Internet Marketing Ideas for Your Hotel Is TravelPost the new TripAdvisor?

Today, travel meta search engine Kayak relaunches its TravelPost.com hotel review site, competing directly with the more established TripAdvisor. According to the Boston Globe, the new site “will pull 1.4 million guest reviews from more than 200 websites and room rates from 5-10 websites. The upgraded site will also feature filters that let users pick which websites are searched and find reviews written by guests who share the same interests or demographic details.”

This meta review approach is very useful for travel planners. Google already does this in their local business listings, and with so many review sites available, it’s helpful to have everything in one place.

Linda Fox at Travolution quotes Kayak co-founder Steve Hafner in a bit of cross-company sniping: “Consumers and hoteliers are woefully underserved by websites like TripAdvisor, who appear to care more about their bottom lines than providing relevant content and a seamless experience.”

Whether you agree with that statement or not, the TravelPost interface is a bit less cluttered with the advertising you find on TripAdvisor. Founder and former CEO Sam Shank has an excellent post (with screenshots) explaining on the network effect TravelPost needs to overcome:

The hotel review business is a strong network-effect business, approaching a natural monopoly like the online auctions business. Travelers want to write a review where the most readers are, and travelers want to read reviews where the most reviews have been posted.

However, there are opportunities for TravelPost to gain market share. The fact that TripAdvisor does not share revenue with the reviewers (like Tripr does), presents a good way to build up the review base.