'˜Respond better to online feedback and reap rewards'

YORKSHIRE'S hospitality and leisure businesses need to be more responsive to online feedback to take advantage of the £3.2bn opportunity it presents, a new report has said.
Tony Walsh, corporate managing director for Barclays in the Yorkshire regionTony Walsh, corporate managing director for Barclays in the Yorkshire region
Tony Walsh, corporate managing director for Barclays in the Yorkshire region

Almost two thirds of businesses who responded in Barclays Feedback Economy report, 60 per cent, said they had increased trade on the back of online feedback, with an even higher number, 89 per cent, saying feedback was beneficial to their business.

But Barclays’ corporate managing director in Yorkshire, Tony Walsh, said there was “even more” Yorkshire hospitality businesses could do to capitalise on feedback. Barclays’ research suggests that improving how the sector manages and responds to online customers could contribute an additional £3.2bn to the UK economy over the course of the next decade.

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This economic benefit will be achieved by improving how businesses such as hotels, health spas, and cinemas monitor, manage and respond to customer feedback, the report said.

Putting processes in place to better manage customer feedback will create a more responsive sector, attracting more overseas visitors and encouraging domestic visitors to stay longer and spend more.

In total, 68 per cent Yorkshire hospitality businesses expect the importance of feedback sites to increase over the next 18 months.

Mr Walsh said: “The rise of feedback sites has been a disruptive force within the hospitality industry over the past decade.

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“Our research reveals that those working in the UK hospitality and leisure industry feel that these faster, easier and simpler feedback mechanisms are a good thing for the industry – resulting in more agile businesses better able to serve the evolving needs of consumers.”

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