Monitoring Web 2.0 : User Generated Content in the Hospitality Industry

Increased importance of user generated content (UGC) forces hotel managers to place greater emphasis on monitoring their online reputation. The study at hand investigates the hospitality industry's attitude towards UGC as well as if and how the industry monitors online reviews of tourists. Data collected from an online survey conducted in German-speaking countries in Europe (Austria, Germany and Switzerland) are analyzed. The analysis of 693 completed questionnaires revealed that managers in all three countries assess evaluating UGC as highly important. This is also reflected in a high percentage of managers monitoring their hotels' reputation themselves and by not delegating the task to employees. Further, managers have a rather positive attitude towards negative reviews. However, only a minority uses social media for advertising purposes. Further results are proposed and implications are discussed.