ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

P&G Professional has teamed up with hotel search engine trivago to determine what impact cleanliness has on a guest's willingness to write a positive online review.

Data illustrates 61 per cent (of customers read online reviews before making e-commerce purchasing decision, which in practice means it's likely the very first impression a prospective guest has of a hotel is the opinion of a previous guest.

In addition, results from trivago's Quality Test, a mystery guest programme in which real guests receive a cash incentive for filling in a detailed questionnaire regarding their stay, shows 78 per cent of guests expect an ‘above average' level of cleanliness and that if they rate a hotel as clean, they are more likely to give the hotel a high rating overall.

So while it is commonly understood that good online ratings boost the number of stays, P&G says the combined data outlines cleanliness is a crucial factor in securing positive recommendations and reviews. In fact its research shows an increase of one star rating in cleanliness is likely to increase the overall rating by up to one star.

Commenting on the findings, Denise Bartlett, UK PR manager at trivago said: "We believe a hotel's reputation should be based on qualitative and extensive data about the hotel's best strengths. As feedback from our Quality Test showed, the cleanliness of a hotel plays a key factor in guests' retention and can positively impact a hotel's online reputation."

www.pgpro.com