The Effect of Reviews on the Online Reputation of Hotels in Latin America

The aim of this paper is to analyze the effect of reviews on the online reputation of hotels located in Latin America, by comparing the ratings of GHL hotels that have the highest rankings on TripAdvisor and finding which channels receive the most comments to build a guide for digital marketing strategies. Nowadays, the reviews received on OTA (Online Travel Agencies) and opinion websites reflect the quality management of hotels. This study seeks to demonstrate that when hoteliers consider comments and their guests’ opinions, they can improve their ratings and position on the social media their stakeholders utilize. To perform this research, the software REVINATE was used to measure the online reputation in 60 hotels of the GHL Hotel Chain located in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Peru. They were analyzed during a year (2019) highlighting some variables such as Country, Hotel, Channel for receiving opinions, and ranking on Trip Advisor. The results show the channels that are used the most to learn how the comments and the position of the hotel are mirrored to build their online reputation. These channels serve as a tool to create a guide for hotel managers in their digital marketing strategies to reach their targeted audience. Hoteliers should pay close attention to the comments that guests register daily on OTA and review sites because each response given is valued by potential stakeholders. It shows how the hotel’s quality is reflected in their position on TripAdvisor and therefore in other OTA.