facebook.com $3 million a brand new market (Biggs, 2007; Kafka, 2007; McCarthy, 2007). First introduced in the U.S, the UK followed a few months later. This partnership allows users an instant personalization of both websites. It is advertised on TripAdvisor to sign in via a Facebook account. In where users can sign into TripAdvisor through their Facebook account and therefore connect both of their profiles. Critics mention that the application is an opt-out initiative for its Facebook users. This means that if a Facebook user has not actively disabled the feature in the settings, by visiting TripAdvisor while being logged into the Facebook account both webpages are connected and instantly personalized. Once both accounts are connected, customers are always able to log into their TripAdvisor account via Facebook without requiring another password. This application acts like a personalized travel planner and opinions about their latest trips and dining experiences in various ways. The application will post on behalf of the user status updates and photos on the news feed and therefore share the users travel advice

6 Soci al Medi a and Technology 59 on Facebook. In addition, when researching a destination of interest on TripAdvisor, the user will see which of their Facebook friends have been to that location and what their feedback was. Since this partnership has been launched, 100 million people have been part of this instant personalization (May, 2014). The cooperation with Facebook allows better coverage within the social media network itself. The recent numbers indicate that the average user has over 190 friends i review and opinion is not only shared on the website itself, but is also shared on Facebook, which in return is able to reach more users. TripAdvisor is one of eight partners worldwide that have access to this form of instant personalization. TripAdvisor is currently the only travel site. Adam Medros, the Vice President of Global Products at inherently do want to share their experiences and their content with for that permission, to be able to make it easier for your friends to discover the things that you like. And to get ideas and recommendations for the tri p. 1). c. On Twitter, which is a real-time information network that connects private users as well as businesses with its customers, TripAdvisor has currently 1.2 million followers and a total of 9,756 tweets published by the administrators (TripAdvisor, 2014b). Twitter allows the quick sharing of information and news with the group of followers and provides an opportunity to build relationships and to engage with customers outside of the familiar website. Beyond the website which TripAdvisor has on Twitter, the company is currently not looking into looked at that and all the other social it, but the main thing we want to figure out is what are we getting from pressing a button and sharing it out to their Twitter network and followers d. Google+, which has been just recently launched on September 20 th 2011, is a social networking and identity service operated by Google

7 Linnes et al. 60 Inc. The New York Times have declared that Google + as the answer to the social network Facebook (Armano, 2011). As of October 29, 2013, Google+ has a user base of more than 540 million surpassing Twitter s 218 million monthly active users (Daily News, 2013). Adam Medros mentioned that Google+ Facebook is really the only platform that has meaningful scale and Four Pillars Hotels in the UK stressed the impact of social media within the hospitality industry. It reported that the search volume on Google for hotels has lost a stunning 70% in the last six years. Instead travelers are using TripAdvisor, Kayak, and Expedia (May, 2014). In addition to social media, TripAdvisor offers a free mobile application for iphone or ipad users. These free applications are advertised as the ideal tool to plan a trip as it will find the best places to eat, sleep, play wherever worldwide a user travels. Applications allow users to be instantly connected with their favorite websites and to follow news and trends as soon as they are published. For TripAdvisor, this means being connected in a more efficient way with its users, therefore an improvement in communication. (3) directly awarded and advertised through TripAdvisor. Awarded by millions of travelers, the winners are published annually including a wide range of categories. The impact of TripAdvisor is tremendous, as it markets the destination itself, including beaches and cities, as well as selected hotels to the public. Therefore a city or area itself can suddenly increase in popularity due to the Hotels in all categories worldwide ranging from bargain to luxury. Within Hawaii the

8 Soci al Medi a and Technology 61 on the Big Island as number 25. Being awarded benefits the property in numerous ways. The company can publish the title on their website, promote it within their property or use it as an signature for their internal and external communication. These are just a few examples, how the company can take advantage of this free form of advertisement. (4) TripAdvisor Itself Uses Review Ratings to Award Establish that Enable Search Engine Optimization for example, the organization will bear primary sequence in main search engines, including TripAdvisor itself. When a customer searches for a desired travel destination, the properties which have been st. This is just another form of is the TripAdvisor website and the third one will show up immediately. To show another example, the number one winner for the It is currently the number one hotel out of 246 hotels within the city of San Diego. Just searching for San Diego itself on the search engine Google will guide the user to is marketing their title on the main page of their website. Even the link to the website is The same benefits apply for destinations as well. Cape Town Central is will be guided to TripAdvisor where the award is mentioned immediately. Search engine optimizations like these are of high value for hotels and destinations. It is not only improving the visibility of certain websites, but also has the effect that more visitors will go on the websites, which are higher ranked on the search results page. This has an enormous impact on Internet marketing. Users immediately see which hotel has the highest ranking or which destination is preferred and recommended has now tremendously expanded to what the majority of travelers on the Web says.

9 Linnes et al. 62 (5) The Dynamics of Social Media and the Importance of Monitoring With the increase of communication, the importance to control and monitor the contents of the posts becomes a priority. TripAdvisor as a user-dynamic website carries the risk of abuse via improper or inappropriate use by its customers. Brands are spending a great amount of time and money investing in platforms, but with the increasing amount of social platforms marketing is becoming more challenging. One of the biggest challenges that companies are facing nowadays is to accept that customers are given an increase in power through social media. With all the social platforms, customers are given the opportunity to be more vocal (Merchant, 2012). The relationship between companies and customers are becoming increasingly more emotional than rational. To assure that the reviews are written by former guests and not by hotel or restaurant staff, TripAdvisor established a ver posted to the website immediately. The company established a verification process, which includes the monitoring of the authors IP address and address. Given that there are any suspicious patterns or the usage of inappropriate language, users can report it to the company, which is then reviewed by a team of specialists. In addition, the Besides inappropriate handling, there is a thin line of guests taking advantage of TripAdvisor as a great tool to communicate their honest experience to their friends or to potential guests, others take advantage of this privilege. Examples range from upset guests threatening the property to post a negative comment on the website if they do not receive an appropriate compensation, to guests who post daily on social media how frustrated they are with their experience while they are online comment or a bad online reputation forces some companies to give in and please the customer whether he or she is right or wrong. really changed the playing field in relation to the relationship between the business and One guesthouse owner claims that he is spending more time dealing with unfair reports than actually running his successful seaside hotel, while another owner claims r 700 members of the hospitality industry have either committed or are considering legal action against TripAdvisor due to unfair reports (Morris, 2010, p. 1).

10 Soci al Medi a and Technology 63 (6) There Is a Growing Reliance of Consumers on First Hand Blogs and Reviews: Both Current and Post Stay Hoteliers know the importance of blogs and reviews. Based on reviews and posts, a property can either gain popularity or it can lose its reputation. The dynamics can go both ways. As TripAdvisor publishes rankings, some consumers make their travel decision based on what is ranked the highest and do not read their reviews. According to Sawers (2011), it is often not a good idea to base the opinion on the ratings alone 1). In addition, some reviews are just stating personal preferences and are not applicable to It is not uncommon, that hotels are nowadays facing the disadvantages of social media such as TripAdvisor. Some properties claim that they were forced to close their business because of the effects that TripAdvisor had on their online reputation. One been red-flagged by the website. The owner states that they had to face a loss of business -flagged, a believe that individuals or entities associated with or having an interest in this property as well as the IP address. When the IP one of the indicators, that a false review has been posted. Therefore the travel website center. Some properties on the other hand are advertising to users to post fake reviews in return for a small amount of payment. Reviewers are advised to change their as well as IP address, so that these fake reviews can go undetected by TripAdvisor (Travelweekly, 2011). This trend to post fake reviews are hurting the reputation of TripAdvisor and questioning the trustworthiness of some reviews. Also, this behavior is concerning the travel industry as their competitors might be taking advantage of these practices. The question now is, to which extent can users trust reviews on TripAdvisor? It is a challenge, but to lower the risks, the first thing that consumers should be doing in such circumstances are to take a look at other reviews posted about that property. The company Kwikcheck is one of many Online Reputation Management companies helping businesses worldwide to protect their reputation. In a recent blog posting, the company discusses the difficulties TripAdvisor is now facing. As an example, the company states

11 Linnes et al. 64 review she had written was a fake review. In addition, she states that it was one of many clear a case like this gives TripAdvisor and their claims to reliability and fraud (7) Growing Importance Paid By Hoteliers Towards Social Media: Social Media Requires Changes Of Behavior and Skills Of Leaders to Adapt To Social Media According to the Bradley and McDonald article in the Harvard Business Review pose involves more than providing ready for social media, they should question the readiness of managers to embrace new ways of working collaboratively to achieve social succe p. 1). Some properties have put this behavior into practice and established guidelines on how managers can embrace new ways of working with social media. In some properties social media through their smart phones provided by the company. The manager on duty responsible for either guest relations or food and beverage has to monitor posted reviews and contact the guest in a timely manner, while some properties have a public relations manager who is overseeing social media. In addition, meetings and committees to control and monitor social media are widely used. For the purpose of this research, interviews were conducted with the General Manager Douglas Okada, who is managing the Aston Waikiki Sunset. Ever since his property became accessible to the public on TripAdvisor, he monitors all comments by himself. Whether it is a positive or a negative comment, Mr. Okada responds to the solely writing a response to the guest who left the review but also to all the potential guests who are reading through the comments prior to making a decision. Seeing that the (D. Okada, personal communication February 19, 2014). Currently, there are 884 reviews written about the property and within the properties. One of the reasons for the high ranking is that potential guests see that the

12 Soci al Medi a and Technology 65 General Manager himself truly cares about guest relations. The answers to each comment are very detailed and personalized. None of the comments seems like it is an automated especially the not so good ones. There are always two sides to every story. It is amazing how many people read this website before deciding on their hotel accommodations and I have received numerous s and phone calls from potential guests, because I respond to each posting. These inquiries give me an opportunity to increase revenue and thus far, I have been very successful with that practice. I will continue to respond to every posting Social media has an incredible impact on the hospitality industry, both positive as well as negative. The tremendous number of hoteliers need to realize is that even with its negative impact, it provides the industry with an opportunity to turn a negative experience into a positive with the right approach. (8) The Impact of TripAdvisor On Properties In Hawaii The top 10 hotels in Waikiki, listed on TripAdvisor is shown belong along with the managers response ratings to its customer as of February 16, The percentage of consumers consulting reviews at TripAdvisor and competing online sites prior to booking a hotel room has steadily increased over the years, as has the number of reviews being reviewed prior to making their hotel choice. TripAdvisor reported that two-thirds of U.S. travelers reported using social media while on vacation (TripAdvisor, 2013) Table 1 Top 10 Hotels in Waikiki Listed on Trip Advisor 1 Trump Responded to traveler ratings: 125/862 excellent reviews 37/217 very good reviews 7/63 average reviews 1/14 poor reviews 5/13 terrible reviews Total 1,169 2 Halekulani Responded to traveler ratings: 0/981 excellent reviews 0/246 very good 0/93 average reviews 0/33 poor reviews 0/22 terrible reviews Total 1,375

13 Linnes et al Lotus Honolulu at Diamond Head 4 The Modern Honolulu 5 Park Shore Waikiki 6 The Kahala Hotel & Resort 7 Outrigger Reef on the Beach 8 Embassy Suite Waikiki Beach Walk Responded to traveler ratings: 214/291 excellent reviews 54/107 Very good reviews 11/23 average reviews 2/6 poor reviews 4/4 terrible reviews Total 431 Responded to traveler ratings: 56/707 Excellent reviews 14/241 very good reviews 13/80 average reviews 7/33 poor reviews 14/23 terrible reviews Total 1,084 Responded to traveler ratings: 94/108 excellent reviews 46/55 very good reviews 13/14 average reviews 1/1 poor reviews 0/0 terrible reviews Total 178 Responded to traveler ratings: 435/819 excellent 125/231 very good 64/93 average reviews 27/47 poor reviews 22/41 terrible reviews Total 1,231 Responded to traveler ratings: 85/1859 excellent reviews 54/977 very good reviews 17/231 average reviews 8/84 poor reviews 5/51 terrible reviews Total 3,202 Responded to traveler ratings: 414/910 excellent reviews 203/483 very good reviews 44/109 average reviews 19/40 poor reviews 6/18 terrible reviews Total 1,560

14 Soci al Medi a and Technology 67 9 Aston Waikiki Beach Tower 10 Shoreline Hotel Waikiki, a Joie de Vivre Hotel Responded to traveler ratings: 152/441 excellent reviews 58/186 very good reviews 14/29 average reviews 6/12 poor reviews 5/7 terrible reviews Total 675 Hotel responded to traveler ratings: 81/134 excellent reviews 46/78 very good reviews 10/14 average reviews 0/3 poor reviews 0/1 terrible reviews Total 230 already has 1413 reviews on TripAdvisor as of February 16, 2014 and is ranked as number two of three hotels in Kapolei. In compar which is ranked as number one hotel in Kapolei has 1483 reviews, but has been on TripAdvisor for 11 years. Given the fact that Aulani continues to receive the same amount of reviews as it had since it has opened, the property will have more reviews than the Ko Olina property in the near future. This demonstrates how a new property increases in trend and guests are more likely to post comments on social media. The Trump International Hotel in Waikiki is ranked as the number one hotel in Honolulu on TripAdvisor every month for the past 37 months. As of February 2014, Trump Hotel, was rated the number one hotel in Honolulu on TripAdvisor with a total of 1169 reviews for the 37 th says the Director of Sales and Marketing Mr. Votsis, who has been with the company since its opening. In 1984 the Halekulani was the last hotel being built in Waikiki before the Trump Hotel has been built (Votsis, personal communication February 21, 2014). Kahala. The Halekulani property is located across the street and is currently ranked as number two with 1375 reviews. The Kahala Hotel, which is located six miles away from both properties, is currently ranked as number nine hotel with 1231 reviews. Despite the lower ranking, the Kahala Hotel has one competitive advantage through TripAdvisor. the United States. The property is ranked as number 25 within the United States and is the only property listed on Oahu (Votsis, personal communication February 21, 2014).

15 Linnes et al. 68 According to Mr. Votsis, advertising in newspapers becomes less important: o not believe in it. You can tie it to promotions that sometimes work. Social have any electronic link. Nowadays the majority of reservations are being booked through the Internet. In the case of the Trump Hotel most business is being booked was to make the website ipad friendly (Votsis, personal communication February 21, 2014). As every team is overseeing all social media. Guests are contacted directly when a comment is left on the TripAdvisor website. This provides the company with an opportunity to follow up with either the positive or negative feedback. position for their hotels on the Island of Kauai in Hawaii due to the increase in social media usage by its guests on the island of Kauai. The responsibilities range from overseeing and marketing the social media for the Westin Princeville Resort as well as the Sheraton Kauai Resort in Poipu. Companies are now investing in their online reputation. The playing field has changed and what companies previously use to invest in traditional forms of advertising is now being invested in monitoring online platforms. According to the public relations agency Weber Shandwick, 88% of consumers said that word of mouth opinions online are the main driver what they think of a company. While 80% indicated online reviews and search results determine what they think about a company, 49% reported that social networks are the leading factor (Smith, 2012). CONCLUSION Prior to the social media era one had professional reviewers who operated under clear guidelines. Now, nearly anyone can post which raises the issue of a business that gets wrongfully rated which potentially can lead to a business shutting down or suffering an enormous economic loss. To survive, many organizations require an on hand dedicated social media experts to manage its image online. TripAdvisor allows companies to respond but many feel powerless in the era of free-for-all nitpicking (Stellin, 2010). on impressions on one another every year. These are done by reviews, posts, blogs and live messaging. Every organization should and is able to analyze these impressions and identify the demographics of guests, what their common concerns are, and in turn make these work.

16 Soci al Medi a and Technology 69 (Bernoff & Schadler, 2010). Nowadays, it is crucial for any company and their leaders in the travel industry to focus on social networks and to be informed about recent postings According to a joint study from Booz Allen and social platform developer Buddy Media, 57% of businesses surveyed plan to increase social media spending and 38% of Technology has changed the playing field. In recent years TripAdvisor has been TripAdvisor, 2011). Social media has turned the business world upside down making it much harder to defend itself. Companies must have dedicated staff examining the market for reviews and actively monitoring competitors to survive. In 2011, the hotel Tennessee Inn charged defamation in which the judge ruled user opinions are protected. A hotel in Knoxville had to close down its operation when Judge Phillips rejected the claims in 2012 that such as list would not keep customers away. On the other hand Croyle, a spokeswoman for TripAdvisor, applauds the court s decision, as it continues to publicize the consumers opinion online (Barrouquere, 2013). The wide reach of these sites can have an overwhelmingly positive or a devastatingly negative effect on the amount of reservations a hotel receives. With over 80% of respondents in a Travel Weekly survey stating that they always consult reviews before booking, having a good relationship with the review site is import. A good relation with TripAdvisor can provide high-quality guests at higher prices according to Danette Opczewski, executive vice president for Denihan Hospitality Group (Chipkin, 2012). Many benefits can come from having connections with TripAdvisor and other review websites. Although having a relationship with the review site is important, building a relationship with the reviewer is also essential. Management responses to reviews are important to about 70% of those surveyed by Forrester (Chipkin, 2012). According to TripAdvisor (2012), hotel managers that actively respond to reviews stand to generate more business. Over 80% of those surveyed say that good responses to bad reviews gives them a good impression and show that the hotel truly cares about its guests (TripAdvisor, 2012). However, management responses can also have a negative effect. Sixty-four percent of responders said an aggressive or defensive response would make them less likely to book from that hotel (TripAdvisor, 2012). Responding to past customers' comments although necessary, must be handled carefully. Recently, hotels have been taking a more proactive approach in dealing with review websites. Currently, 98% of U.S. properties say reviews are important for booking, and 91% encourage their guests to post a review. A majority of those properties will also respond to negative as well as positive reviews (Trip Advisor, 2013). Hotel managers are also using these

17 Linnes et al. 70 employees for positive online reviews. A few hotels have gone as far as investing in training to encourage additional positive reviews (Trip Advisor, 2013). Travel review websites are becoming a key element in hotel management. Although review sites play a major role in booking vacations, it is not without challenges. One major problem is the lack of authentication of reviews on TripAdvisor. As a result, hotels can write negative reviews about their competitors, while hiring public relations companies to write positive reviews about themselves. However, the sites that do guarantee the authenticity such as Expedia, have too small of a sampling of guests. Nevertheless, even with their flaws, Trip Schneck, managing partner with District Hospitality Partners, believes that online reviews are here to stay. Schneck indicates that the direction of online reviews centers around verification and personalization (Chipkin, 2012). Travel review websites have grown increasingly influential in recent years. They have become so influential that they can have a very positive or very negative effect on a business. How managers handle online reviews has never been more important. However, because of how quickly things change nowadays, there are still many challenges on the horizon. Managers will need to be able to adapt to stay on top of this new method of word-of-mouth communication and proactive in their approaches. REFERENCES Armano, D. (2011). Six social media trends for Harvard Business Review. Retrieved December 21, 2013, from Backstrom, L. (2011). Anatomy of Facebook. Retrieved December 11, 2013, from facebook/ Barrouquere, B. (2013, August 29). Hotel loses suit over TripAdvisor s dirtiest hotel list. The Seattle Times. Retrieved January 5, 2014, from Bernoff, J. (2010). Peer influence analysis: Using social technologies to identify your most influential customers. Harvard Business Review Press, 88(3), Biggs, J. (2007). TripAdvisor Acquires Facebook app where I ve been for $3 Million. Retrieved January 20, 2014, from: facebook-app-where- -been-for-3-million/

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