Living Abroad

International Travel Observor

News and information for international travel

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TripAdvisor definately not the truth advisor studies conclude

A traveler looking for legitimate and objective information must approach tripadvisor.com and other travel/accommodation review web sites with extreme caution. This is depsite the fact that tripadvisor has issued assurances about its ability to filter our scammers, blackmailers, and fake reviews.

The facility and rapidity with which fake reviews--positive and negative--can be published discredits much of the information presented on sites such as tripadvisor.com. Investigations by foodvacation.com have shown that tripadvisor.com has little way to detect fake reviews, and exercises little or no editorial responsbility while still professing to do so. These "objective" review sites sell a new kind of "entertainment" in part through sensationalistic reviews and forum chatter, and make money by selling advertising and links to internet reservation sites. Checking on the veracity of their review content is often left aside. TripAdvisor claims to publish "more than 5 million unbiased reviews and opinions, covering 250,000+ hotels and attractions."

Accommodations Subject to Bullying & Blackmail

Travel writer Vijay Verghese of Bangkok has recently (September, 2007) noted the increasing trend, often perpetuated by persons he calls "Aesthete Travellers":

Aesthete Travellers have a new way to hit back at uncaring hotels. With reader-generated content all the rage on the Internet, they simply log on and pen a review, a nasty review, preferably on a well-known site where their ramblings will reverberate through cyberspace causing untold numbers of potential travellers to beat their wives and hang them on the wall, slightly askew.

Times have changed. These days you don't simply call a hotel to make a reservation. You call them, bully them, hint at legal action, threaten to leap off a high place - like from atop the toaster - and, finally, mention that dreaded "online review", all to get $5 knocked off your bill. Sometimes it works. Despite travel giant Expedia's best efforts to filter out scams - including complex algorithms to detect fraud - the "unbiased" hotel reviews on TripAdvisor.com are often peppered with blackmail and stealth attacks.

Verghese's independant observations are confirmed by numerous other studiess, including the Times newspaper of London quoted below. One small inn recently received threats of posting bad reviews to TripAdvisor as a way of getting out of a cancellation policy. Staff found their behavior so strange and threatening that they recorded more than 45 minutes of conversation with them, including the threats of posting bad reviews. Without fail, two bad reviews full of untruths appeared on tripadvisor.com within a month. The inn's management contacted the party to inform them that if they did not correct factual errors or remove the reviews, that a legal action for defamation would be forthcoming. TripAdvisor learned of the communication with the "reviewers" and wrote the following message to the inn:

Travelers rely on TripAdvisor to be an unbiased source of travel information.

TripAdvisor has reason to suspect that you and/or others in your organization have attempted to influence your position on our site by threatening reviewers to get them remove or edit unfavorable reviews.

As outlined in our FAQs at http://www.tripadvisor.com/

pages/owner_faq.html, it is a strict violation of TripAdvisor's guidelines to attempt to manipulate our ranking system. We have a procedure for penalizing businesses who make such attempts. (emphasis added)

This is official notification that your property is now being actively monitored by TripAdvisor for suspicious activity. You must discontinue any attempts to subvert our system.

Please respond to this email to acknowledge receipt of this notice.

The inn responded by tellingTripAdviosr that it was fully within its legal rights, and that in many common-law jurisdictions it is mandated by law that a party defaming another be contacted and asked to remove or correct the offending material, no matter what TripAdvisor's "guidelines" might be. The inn also was not trying to "manipulate" a ranking system, but merely to have defamatory material removed, material being used to defraud and blackmail them. TripAdvisor never responded, but did place the following "punishment" message on the inn's tripadvisor.com page:

Alert: This property has attempted to manipulate our popularity index by interfering with the unbiased nature of our reviews. Please take this into consideration when researching your traveling plans.

Thus, a hotel property being blackmailed by defamatory material published by tripadvisor with no editorial responsbility is then damaged and defamed further by TripAdvisor itself! Several lawyers in the United Kingdom have said that a law suit against the web site's parent company is likely, as reported by The Times and Travolution.com. One attorney told a Times reporter that TripAdvisor's claim that it only publishes the subjective opinions of others "may not be a strong enough defence where reviewers have defamed a hotel by making unfounded claims that could affect its reputation."

Vijay Verghese continues his tongue-in-cheek analysis:

The power of an online smear cannot be understated and it has prompted the more vigilant general managers to regularly scan and respond to slights. . . .

Aesthete Travellers will stop at nothing to secure a harmonious stay. Hoteliers report they'll even threaten to "blow up" the place if the rate is not dropped. And it's not just the Hamas delegation we're talking about.

Others hint at brutal online hotel reviews with deeply disturbing outcomes fraught with bad grammar and misspellings. Guests who have enjoyed a perfectly comfortable stay will turn up at the check-out counter complaining about trivialities hoping to get "compensation". Usually this means a free night, or a free stay.

Review Web Sites not Reliable Guides

The Times of London has kept a keen eye on tripadvisor and other travel "review" sites:

These examples are just the tip of an iceberg. The entire industry of reviewing hotels and restaurants is in the midst of a revolution that risks leading customers up the path to Fawlty Towers.

The traditional published guides, often compiled by independent inspectors, are struggling, while online sites where checks are few are proliferating.

A Sunday Times investigation has shown:

1) “Guests” who have never even stayed at a hotel can boost or depress its rating by posting fake reviews.

2) Poorly rated establishments can lift their reputations from one to four stars in a matter of hours by posting fictional positive reviews.

3) Some establishments attempt to damage the reputations of rivals. So tough is the competition that even top hotels and restaurants would consider placing fake reviews to maintain their status.

The best travel guides have traditionally been compiled by professional inspectors who visit hotels and restaurants incognito and fiercely guard their impartiality. But it is a costly business and one that can no longer compete.

tripadvisor.com, owned by media magnate Barry Diller, is headquartered in Boston, Massacusshets.

This and other similar web sites pretend to have established editorial criterion and methods for catching false postings. However, investigations have shown this is far from the truth. Competitors routinely run smear campaigns using tripadvisor.com as a weapon. In addition, guests or potential guests can use such sites as a means of blackmail, demanding discounts or free stays from management.

The Times continued:

Last week The Sunday Times was able to post reviews on TripAdvisor giving top ratings to six London hotels that had consistently been criticised as “the worst ever”, “a horror” or “disgusting”.

One hotel in west London had received consistently bad reviews on TripAdvisor, with guests describing it as a “hovel” with “stains everywhere”. Yet when a Sunday Times reviewer awarded it top marks, no one checked on the discrepancy.

TripAdvisor, which insists that all its reviews are read by moderators, later admitted that it could not spot all fake postings but aimed to stop concerted campaigns to raise the reputations of establishments.

Our investigators have similarly found instances at several properties in the Americas where people looking for discounted rooms have threatened posting bad reviews on tripadvisor.com as a way to coerce management.

In one e-mail to a small inn in Costa Rica, one person who received a polite e-mail telling him that the Inn was full, continued to demand a reservation over a long period of time and ultimately wrote the following:

I wanted you to know that I had previously given your property favorable mention on the often visited Internet site Tripadvisor.com. I'm not sure if your familiar with the site but it provides reviews of hotels and resorts from guests. Most of your reviews had been very good, giving your Inn a very good overall rating. I still have know idea why you didn't respond to my inquiries but can only assume you waiting for someone to make longer or more expensive reservations.

I will be detailing these unfortunate series of non-communication events on Tripadvisor and giving you the lowest possible rating. Your lack of responsiveness has delayed my reservations making for three weeks while waiting for your reply. Best Wishes, Mike

[name of inn and listing page on tripadvisor.com]

(The next one won't be too good.)

Should sites such as tripadvisor.com be able to act as weapons of blackmail for anyone with internet access? Is it still the innkeeper's prerogative to refuse accommodation to those it considers undesirable or has no room for?

In a similar instance, a couple seeking a discount off of a stay wrote scathing reviews and posted negative comments to forums on tripadvisor.com and travellibrary.com. They contacted the property to demand a refund, and received it! In return, they pulled the reviews and forum postings.

Giving in to such blackmail by hotel management may seem as bad as the blackmail itself, however many innkeepers (and increasingly restaurateurs) are at the mercy of these travel "review" sites that exercise no true editorial control over their increasingly influential publications. Even when tripadvisor.com in Boston was contacted by the hotelier to report the latter instance blackmail, nothing was done until the reviewer him- or herself pulled the review and forum posting. travellibrary.com did pull the review when notified of its nature.

Recent research also shows that TripAdvisor "punishes" hotels they believe may have conducted in activity they deem inappropriate by refusing to publish positive reviews, and only allowing negative reviews to appear on the web site.

Faltering Legal Immunity

TripAdvisor and other review web sites have thus far benefitted from immunity from defamation and related law suits in the United States due to the 1996 Communications Decency Act.

The Communications Decency Act was passed by Congress to protect Web site operators from lawsuits stemming from content created by their users. The Act states that "No provider … of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider."

The act defines an interactive computer service as "any information service, system, or access software provider that provides or enables computer access by multiple users to a computer server."

However, a 2007 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit found that a web site operator can be both a service provider and a content provider, and be immune from liability for some of the content it displays to the public, but subject to liability for other content.

Writing for the majority, Chief Judge Alex Kozinski said that if a Web site operator "passively displays content that is created entirely by third parties, then it is only a service provider with respect to that content," and protected by the Communications Decency Act. But when a Web site operator is responsible in whole or in part for creating or developing, the Web site is also a content provider.

TripAdvisor furnishes and manipulates its web site content in a number of different ways--perhaps the most obvious being the "warning" they wrote discussed above; and such provision of information content will make their immunity under the Decency Act disappear.

tripadvisor.com's registered trade mark is "get the truth, then go."

Economy, dollar, forcing Americans to re-think their vacation plans

April 14, 2008 With the dollar continuing to weaken and the economy in a slump, more Americans are altering often long-standing vacation plans, according to two recent nationwide surveys.

More than two-thirds of respondents to the most recent survey by Ypartnership, co-authored with the Travel Industry Association, said they had downsized their trips in some way during the past six months because of personal financial concerns, according to David Wilkening writing in TravelMole. Another survey, just completed by AIG Travel Guard, found that 47% of travellers polled plan to downscale their vacations to save money.

Peter Yesawich, CEO of Ypartnership, says Americans are trading down, not out: "In the next few months we will see a transformation of vacations, not cancellations," implying that increasingly value-conscious consumers are likely to seek cheaper transportation, lodging, entertainment and recreation, or possibly shorter trips.

According to the Ypartnership survey, 29% who are downsizing said they had taken fewer trips. Sixteen percent selected less expensive lodging, 12% stayed away fewer nights, 11% drove a shorter distance to their vacation destination, and 7% changed destinations. A tiny percentage reported bringing fewer people along on vacations.

National Geographic Traveler magazine publishes well-researched list of hotels that please

THE STAY LIST: 150 HOTELS YOU WILL LOVE
According to Editor Keith Bellows, there is no greater letdown than a hotel that isn't original and fails to exhibit any understanding of its cultural context. Hence the creation of National Geographic Traveler's "Stay List" that celebrates 150 hotels in the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean region that are among the best at blending location-inspired architecture, ambience and amenities, eco-stewardship and an ethic of giving back to the community. Backed by extensive research, including input from local experts and seasoned travelers, in-depth questionnaires to more than 600 nominated hotels and detailed follow-up by magazine staff, the list showcases overnights that range from rustic to luxurious, dirt cheap to splurge. Yet all the featured hotels cherish a sense of place and offer a sweet night's sleep. Organized by country, state and city, this is a list that travelers will refer to repeatedly.

Nova Scotia wilderness lodge gets top eco-rating

Trout Point Lodge joins just 3 other hotels in Canada with a 5 Green Key rating from the Hotel Association's ECOmmodation program

Trout Point Lodge of Nova Scotia announced today that it has received a rating of 5 Green Keys from the Hotel Association of Canada's ECOmmodation program. This small nature retreat of 12 guest rooms and 2 cottages along the banks of the Tusket River in Yarmouth County is only the fourth hotel in Canada to received such a high rating, and is the only property east of Toronto. Trout Point previously had a 4 Green Key rating. Other 5 Green Key rated hotels include the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise in Alberta and the Monterey Inn in Ontario.

A property with Five Green Keys "exemplifies the highest standards of environmental and social responsibility throughout all areas of operations. The hotel employs cutting edge technologies, policies, and programs that set the international standard for sustainable hotel operations," according to the Hotel Association of Canada.

During 2007, the Lodge implemented a number of improvements to its environmental management that allowed it to receive such high status, including changing its in-room amenities to bulk dispensers, enhacing recycling programs and energy use monitoring, increasing green messages to guests, changing to nearly 100% all-natural cleaners, and converting practically all of its lighting to energy-efficient bulbs. "Without sacrificing excellent service and comfort for our guests," commented proprietor Charles Leary, "we were able to upgrade our ecological friendliness--something very important given our location next to Atlantic Canada largest protected wilderness." For instance, the Lodge now places high-end BVLGARI soap, shampoo, conditioner, and body lotion in those bulk dispensers, which some might associate with lower-service hotels. Trout Point currently has a 4.5 star rating from Canada Select. The Lodge lies immediately adjacent to the Tobeatic Wilderness Area, a UNESCO World Biosphere Preserve.

The Lodge's proprietors--Daniel Abel, Vaughn Perret, and Charles Leary--also own the Inn at Coyote Mountain in Costa Rica, which has been praised for its ecological consciousness. Trout Point opened in 2000 and has won accolades as both a nature retreat and culinary destination. The Great Lodge building was handcrafted to log and stone, and is furnished with locally-made twig furniture. The Lodge's web site is www.troutpoint.com. The ECOmmodation program web site is www.hacgreenhotels.com.

ItalyTravelNotes.com Offers A Free Guide On Low-cost Travel To And From Italy

Rome, Italy – ItalyTravelNotes.com is created by travelers who describe Italy from their personal point of view and share their inspiration of the country and it is targeting those who would like to learn more about the country, before they go there. Starting this week the blog is launching a free guide on all low-cost airlines flying to Italy. There are also a number of airlines which operate on the territory of the country with which you can fly at minimal cost from the most northern to the most southern airports of Italy.

Available for download on italytravelnotes.com, the Low-cost travel guide consists of a list of these airlines, points to their websites, monitors the airports in Italy they reach, as well as gives examples of routes and their tentative prices.

“We are launching the Low-cost travel guide as part of our desire to make Italy Travel Notes one of travelers’ most positive experiences on the web, especially for those who like traveling or are planning to go to Italy sometime soon.” – says Giuseppe Zappala, head of the Italy office of italytravelnotes.com “This is the second of our series of free guides and what we are trying to do with these guides, as well as with the content of the blog, is to appeal to all of the visitors’ senses in experiencing Italy, even if they would like to travel there only in their mind.”

What makes ItalyTravelNotes.com different from the other travel information sites is the quality of the stories, which travelers share. They are different than the impersonal information one can find on other travel information sites. The readers of the blog have the opportunity to read descriptions of places and advice by their own fellow travelers. And they get the opportunity to travel though different parts of Italy even before they actually go there. And when they come back from Italy, to share their own impressions – to inspire others.

To download the free guide to Low-cost travel to and from Italy go to: www.italytravelnotes.com.

To listen to the Italy Travel Notes podcast series go to: www.italytravelnotes.com/podcasts/

Leaders of the World's Best Hotels Join Five Star Alliance's New Editorial Advisory Board

Top executives at the world's most prominent hotels have formed even closer partnerships with Five Star Alliance, the leading online travel agency and information site for luxury hotels. The new initiative will help the hundreds of thousands of affluent travelers reached by Five Star Alliance each month find and book the ideal luxury hotel.

Five Star Alliance (http://www.FiveStarAlliance.com) is the leading online travel agency focused exclusively on luxury hotels. The company's web site includes the world's most comprehensive collection of luxury hotels, along with exclusive information, recommendations and photographs. Clients from around the world can search and book the world's finest hotels through an intuitive, custom booking engine. Five Star Alliance clients receive immediate confirmation and personal service.

The company has formed close partnerships with dozens of luxury hotels around the world, including the Hotel de Crillon in Paris, New York's Carlyle Hotel, the Burj al Arab in Dubai, One Aldwych in London, and The Hay-Adams in Washington, DC. The site also hallmarks Featured Hotels such as Trout Point Lodge of Nova Scotia and The Mansion on Turtle Creek in Dallas.

    More than twenty CEOs, General Managers, and influential leaders of the world's best luxury hotels have joined Five Star Alliance's new Editorial Advisory Board. These prominent executives have formed close relationships with Five Star Alliance, the leading online travel agency focused exclusively on luxury hotels. The Editorial Advisory Board will help Five Star Alliance customers find and book the ideal luxury hotel.

    Editorial Advisory Board members, including Mr. Jonathan Critchard, GM of the Athenaeum Hotel in London, and Mr. James McBride, General Manager of The Carlyle in New York, will deliver exclusive news and offers directly to affluent travelers via the Five Star Alliance web site (http://www.FiveStarAlliance.com), blog, and email newsletters. The hundreds of thousands of luxury travelers reached each month by Five Star Alliance will now have a unique opportunity to hear directly from the leaders of the world's best hotels.

    Ms. Julie A. Skrei of the new billion dollar Red Rock Casino, Resort and Spa in Las Vegas, for example, recently highlighted the "coolest" features of her property on Five Star Alliance's blog: The Informed Traveler. Within one week, Five Star Alliance delivered over $14,000 in reservations to her property.

    Mr. Hans Bruland, GM of The Hay-Adams in Washington, DC, and a founding Editorial Advisory Board member, notes that, "As an independent luxury hotel, Five Star Alliance has given us exposure to a worldwide audience of affluent travelers that we could not have reached on our own."

    For the Hon. Michael J. Winfield, President & CEO of Cambridge Beaches in Bermuda, Five Star Alliance supplements his own promotion of the unique property. "Renowned worldwide as one of the most romantic and welcoming resorts in Bermuda, Cambridge Beaches strives to market itself to the world's most discerning travelers. Through our enhanced Partner listing on Five Star Alliance, we have been able to successfully promote the unique personality of our property, and drive new business that we would not otherwise have found," he said.

    A recent sample of interesting, fun and useful news from the Editorial Advisory Board, such as recipes from top chefs and the advance word on special offers, can be found on The Informed Traveler: http://traveler.FiveStarAlliance.com/index.php/category/editorial-advisory- board

Founding members of the Five Star Alliance Editorial Advisory Board include executives from the Hotel de Crillon in Paris, The Carlyle in New York, The Whitehall Hotel in Chicago, The Hay-Adams in Washington, DC, The Sutton Place Hotel Vancouver, Peter Island Resort in Jamaica, Athenaeum Hotel and Apartments in London, Half Moon Rose Hall in Jamaica, Sungate Port Royal in Turkey, The Regency New York, and Cambridge Beaches in Bermuda. Also represented by top executives are Small Luxury Hotels of the World, the Majestic Hotel Group, Maybourne Hotel Group, Station Casinos, Proximo Restaurants, and Red Carnation Hotels.

www.fivestaralliance.com

ExpatFocus.com Announces Free Expatriate Relocation Guide for Canada

(PRLEAP.COM) Expat Focus (www.expatfocus.com), the popular global relocation portal, has released "An Expatriate Guide to Canada" for anyone considering relocating to Canada. The guide, which aims to help readers avoid the most common problems encountered by new expatriates, is freely available for reading online at http://www.expatfocus.com/expatriate-canada or may be purchased as a downloadable PDF file/e-book.

Rod Morris, founder of Expat Focus, explains, "Although it has never been easier to obtain the information you need to start a new life in Canada, most expats still fail to plan adequately for the challenges of relocation. From information about visas and expat healthcare to finding employment and buying property in Canada, this new guide has been specifically written to save new expatriates time, money and stress. In addition, we also offer a discussion forum and email group where anyone can ask questions about moving to Canada."

The guide, available at http://www.expatfocus.com/expatriate-canada , addresses all the main issues outlined below which anyone moving to Canada should consider and the downloadable version also contains bonus information and an up-to-date list of the web’s most useful resources for expats.

The following important subject areas are covered:

- Climate & Weather in Canada
- Visas, Immigration, Residency
- Speaking the Language
- Currency & Cost of Living in Canada
- Banking, insurance & taxation
- Healthcare & Medical Treatment in Canada
- Social Security & Welfare
- Renting & Buying Property in Canada
- Employment
- Education & Schools in Canada
- Driving in Canada & Public Transport
- Leisure, Entertainment & Sports
- Communications (Telephone, Post, Internet, TV)
- Utilities (Electricity, Gas, Water)
- Taking Your Pets

Started in June 2000, Expat Focus (http://www.expatfocus.com) aims to make life easier for anyone moving or living abroad. The site offers country and city relocation guides, articles, forums, an email discussion list, monthly newsletter, expert financial advice and more. To sign up for a free account visit http://www.expatfocus.com/register

The new travel website wikitravel contains a growing fount of open-source information on worldwide travel.

Canticum Hotels

Sustainable Luxury Hotels of the World