A recent study from Tripadvisor found that for consumers thinking about future travel:

  • More than 9 out of 10 (92%) said cleanliness is the most important factor in selecting accommodations.
  • More than 8 in 10 (84%) said cleanliness or sanitization certificates are important when booking a travel experience.
  • Nearly 8 in 10 (79%) said it's important to publicly display compliance to government safety standards.

This is why hoteliers should be paying attention to Tripadvisor's new "Travel Safe" program launched today, a suite of tools to help hoteliers feature and promote their property cleanliness and safety programs and protocols, and allow consumers find, filter for, and validate health and safety information to feel more confident with their future travel choices across town and around the world.

Travel Safe features are available in all 49 markets where Tripadvisor operates, and more than 13,850 properties have already activated the feature set.

Tripadvisor's Travel Safe is designed to showcase the following information:

  • Health & safety checklists: Hotel and restaurant owners can now share information about safety measures directly on their Tripadvisor listing. These include hygiene procedures, mask-wearing guidelines, social distancing policies, and more.
  • Search filter: A new filter allows users to easily find which hotels and restaurants are taking these added safety precautions.
  • Traveller reviews: New review submission form prompts allow users to validate safety measures in place at individual businesses and share their experiences with other travellers.
  • Q&A with business owners: If users still have questions, they can directly message business owners about their safety measures.

For hoteliers, the Travel Safe suite of tools means they can now:

  • Select safety measures they have in place at their property by accessing the checklist in their Tripadvisor management centre (for free).
  • The checklist also enables properties to submit a text description of the steps they are taking to protect customers, including links back to safety information on their own websites.

Overall, the Travel Safe program is a win-win for both travelers and hoteliers. Travel consumers will get the peace of mind they need to travel and dine out again, and hotels now have a simple way to highlight, at no cost, the steps they are taking to protect their customers' safety.

You can also see an example of the checklist feature and what it looks like live on a hotel listing here: https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g186338-d193129-Reviews-Danubius_Hotel_Regents_Park-London_England.html