The excellent South African tourism news service Southern African Tourism Update published a letter it received from Chris Harvie, owner of The Rissington Inn in Hazyview just over a week ago, expressing what many owners and managers of tourism businesses feel about the TripAdvisor demon.

Harvie is not only the owner of a guest house, but he is also a prolific and eloquent travel writer for the Sunday Times and other titles. His letter also appeared in the Sunday Times.   We salute him for being brave enough to tackle a topic that is a swearword in the hospitality industry, for the following reasons:

*    It is one-sided, being posted without a reply to the accusations from the owner/manager

*   It can be posted by aggrieved former staff, suppliers, neighbours, other hospitality businesses, or anyone else that has a gripe, without it being verified by TripAdvisor

*   All writers are anonymous – if they believed in what they have to say, why not reveal their real name?

*   It is often defamatory and downright dishonest, the events distorted to suit the impact and damage the writer wishes to make.  TripAdvisor is strict in not allowing one to be rude or honest in describing the (not always perfect) behavior of the guests.

*   Many complaints relate to booking cancellations, travellers not being happy to be held to the terms of the cancellation policy which they sign in acceptance when they made the booking!  This is when the blackmail Continue reading →