8 Best Travel Review Sites for Tour Operators

Reviews are the golden goose for companies, offering unbiased opinions of people’s experiences. However, earning game-changing comments isn’t as straightforward as one might think, and knowing the best travel review sites for tour operators can be even more challenging.

There’s contrasting evidence across the internet, but there are some undisputed top dogs of the review world. Whether you are collecting reviews from email campaigns or are looking for the ideal third-party review website to elevate your marketing efforts, this guide covers it all.

10 Best Travel Review Websites to Boost Your Brand’s Trust

To kick things off, let’s have a look at the top travel rating sites where you can start earning user-generated reviews of your tour agency.

Top Tip: All of these review platforms can be incorporated into your post-experience email marketing campaign for optimal results. Discover how you can run a successful email marketing campaign here.

1. Google Reviews

Google Reviews are among the most powerful places where you can earn client feedback. Using a five-star rating system, you can earn detailed reviews of your services, and best of all, they’ll show up next to your business profile in Google Maps and in search results.

The more high-quality reviews you have, the better the chances are that you’ll outperform your competitors in local search. Plus, you can dispute illegitimate reviews and respond to any negative reviews to show prospective customers you will always care and consider their input.

Why We Recommend Google Reviews

• Credibility — 88% of customers read Google Reviews to determine the tour agency’s quality and status before engaging with them.
• SEO — Improves local search rankings and organic traffic earnings.
• User Engagement Potential — You can link to your review page in email campaigns and comment on reviews.

Top Tip: We also highly recommend you optimise your Google My Business account for the best possible results.

2. Trustpilot

Trustpilot earns around 66.5 million monthly visitors, most of whom are potential clients researching businesses. As a tour operator, you’ll need to categorise your business under the Travel & Activities and then the Activities and Tours section.

You can also add a verified widget to your website, where you can embed genuine reviews across your site. This not only showcases your credibility, but it also helps future visitors see that you have several satisfied customers with real experiences.

Why We Recommend Trustpilot

• Credibility — Has operated since 2007 with over 300 million reviews on the platform.
• SEO — 94 domain rating, making it one of the most reliable review platforms to have linking to your website.
• User Engagement Potential — Offers widget embeds for your website, easy post-tour review invites, the ability to reply to guests, and analytics.

3. Tripadvisor

While Tripadvisor allows travellers to plan trips and research destinations, it is also a great platform to showcase guest reviews. The platform allows businesses to add their website, address, trading hours, contact details, and individual tour options to their profile.

Using a five-star review system and a guest recommendation percentage for your business and individual tours offers a great chance to build brand loyalty. If you have a positive review score, you’re more likely to be recommended by Tripadvisor in its Discover section, helping you reach new customers.

Why We Recommend Tripadvisor

• Credibility — Established in 2000 with over one billion reviews and opinions.
• SEO — 93 domain rating, making it one of the best review platforms and travel-related search engines to link to your website.
• User Engagement Potential — Offers easy company comparison tools for guests, a Tripadvisor embed widget for your website, and analytics.

4. Your Own Website

Gaining testimonials and adding reviews directly to your website is another great opportunity. This technique also allows you to handpick which reviews feature on your website and which do not. While this is helpful, you will still want to keep the lower-rated 3-star reviews up, as some customers may get sceptical if all the reviews are only positive.

Attaining these reviews can be straightforward by using review plugins on your travel website’s tour pages. Alternatively, you can use email campaigns to encourage guests to leave reviews after their experience.

Why We Recommend Your Own Website

• Credibility — Real reviews and testimonials directly on your website show credible, happy customers.
• SEO — Can help improve your website’s schema, which can help you rank well.
• User Engagement Potential — Strategically place reviews and testimonials on your site, where guests are most likely to encounter them, helping sway their decision.

5. Facebook

Depending on your company and its target audience, a large percentage of your customers may be active on Facebook. In that case, monopolising Facebook’s review system can be extremely beneficial.

Like any other social media platform, many people visit Facebook every day. Here, mentions of your business with links to your active Facebook page and guest reviews can prove beneficial in earning new clients. This can be very helpful for your SEO, as a strong social media presence can help build brand awareness and trust. You can also easily embed Facebook reviews into your website, which can be especially helpful in garnering brand trust.

Why We Recommend Facebook

• Credibility — Launched in 2004, the platform has over 3,04 billion monthly users, making it one of the world’s largest social media networks.
• SEO — 100 domain rating and a great social media platform to have a strong presence on.
• User Engagement Potential — Offers widget embeds for your website, a great chance to take advantage of user-generated content, reply to reviews, and analytics.

6. Get Your Guide

Get Your Guide is one of the leading tour booking platforms where companies can reach a wider audience. While you cannot link directly to your website from Get Your Guide, the platform does mention your brand name and offers contact details for interested guests.

They also handle the post-tour review invites, which means you can just focus on offering your customers the best experience possible. The more positive reviews you earn on Get Your Guide, the greater the chances are that you’ll earn more bookings than ever before.

Why We Recommend Get Your Guide

• Credibility — Founded in 2009, Get Your Guide offers over 70 thousand activities in more than 150 countries.
• SEO — 86 domain rating and a good opportunity to expand your tour offerings to a wider audience.
• User Engagement Potential — Offers broader customer audience, post-tour review invites, widget embeds, and analytics.

7. Expedia Local Expert

Although Expedia is primarily used for hotels and flights, it presents opportunities for tour operators to take advantage of its “Things to Do” tab.  Expedia can help you reach prospective customers that other online travel agencies (OTAs) cannot, due to its size and unique recommendations.

When people search and book flights or hotels, Expedia recommends activities and tours registered on the website. If one of your tours is registered on the site and has positive reviews, then you have a much greater chance of being placed in these recommendations.

Note: Reviews on other booking platforms, such as Viator, can be linked to Expedia.

Why We Recommend Expedia

• Credibility — Founded in 1996, the platform has over 82 million traveller ratings and 57 million vetted reviews.
• SEO — 89 domain rating and a good opportunity to expand your tour offerings to new guests.
• User Engagement Potential — Exposure to clients in the planning process.

8. Yelp Reviews

Yelp is one of the most trusted platforms, specialising in long-form reviews where customers and guests thoroughly analyse their experiences. Although the platform focuses on restaurants, it also has a Travel and Activities section, where tour operators can list their websites, tours, and more.

It provides an excellent opportunity for a local business to improve its brand reach and encourage guests to leave a review on a trusted website.

Why We Recommend Yelp Reviews

• Credibility — Founded in 2004, Yelp has accumulated over 287 million credible reviews.
• SEO — 95 domain rating, making it a great website to link to your business.
• User Engagement Potential — Offers review embeds for your website, ideal for local search, easy booking software, and analytics.

Why Are Travel Reviews Important for Your Tour Company?

There’s no denying the importance of posted reviews on travel websites, with buyers’ decisions often being swayed by past customer experiences. As such, here are some valuable insights and statistics showcasing just how critical positive reviews are in a visitor’s search.

Best Practices for Turning Traveller Reviews Into New Bookings

Here are some key techniques you can adopt to start earning more reviews and turning these positive comments into new bookings.

• Feature reviews across your website — Highly positive user-generated content displayed at key points across your website can engage users and encourage them to book with you.
• Ask for reviews at the right time — Get tour operators to encourage guests to leave reviews, and set up automated email systems to send reminders for reviews.
• Respond to all review types — Be it positive or negative, showing you care by responding to all your guests can encourage future guests to trust your brand.
• Incorporate reviews in social media campaigns — People love seeing what others have to say, so adding reviews or customer mentions to your social media campaigns can often be successful.
• Segment reviews by customer types — if you offer tours for different travellers (families, solo travellers, small groups, etc), then customise the reviews featured on these specific tours.
• Make use of review platform widgets — People trust average star ratings, so using the Trustpilot, Tripadvisor, or Google Reviews average star rating widget across your website can be extremely helpful.

FAQs About the Top Travel Review Sites?

Before you sign up for the leading platform to improve your website’s reviews, here are some FAQs to keep in mind.

What Is the Best Site for Travel Reviews?

Trustpilot and Tripadvisor are generally considered the best sites for travel reviews.

What Is the World’s Largest Travel Review Website?

Tripadvisor is the world’s largest travel review website.

Should Your Strategy Change If You Rely on Local Search?

No, while you may want to focus on earning Google Reviews to improve your Google My Business rankings for Maps and organic search, these other platforms are highly credible.

Tripadvisor also categorises your entry according to local search trends, so it’s likely you’ll feature for similar searches made in Google when someone uses Tripadvisor instead.

Final Thoughts on Earning Online Reviews for a Tour Business

And there you have it: an in-depth look at the best travel review companies to which you should look to add a business profile. While you don’t need to sign up for all these platforms, focusing on Google Reviews and at least one other would benefit your website.

If you need any other help improving your tour agency’s SEO strategy, our digital marketing coaching services are just a click away.