🇧🇯 HTR is now available in four new languages!

What do Spanish, German, French and Italian all have in common? 

They're all now native languages on Hotel Tech Report! 

That means users can seamlessly browse native translations right on HTR across reviews, partner recommendations, articles and more!

While HTR's audience has always been global, with the recent milestone of surpassing 140k+ monthly hoteliers and with over 50% of our traffic coming from outside of North America it became even more critical to ensure that the browsing experience was tailored to a global audience.

This update was strategically planned to roll out as travel begins to boom and hotels all over the world are starting to ramp back up to impressive numbers and as they do they continue to look to technology as a key enabler of progress and growth in for the recovery and beyond and this update will help ensure that HTR is able to serve them frictionlessly in their native language.

The software industry is a global one and we are excited to rollout this update along with massive traffic growth even during COVID to position Hotel Tech Report to serve as the go to resource that helps hoteliers across the globe discovery the best tools to run and grow their businesses.

Lastly, if you have any feedback about the translations or ideas to improve the site for your native speaking language please don't hesitate to reach out.


Note: This update auto-detects language based on the user's browser settings and can also be manually switched.  The review form is also translated so that it is easier to collect reviews from non-english speaking users who may have older browsers that don't auto translate.


Performance Improvements

We're excited to announce that we recently completed a ground up backed rebuild and optimization of core pages throughout HTR including the home page, category pages, profiles and the blog dramatically improving page load speeds and user experience across the site.  Enjoy!

🚀 New Customizable Widgets Library


Looking for more ways to leverage your Hotel Tech Report reviews throughout your sales and marketing to build trust with prospects? 


Well today's you're lucky day...introducing the new customizable HTR widgets library!

👉 LEARN HOW TO CREATE YOUR FIRST WIDGET


TL;DR

  • Create Custom Widgets in Seconds. Create customizable widgets to showcase your HTR reviews on your website in seconds
  • Tailor to Your Use Case. Create widgets for your overall company (all products) or specific products to add to specific product related landing pages
  • Build Trust with Prospects.  Leverage your reviews to build trust with prospects on your website, landing pages and book a demo pages
  • No Code Editing. Paste your widget once and edit them anytime right from the dashboard with no coding or developers needed
  • Boost Your Landing Page SEO & Click Throughs.  Improve your landing page SEO and Google page click throughs by adding any of HTR's review widgets which contain Google product review markup (show review count and average rating in search results)
  • Ultra Lightweight.  Widgets are designed to be ultra-lightweight and fast loading

New Ledger & Credit System for Members

With the rollout of Premium 3.0 came lots of new benefits included with membership packages ranging from guest posting to review incentive cards, sponsored articles, advertising, lead credit and more.  

One of the requests that we've received from lots of members since is the ability to have a more streamlined and centralized place to track and use their various benefits so today we're excited to rollout the all new ledger and credit system 🧮 🚀

  • WHAT: New dashboard home, credits system, ledger and self service guest posting
  • WHY: Make it easier for members to track, manage and use their benefits


New Dashboard Home

Along with the new ledger and credits system comes a newly redesigned dashboard home page that brings a simplified view to the ways you can leverage HTR to educate buyers, build your brand and grow your install base.



New Credits System

In order to simplify benefit tracking, benefits can now be tracked according to the type of item that they are (eg. advertising credit, content credit, posting credit, lead credit).  Credits of each type can be used interchangeably for items that require the same credit type (eg. if you purchase 30 ad credits to run a sponsored retargeting campaign, you can instead decide to use those same ad credits for a different advertising product like an eblast).  

Credits will automatically accrue with your membership and be valid for use throughout the duration of your membership the same as they have been.


New Ledger System

If you are currently a member or have purchased ala cart credits off platform before you know how much of a pain this was.  Now, you can view your credit balances for each type of credit (eg. Advertising credit, Content Credit, Lead Credit) etc right from the settings tab of your vendor dashboard.  The new ledger system is also integrated into Membership Plans so when your plan renews, transactions are automatically created logging the benefits that you received with your membership plan and you will see your credit accounts increase respectively in real time.



Self Service Guest Posting

If your company has post credits available on your account you can use them to post guest posts to build your brand as a thought leader and boost the visibility of your content to reach HTR's audience of 100k+ hoteliers each month by submitting guest posts right through the vendor dashboard.





FAQs

How did my company get starting balances?

If your company has starting balances it means that either a) you have purchased items in the past that have been converted 1-to-1 into the new credits system to simplify tracking and usage or (b) you have an active membership plan that is accruing credits automatically according to your plan benefits.

Can I see my company's history retroactively?

Unfortunately no.  The ledger system is setup to track all transactions (credit purchases and usages) on a go forward basis so any past purchases will not be viewable in the ledger.  That said, you will have a starting balance transaction that will include your company's current credit balances as of the launch date of the new ledger system.  If you have questions about your starting balances or past transactions please feel free to reach out via the on-site live chat and a member of the team will be happy to assist.

Has pricing changed with the new credits system?

No, prices haven't changed.  All prices are the same as they were previously, the only difference is that now you will add credits to your account that can be used interchangeably towards various items instead of having to buy a specific item giving you more flexibility.

Have my membership benefits changed?

No, your membership plan is exactly the same and includes the same benefits as always.  The only difference is that you can now use use credits accrued from your benefits on other items as well.  For example, let's say your plan includes 10 press releases/year which is equal to 10 post credits.  If you want, you could now instead choose to use those 10 post credits towards another type of posting like Guest Posting instead.

🔌 The New Integrations Experience

Have you run into any of these issues when listing your integrations on Hotel Tech Report before?

  1. "We have a lot of integrations but listing lots of integrations at once takes forever"
  2. "I want to list all of our integrations to get them verified but some of our partners aren't listed on HTR"
  3. "How can I tell how many verified integrations I have and how many I need to meet the category average or most integrated in the category for the HotelTechAwards?"

Well, thanks to Laura @ protel and Thomas @ Revinate--you can sleep easy tonight with the all new redesigned integrations experience 🙌

Now you can...

  • Add dozens of integrations in seconds without leaving the search bar...
  • Easily add integrations even if the partner isn't listed with the new fast add flow...
  • Check your relative integrations counts within your category for the HotelTechAwards
  • Sort by integration status to quickly find unverified integrations and get them verified to get get verified credit
  • (BONUS) 🎸 Watch Jimmy Melt Faces @ Woodstock


I. Add dozens of integrations in seconds without leaving the search bar...


II. Easily add integrations even if the partner isn't listed with the new fast add flow...


III. Check your relative integrations counts within your category for the HotelTechAwards

IV. Sort by integration status to quickly find unverified integrations and get them verified


V. (BONUS) 🎸 Watch Jimmy Melt Faces @ Woodstock


GCSC Renewals During COVID

Due to the unprecedented times, GCSC Annual Renewals will be automatically renewed during COVID and annual verifications will resume in July 2021 for all certified companies.  

If your company has invested in implementing new tools, processes and support/success infrastructure during COVID to support clients and you would like to update your certification to gain recognition and level up, you may do so by scheduling a verification call.


Update: Annual certification renewal exemptions extended through January 1, 2022

Google Places Blocked in China Work Around

In some areas of China where Google is blocked, the review form was blocking users from leaving reviews.  Therefore, HTR recently released a patch that will detect Chinese IP addresses and offer a workaround when Google Places won't load because it is blocked.

Review Form Grader

Collect richer feedback and reviews from customers with the new built in review grader to nudge customers along to sharing more of their expertise, insight and feedback.


New Vendor Toolbar

See when you have new leads without going to your vendor dashboard, check your membership status and access the HotelTechAwards live leaderboard without having to leave the main site and go to your vendor dashboard. 

👏 Feature request inspiration shout out: Flora @ GuestJoy

Community Guidelines Infraction Penalties

As stated in Hotel Tech Report’s Community Guidelines, any vendor found to be manipulating user reviews in any way will be subject to penalty on the platform. 

Below is a table outlining such penalties based on the level of infraction.  Hotel Tech Report values integrity and fairness above all else - violations penalties are non-negotiable.

Report a potential violation




Violation Severity and Penalties: 

Level 1 Infraction Scenarios (Moderate)

HTR's policy for 1st time Level 1 infractions where the offender claims it was an accidental violation or misunderstanding is to give the offender in question the benefit of the doubt for a first time offense.  Additional Level 1 violations after the first however will immediately escalate to level 2 infractions and incur penalties.

  • Scenario 1a: If vendor is found to harass a reviewer about honest feedback left on the platform
  • Scenario 1b: Vendor is found to be pressuring reviewers on the spot to write reviews and watching over their shoulders
  • Scenario 1c: Vendor is found to be offering pay-per-review (vs randomized giveaway)

Level II Infractions Scenarios (Strong)

  • Scenario 2a: Vendor is found to be compensating users for ONLY positive or five star reviews
  • Scenario 2b: Any Level 1 violation that is a 2nd offense will immediately be escalated to a Level 2 infraction
  • Scenario 2c: Vendor is found to be influencing user reviews by writing reviews for users and sending them the content to submit

Level III Infractions Scenarios (Severe)

  • Scenario 3a: Vendor is found to be committing fraud 
  • Scenario 3b: Vendor is found to be submitting reviews on behalf of users



Show Previous EntriesShow Previous Entries