With the ongoing furore around TripAdvisor and the validity of its reviews, hoteliers would probably be curious to hear about an official programme to reward the most popular hotels. Well, don't.
A number of properties - some of which are very high profile - have recently been contacted by an individual claiming to be the new "director of traveler reviews at TripAdvisor", offering what sounds like a curious and potentially explosive new development from the user review giant.
The email, which included a sign-off with the address of the company's official Massachusetts headquarters in the US, says the company is launching a programme known as TripAdvisor Select.
TripAdvisor is looking into ways of giving a select number of hotels on the site with the best reviews a rubber-stamp of approval to say that the property has been audited and verified for high quality by the company itself following a visit.
This could take the form of a mystery shopper or official visit.
Hotels getting the official thumbs-up from TripAdvisor would be rewarded with a logo on the site to say it is one of the best in a particular city under the TripAdvisor Select programme.
Furthermore, and most importantly (and outrageously), having the official sanction would prevent other users from leaving negative reviews about a property.
Such an idea would fly in the face of conventional wisdom of giving visitors to the site a string of consumer generated reviews and an overall score based on the quality of certain amenities, staff, ambience, etc.
While the idea is indeed used elsewhere, where third party and official reviewers write about and rate properties, bringing such a process into TripAdvisor would be a fundamental change in policy.
The problem with the strategy and approach, which is apparently targeting a number of properties around the world, is that it is complete hogwash.
The executive asks the property owner to respond and they will be contacted shortly to sign up to the scheme.
It is unclear how many hotels have so far been contacted in this way, but rumours have started circulated this week and there is indeed some confusion as to the validity of the programme.
The first sign that something isn't quite right comes if recipients check the sender's email address: despite the sign-off and official-sounding references, tripadvisor******@gmail.com [deliberately redacted] is clearly not one that would be used by the headquarters of the company.
Tnooz decided to see what happened when a response was sent to the sender.
This is the reply:
"Thank you for your interest. We are only working with a select few hotels around the globe currently. We are still in the very early stages of development but are testing this new program out in a few of our markets. As soon as I am at liberty to discuss the program in more detail with you over the coming few weeks, I will forward you all of the literature."
Tnooz:
"I understand you are director of traveler reviews at TripAdvisor. Are you based at its offices in the US or UK?"
Sender:
"I'm in the US. Which hotel are you affiliated with?"
Tnooz (which had its official email sign-off and journalist disclosure):
"I concentrate on a number in Europe. This sounds like a really interesting programme. I had no idea TripAdvisor was doing this. How long have you worked with TA on this initiative. I suspect lots of hotels will be really keen to learn more about this given the focus on quality and reviews, in Europe especially."
Sender:
"That's great! I will definitely keep your contact info, and stay in touch with you regarding progress and advancement of the program. As I mentioned, it's still extremely new but I expect great things to come of it. Not just in Europe, but around the globe."
Tnooz:
"Just one question: when did TripAdvisor officially start the TripAdvisor Select programme? I'd not heard about it at all until today."
Sender:
"It hasn't launched yet... We are still getting the program going behind the scenes and running focus groups etc. with hotels and also the public. I have an email list that I'm sending updates/progress to so I will include you on that and you will be one of the first to know.
"I'm not at liberty to discuss anymore about this program (which I'm sure you can appreciate) but stay tuned! Very soon..."
Tnooz:
"Sorry, just a final thing: I've known many people in TripAdvisor for a number of years. When did you join the company? Do you report into Christine Petersen [president of TripAdvisor for Business]?"
Sender:
"Nope. Different dept."
Tnooz then contacted TripAdvisor to ask if indeed the individual was "director of traveler reviews" and if TripAdvisor Select is a valid programme being considered by the company.
The answer, inevitably, was "no" on both counts.
Tnooz:
"I have just spoken with TripAdvisor in the US. It is my understanding that you are NOT an employee of TripAdvisor and TripAdvisor Select is NOT an official programme which it is authorising.
"As you probably realise, I am a journalist and writing a story for Tnooz.com on the approach you have been making to hoteliers, offering a service under the guise of it being an official programme, when it is clearly not.
"TripAdvisor is issuing a warning to hoteliers about such activity. Do you have a statement you wish to make on this matter?"
Sender:
"It's a class project/focus group I'm working on to learn if there is any interest in such an initiative. I was waiting for somebody like yourself to ask questions about the proposal and I wanted to get feedback from hotels to see if they would be interested in such an idea to have less criticism when it's not warranted.
"What do you think about it? Unfortunately, it's not possible to actually have reps go around the world but a fun idea!
"I am trying to see how many hotels around the world would be interested in such an offer and then possibly offer these consulting ideas to enhance revenue to large travel companies on consumer awareness."
Tnooz:
"But you are masquerading as an employee of TripAdvisor. This is behaviour not approved by TripAdvisor and therefore unfair to hoteliers. What do you have to say about that?"
Sender, in what could become a classic and somewhat understated defence:
"Now that you mention it, it probably wasn't the best way to go about the research. You can let them know that it was an error in judgement and won't happen again."
Indeed.
It is unknown how far the sender had got with the activities and whether the approach was for genuine research or the beginning of an elaborate scam is unclear.
Either way, preying on nervy hoteliers with the impression that TripAdvisor is launching a programme of such kind is just one a number of initiatives being adopted by opportunistic folk around the work.
Confirming again that the sender was not an employee of the company and the programme is a work of fiction, a TripAdvisor official adds:
"We recommend that hoteliers check the email address. They should be particularly suspicious if the address is from a free email account. We also encourage hoteliers to contact us if they have any concerns and report suspicious activity to solutions@tripadvisor.com."
Another recent example, TripAdvisor says, are emails being sent to hotels claiming to be representatives of the company and offering to remove negative in exchange for a stay at the property.
"This was done illegally and without permission by a third party misappropriating the TripAdvisor brand. We are taking all appropriate measures to reduce the incidence of this type of spam."
So whether an official kitemark of some kind against high performing hotels on TripAdvisor might get some interest (although the blocking negative reviews element would be pretty outrageous), on this occasion such an opportunity does not exist.
UPDATE:
TripAdvisor says it is preparing to contact all hoteliers on its database to notify them about the TripAdvisor Select scam.
NB:Review image via Shutterstock.