Travel reviews are often held up for the influence they have on consumer booking behavior - and recent research from Booking.com shows how powerful they can be.
With the growth of the vacation rental sector, it's little surprise that consumers continue to turn to reviews to help them make what is an emotional decision and one that takes up a significant percentage of people's income.
The online booking agency's survey of 21,500 travelers globally reveals that 53% of travelers have decided not to book accommodation because of negative reviews about the host.
In the U.K. the figure comes in at 42% of travelers.
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The research also reveals that 75% of travelers rate reviews from others as important in helping find welcoming hosts before they book.
And, staff are rated higher than other categories such as cleanliness, value and location when it comes to choosing a stay.
Booking is not the only travel giant to highlight the power of other users with TripAdvisor research repeatedly demonstrating the impact of its reviews.
Last year the reviews giant released research conducted by Comscore showing it as the top pre-transaction site and adding that 74% of visitors then head to a hotel website.
Further evidence of the power of reviews is that according to the TripAdvisor-Comscore research, one-in-11 travelers visited the site in July 2017, typically the most popular month.