Travel companies fret over blog comments

by Neil MacLean

Why doesn’t this surprise me? I m in London today talking to a travel company. Blogging is treated with caution and, almost inevitably, the question pops up: how do we control the comments?
Control, control, control. It was almost a show-stopper for a luxury hotel group a few months ago. Equanimty returns when I reassure them comments will sit until in suspended inanimation until approved.
I am beginning to think I should shove that in at the beginning of every presentation. There might be fewer bitten fingernails before question time.

Travolution@PhoCusWright Brussels – Hotels unsure over user reviews:
A session focussing on the luxury hotel market…

Unsurprisingly the panel is keen to include user reviews – but equally lacking a shock factor is a general agreement that all comments will be moderated to ensure “malicious” activity isn’t shared with consumers.

Technorati Tags: , ,

Related Posts


{ 8 comments }

Craig McGinty September 26, 2006 at 10:31 am

And for some strange reason companies think that criticism won’t appear if they don’t have comments on a blog.

So instead criticism takes place on other sites, where they definitely have no chance of ‘control’, when they could have dealt with the comment on their own site thanks to a measured reply directly beneath it.

Craig McGinty September 26, 2006 at 10:31 am

And for some strange reason companies think that criticism won’t appear if they don’t have comments on a blog.

So instead criticism takes place on other sites, where they definitely have no chance of ‘control’, when they could have dealt with the comment on their own site thanks to a measured reply directly beneath it.

neil.maclean September 26, 2006 at 1:56 pm

Exactly Craig.
I tell them people are going to find ways of talking about your company, particularly if they feel upset about something you have done, or haven’t done. Allow a bit of that criticism in your comments and you can show how you are dealing with the situation.
Can’t say that suggestion always goes down well though…

neil.maclean September 26, 2006 at 1:56 pm

Exactly Craig.
I tell them people are going to find ways of talking about your company, particularly if they feel upset about something you have done, or haven’t done. Allow a bit of that criticism in your comments and you can show how you are dealing with the situation.
Can’t say that suggestion always goes down well though…

Kevin May September 28, 2006 at 12:58 pm

i certainly got the impression in brussels that there is a tremendous amount of lip-service paid to some of the so-called web 2.0 concepts, but the harsh reality for some businesses – especially in the hotel sector – is that they are just plain scared of consumers and the power they now yield via the web.

neil.maclean September 28, 2006 at 2:09 pm

Yes, you’ve got a good perspective on all of this from where you are Kevin.
It really seems the idea a guest might actually have something good to say online about their hotels will never outweigh the fear someone might say something bad on a blog.

Kevin May September 28, 2006 at 12:58 pm

i certainly got the impression in brussels that there is a tremendous amount of lip-service paid to some of the so-called web 2.0 concepts, but the harsh reality for some businesses – especially in the hotel sector – is that they are just plain scared of consumers and the power they now yield via the web.

neil.maclean September 28, 2006 at 2:09 pm

Yes, you’ve got a good perspective on all of this from where you are Kevin.
It really seems the idea a guest might actually have something good to say online about their hotels will never outweigh the fear someone might say something bad on a blog.

Comments on this entry are closed.

Previous post:

Next post: