OTA Tripadvisor may be preparing to launch their own Tripadvisor online Supplier Community.
A Tourpreneur Daily Brief listener sent us this screenshot over the weekend.
The survey asks the following question:
Would you be interested in a Tripadvisor Supplier Community?
Yes, I would like to share my knowledge as a supplier.
Yes, I would like to see what other suppliers share.
I am not sure this time.
No, not at this time.
Some tourpreneurs we spoke with are skeptical – several felt that the community would be heavily policed and that they could be penalized if they were to use the suppliers’ community to criticize Tripadvisor.
In our experience, many tour operators are understandably apprehensive about airing their views on OTAs in public when they rely on them for a large chunk of their revenue.
Tourpreneur was created to increase learning for tour operators so we support any initiative that allows tour operators to share knowledge and experience.
We are always going to be in favor of OTAs listening to their ‘suppliers.’ (Clearly, Tripadvisor Experiences are not fully behind Arival CEO’s Douglas Quinby’s, call for suppliers to be called Tour Operators just yet.)
If the Tripadvisor Supplier Community is launched then that forum could provide an effective feedback loop for senior management at Tripadvisor giving them a closer look at what is happening, the good and the troublesome.
In the meantime there are some excellent Facebook groups out there that we recommend tourpreneurs join including:
Tour and Activity Owners WorldWide
Cultural & Adventure Tour Leaders – Business Strategy Group
The Tourpreneur Insiders Facebook Group (for readers of the Tourpreneur Daily Brief and listeners of the Tourpreneur Podcast.)
Did we miss any out? Let us know here.
We hope, in a future episode of Tourpreneur to interview the leaders of the various facebook groups for tour operators so you can decide which one is right for you. We think they all are.