Perceptions on Online Reputation Management in Tourism Industry (The Case of a Romanian Hotel)

Abstract

Online reputation management plays a significant role in tourism industry, as tourists are more and more interested to express their opinions about their experiences with their circles of friends. The rise of pure players such as Booking.com, TripAdvisor, Travelocity, as well as the connection of hotels’ clients on social mention websites make the hotel management teams aware of the necessity to build a customer feedback observatory, especially in online environment.

This research explores the effects of the positive, respectively negative reviews on the image of GRAND ORIENT hotel of Brăila, which have a strong impact on this brands’ success in online social networks. Factors with greatest influence in what concerns choosing the services offered by the hotel, the degree of interaction between the respondents and different sites which promotes reviews of hotel services and the methods through which this hotel might stimulate its customers to post reviews are also addressed by this study.

The main contribution of the study reflects that online reputation management has a significant positive effect on hotel branding strategies, as the customers are empowered to share their opinions regarding their experiences on a wide variety of social-media networks.