Add managing your business’ online reputation to the long list of to-do items for hotel managers. Armed with a log-in account and numerous travel websites willing to give them a forum, customers are increasingly vocalizing their experiences online for other travelers to read. That’s prompting more managers (…) to respond quickly or fear losing business. Less than 4% of negative reviews on TripAdvisor get a response, according to TripAdvisor, which has more than 30 million reviews. But the review site says it saw a 203% explosion in responses from hotels last year.

Hotel managers may ignore customers’ reviews at their peril, some analysts say. Others say they’re just another way for hotels to find ways of improving operations. And those who are paying attention and responding to customers can earn some goodwill points at a time every room night counts.

via Hearing online critiques – USATODAY.com.

What it means: some good examples of what it means to listen to consumers reviews/comments in the hotel industry.