the hotel factory highlights the importance for companies to maintain and manage their online reputation by using tools such as the Global Review Index (GRI).

Nowadays, we spend more time checking and comparing opinions, reviews and valuations on different online booking portals before we choose our ideal hotel. In fact, online reputation has become one of the most important criteria, together with location and price, when looking for a hotel. This has meant a rise of websites from which you can compare and book hotels, increasing therefore the value of the information provided by the website’s users.

The Global Review Index (GRI) is a functionality in ReviewPro that collects valuations from 175 OTAs and opinion websites through an algorithm. It unifies the different criteria, creating a value between 0 – 100. In addition, it offers the possibility to see this information disaggregated by departments, language, source of information,…. Being thus more dynamic for its posterior analysis.

While the GRI is an unknown tool for users, it has become a fundamental tool for professionals to manage their online reputation. GRI is considered an indicator of reference in the sector as it is the one that is able to analyse the most data, providing more complete information. Adding this to the many other functionalities that ReviewPro presents, such as semantic analysis, we can obtain information relevant enough to make decisions, due to the fact that we would be able to monitor with precision how each element of every department is valued and therefore conduct future investments.

The truth is that a good online reputation is closely connected with other variables such as average occupancy, ADR or RevPAR. Even Cornell University has carried out a estudy confirming that online reputation has a direct impact on a hotel’s income. The study concluded that an increase of 1 point in the GRI meant a growth of 0,89% in the ADR, of 0,54% in occupancy and of 1,42% in RevPar, both online and offline.

To sum up, it is important to highlight the importance of online reputation, due to the development of new technologies and the emergence of a new type of consumer who is not only a single link in the chain but also shares and exchanges experiences with the rest of the world. Being able to supplement this information with concrete tools for its analysis would translate in an increase of income and occupancy, as Cornell’s study reveals.