Abstract
The use of social media and User Generated Content (UGC) specifically has been increasing rapidly around the world. In turn, this has influenced travellers’ decision making when planning trips, as well as businesses’ brands and their online reputations. In South Africa, there has been a significant growth in the accommodation sector, especially the hotel segment due to increased demand in accommodation from travellers. Little research has been conducted which examines the influence of UGC on hotels in South Africa, especially Johannesburg therefore this study provides a contribution towards local literature and into understanding how travellers rate and view the services of 3 to 5-star hotels located in Johannesburg. The study was conducted through the use of a desktop analysis of travellers’ ratings and reviews on 3 to 5-star hotels located in Johannesburg and listed on TripAdvisor. Furthermore, it analysed the responses of hotels in order to understand how hotels respond to reviews and manage their online presence. Prior to conducting this desktop analysis, an audit of 3 to 5-star hotels located in Johannesburg and listed on TripAdvisor was conducted in order to provide a profile. This profile includes hotel information such as hotel name, star grading (hotel class), travellers’ ranking by TripAdvisor, travellers rating, number of reviews of each hotel, hotel location, hotel ownership, hotel size as well as hotel type. An audit of 3 to 5-star hotels shows that there are 147 hotels located in Johannesburg that are listed on TripAdvisor. These hotels are made up of 58 3-star, 49 4-star and 40 5-star hotels. Key findings show that ratings and reviews by travellers concerning 3 to 5-star hotels located in Johannesburg are good. Majority of 3 to 5-star hotels are rated with high scores which implies that the service quality offered by 3 to 5-star hotels is good/excellent and that the hotels meet or exceed travellers’ expectations. Looking at the reviews received by the same 3 to 5-star hotels in Johannesburg, majority of hotels received positive reviews from travellers. However, as reviews provide more details, findings note that there are reviews that highlight issues that may be of concerns to other travellers, this is more especially the case with 4-star hotels. Finally, it was found that 3 to 5-star hotels in Johannesburg manage their online presence by responding to reviews and also acknowledging the feedback they receive in order to improve service quality.
M.A. (Tourism and Hospitality)