Your Online Reputation – Your Best (or Worst) Salesperson?
5 Takeaways from Our Webinar on Online Reputation
What Guests Say Matters
Reputation isn’t built in your marketing department anymore. It’s built in your reviews section, in tagged photos, in spontaneous TikToks, and in quick comments left after checkout.
Earlier this year, we hosted a webinar with Travel News to explore what reputation management really means today for hotels, destinations, and experience providers. The session brought together fresh data, smart tools, and practical advice from Visit Group’s own experts to unpack a simple truth:
Your online reputation is no longer just a reflection of your service. It’s part of your business strategy.
Here are five key takeaways that every hospitality brand should pay attention to:
1. Your Reputation Lives Everywhere
Gone are the days when reviews lived only on TripAdvisor. Today, your reputation is scattered across Google, Booking.com, Instagram, TikTok, and even WhatsApp group chats. That makes reputation management harder, but also more powerful, than ever before.
“This is feedback everyone sees. Not just internal survey results, this is public.”
— Erica Broomelius, Head of Marketing at Visit Group
Reputation today includes formal reviews and informal mentions, like a photo tagged at your property or a “Loved this place!” in a story highlight. If you're not paying attention to this digital trail, you might be missing out on both problems and opportunities.
2. Trust Is the New Currency
Trust is the most valuable asset a hospitality brand can earn, and the hardest to win back. It’s no longer built through polished ads or beautiful websites alone. Today, trust is earned in public spaces: through online reviews, social media mentions, influencer tips, and casual comments in chat groups.
As Erica put it during the webinar: “Without trust, we buy nothing.”
Trust shapes every step of the guest journey, from the moment someone searches for inspiration to the decision to rebook or recommend. In an age of infinite options, it’s the filter guests use to decide what feels safe, credible, and worth their time.
And that trust is built publicly. Reviews, star ratings, social media mentions, and even casual comments now carry more weight than polished marketing copy. What others say about you often matters more than what you say about yourself.
The data backs it up:
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81% of travelers read reviews before booking.
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79% trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.
In a world full of options, trust is the currency guests use to decide. If your reputation isn’t visible, credible, and consistent. If your reputation isn’t visible or credible, you’re out of the running.
3. Feedback = Growth Opportunities
Reviews aren’t just validation, they’re guidance. Every 3-star comment is a business insight in disguise, if you know how to read it.
The best hospitality brands aren’t just reacting to feedback, they’re building systems to act on it. That means using tools that identify patterns in guest comments and turn them into concrete improvements.
“You get fantastic insights from your guests on how to refine your product. You just have to listen.”
— Carl-Johan Holmén, Chief Commercial Officer, Visit Group
In the session, we heard how one hotel improved Wi-Fi after spotting complaints, leading to a jump in satisfaction scores. Another operator adjusted food portions based on guest comments and quickly saw a rise in ratings.
When you listen to your guests, you learn how to win them over again and again.
4. AIO Is the New SEO
In traditional marketing, we optimize websites for Google. But today, many guests use AI-powered assistants like ChatGPT or Google Gemini to ask, “Where should I stay with kids in Stockholm this weekend?”
These tools don’t just scan your homepage. They analyze your review content, guest sentiment, and relevance across multiple sources.
“You need to optimize not just for search engines, but for AI.”
— Carl-Johan Holmén
Erica shared a simple test. She asked an AI to recommend family-friendly hotels in Stockholm. The suggestions were based not on marketing copy, but on recent, detailed, and positive reviews.
This is where AIO (AI Optimization) comes in. It’s not a buzzword. It’s your new content strategy.
5. Personalization Must Go Beyond the Booking
Today’s guests expect more than a clean room and good Wi-Fi. They expect relevance. A stay should feel tailored, not templated.
“It’s not enough to process bookings anymore. You need enriched data to personalize every step of the journey.”
— Carl-Johan Holmén
Whether it’s a handwritten note, a room upgrade, or a quick nod to a guest’s last visit, personalization shows you care. And in an age where brand loyalty is hard to earn, those moments matter more than ever.
The stronger your guest connection, the stronger your reputation.
Reputation Management checklist: Steps to Get Started Today
Reputation management doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Start small, act consistently, and get your whole team involved. Here's a practical checklist, drawn from expert insights, that you can begin applying today:
- Keep an eye on the industry: Stay informed about guest behavior, market trends, and how others in your segment handle reviews and feedback.
- Gemba walk – Experience your guest journey firsthand: Walk through the experience yourself—from search to stay—to spot friction points and hidden moments of delight.
- Build goals and processes around feedback: Use guest input to shape your KPIs, internal routines, and quality improvements.
- Involve your staff: Make reputation management a shared effort across departments, not just a marketing task.
- Prioritize the right channels: Identify where your guests actually leave reviews and focus your response strategy there.
- Encourage more guest reviews: Make it easy and natural for happy guests to leave feedback—without begging for it.
“Every guest can bring ten more, or cost you ten, depending on what they say and how you respond.”
— Erica Broomelius
Ready to Turn Reviews into Results?
Most guest journeys start online. With the right insights, you can shape those first impressions—and every step that follows.
Visit Reputation helps you stay on top of reviews across multiple platforms, understand what your guests truly think, and act with confidence.
Smarter decisions, better experiences, stronger guest relationships. It all starts with knowing what’s being said.
Curious to see how it works? Book a quick consultation.