Hotel marketing
New recommendation rate at HolidayCheck
Our new calculation logic creates opportunities. Here is a summary of what will change in the future.
The coronavirus pandemic has turned the whole world on its head, particularly the tourism industry, and the effects are painfully apparent. During the last two years, holidaymakers have submitted barely any hotel ratings. In May 2021, we reacted to this development by suspending the automatic archiving of hotel ratings (for dates of travel older than 25 months) on our pages.
In recent months, we have continued to critically scrutinise our recommendation rate logic by keeping it under constant review. From now on, we will scrap the previously determined validity period of 25 months and instead incorporate all public ratings into the recommendation rate in order to provide a more transparent overview of the hotel's performance.
The new calculation logic
Beginning on 21/02/2022, the new calculation logic will apply; this is a new algorithm specifically developed to determine the recommendation rate of your hotel. All hotels will now get the chance to take advantage of the new calculation format ahead of the coming holiday season.
What will change?
In the future, all published ratings, weighted by the recency (month of travel), will be incorporated into the recommendation rate of an accommodation. This calculation produces a weighted mean value. The weighting is determined by the recency (month of travel) of the ratings, with the 'half-life' period being one whole year. For example, a new rating will be weighted more than one published for a holiday from a year ago.
The following curve shows that the impact of a rating steadily declines from month to month. A current rating has a weighting of 1. If a holiday is three months in the past, the weighting of its rating will be 0.84896. However, if it is already 12 months in the past, the rating is reduced to 0.5. After 60 months, the weighting is reduced to 0.03125.
The new calculation logic will also affect the popularity ranking as well as the sun index.
How will the new calculation logic benefit my hotel?
The new calculation logic’s takes into account the current conditions more than ever before. Grab the bull by the horns and actively ask your guests (naturally while complying with our Code of Conduct) to submit a rating to give your recommendation rate a positive boost! The more recent the rating is, the more weight it will be given within your hotel’s recommendation rate.
We have deliberately scheduled the changeover before the start of the high season so that you can prepare and benefit from the strengthening tourism.
When your guests check out, you can reach out to them personally and ask for a rating there and then. Additional tips to help with this can be found at the end of this article.
Everything new at a glance
- New ratings are becoming increasingly important and now have a bigger role than ever in the recommendation rate.
- Older ratings will also continue to be incorporated within the statistics/recommendation rate at the same time, but to less effect. As a result, you will continue to reap the benefit of existing ratings for much longer!
Tips for more ratings
We have compiled a selection of useful tips to help you get more ratings from your guests. These can be found in the following article:
Our rules regarding hotel ratings
The Code of Conduct is the behavioural code for hotel owners which stipulates the possibilities and restrictions that are applicable to hotel ratings. We have compiled all the information you need below.
Free advertising material
Our free advertising materials may also be used to help engage your guests. All materials can be found here
Do you have any questions about the new calculation logic? Please get in touch with us
