How to Get a TripAdvisor Award

TripAdvisor gets the majority of traffic to hotel-related sites in the United States, and its influence is steadily growing. In a survey conducted for TripAdvisor’s TripBarometer 2014 Global Report, researchers found that TripAdvisor is both a strong source of inspiration across all regions, as well as influential across most countries surveyed.

Visibility on TripAdvisor is becoming crucial to a hotel’s success. So, how do hoteliers set their properties apart from the rest of the TripAdvisor crowd? Earning an award is one thing that makes a huge difference, as it earns your property a coveted spot on one of TripAdvisor’s curated lists.

Here’s the lowdown on TripAdvisor’s awards, and some tips on how to improve your chances:

Travelers’ Choice

Established in 2002, the Travelers’ Choice awards are the highest honor TripAdvisor can bestow.  These annual awards  are the only travel industry awards based on millions of reviews and opinions from travelers around the world. They reflect “the best of the best” for service, quality, and customer satisfaction. The award is given according to category, from hotels and accommodations to destinations, attractions, brands, and products.

This year, more than 7,000 properties received recognition. Categories are international and regional, and include top hotels, small hotels, family, romance, luxury, B&Bs and inns. 7,000 may seem like a large number of properties, especially compared to the typical Top 100 or 500 lists published by many travel magazines. But actually, this represents less than 1% (0.94%) of the accommodations listed on TripAdvisor.

Certificate of Excellence

Founded in 2010, the Certificate of Excellence award honors hospitality businesses that consistently achieve outstanding reviews on TripAdvisor. This award is only given to the top 10 percent of accommodations, attractions, restaurants, and vacation rentals listed on TripAdvisor.

To qualify for a Certificate of Excellence, a hospitality business must:

• Maintain an overall TripAdvisor rating of at least four out of five
• Have a minimum number of total reviews
• Have been listed on TripAdvisor for at least twelve months.

TripAdvisor also considers a property’s popularity ranking for both the Travelers’ Choice and Certificate of Excellence. The better your ratings−and the greater the number of recent reviews−the higher your property’s TripAdvisor ranking can go.

Revinate’s Post-Stay Surveys product is a great way to increase your review volume, which can have an effect on your TripAdvisor ranking. For example, the Morningstar Express Hotel in Pretoria was recently awarded a Certificate of Excellence. In less than six months with Revinate, it moved from number fifteen to number four on the TripAdvisor Popularity Index ranking.

Other ways to set yourself apart from the crowd on TripAdvisor:

Earning one of TripAdvisor’s coveted awards isn’t the only way to showcase your property online. Try this:

• Become a part of the GreenLeaders program. Your hotel’s listing will be marked with a special badge.
• Take full advantage of TripAdvisor badges for your website. For example, the Bravo! badge is available for businesses that have been received a minimum number of excellent reviews.

Learn about what’s trending, review response metrics, and a look forward at hospitality reputation in our 2018 Reputation Benchmark Report. Available free for download.