UK Ferry Tickets

Greetings from sunny Queensland, where the weather is 30C and I’m making a presentation at a conference. It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it.

Down Under, I am discovering, an increasing number of people are booking holidays on the Internet, although not as many as in the UK. One of the conference speakers dubbed 2007 as ‘the year of the Internet’, which is an indication that they are quite a way behind us.

It’s a strange fact that trends seem to drift across the world – they first pop up in the US, then come to the UK and eventually surface in Australia.

Aussies also believe that the power of consumer generated reports on the net, such as those you see on sites like tripadvisor, will become as important as they are in the UK.

It’s incredible to think that we now trust the opinions of complete strangers more than those of people we know.

Several such websites, including tripadvisor, have recently been forced to take action to try to prevent fake reviews by hoteliers passing themselves off as holidaymakers, and claiming they’ve just stayed in a marvellous property.

Hoteliers are doing this because they know how important a good review can be.

A couple of years ago, the fake reviews were so obvious, they stood out like a sore thumb. But these days, they are far cleverer.

‘Fakers’ may even criticise parts of the property, saying for example that the reception area is rather small, because that makes them sound genuine without putting off potential holidaymakers.

But fakers always say how the service is fantastic, and that’s the key. In the vast majority of cases, genuine bad write-ups are the result of rude or poor service in properties.

Consumer reviews are hugely important but we need to find an efficient way of cutting out the fakers. As a journalist, I can assure you that you shouldn’t believe all you read!

What’s your view? Do you trust customer reviews? Do you read or write them?

Guest Article by Jeremy Skidmore

Monday, April 9th, 2007