Code of Conduct
This Code of Conduct is a framework for hotel managers that specifies the options and restrictions in handling hotel reviews at HolidayCheck.
Permitted:
- Use of the free HolidayCheck review tool which can be used to remind guests to send in a review after they have left or of systems provided by a third-party that function in the same way. Read more
Without exception, hotel profile owners are responsible for the activities of the service providers they or their employees appoint, whenever those activities have an impact on their HolidayCheck profile. They need to ensure that the service providers they appoint act in accordance with HolidayCheck guidelines.
- The sending out of newsletters or notifications using in-house mail or guest magazines
- Use of little review cards or a note on the invoice
- Personal requests to the guest while on vacation to hand in a review. The guest must write and submit each review knowingly, without being influenced and in person.
- Provision of devices for recording reviews in the hotel (e.g. review terminals and tablets)
- Review days and campaigns in the hotel at which guests have an opportunity to write and hand in hotel reviews directly and in person.
HolidayCheck AG must be informed in advance of any such campaigns by e-mail to: service@holidaycheck.com
Not permitted:
1. Purchase of reviews
Advertising with reviews purchased from review or reputation management agencies or comparable service providers and written by persons who were not guests of the hotel at the time of the review is not permitted. Given that actions of this kind also violate applicable law in many of our core markets, we expressly reserve the right to initiate legal action against the perpetrators of such violations, in addition to other measures.
2. Use of systems that manage the publication of reviews on the basis of satisfaction levels (Review Gating). Systems that use a form of gating, e.g. to filter out critical reviews, are not permitted. The user interface and experience of providing positive and negative reviews must be identical (i.e. it is against our guidelines if a guest is only directed to a review page when describing a positive experience, but is directed to another channel when describing a critical experience).
3. Offering the prospect of material incentives for submitting a hotel review where those incentives are disproportionate to the effort required to submit the review (to the euro value of more than a single-digit number) and or are only granted depending on the content of a review.
4. Acceptance of a review submitted by a third party on behalf of a guest
The submission by a third party (e.g. by employees or agencies) of a review text and of a review rating (e.g. dictating or typing of a review on behalf of a guest) and also the submission of a review on the guest’s own device or on the hotel’s own device is not permitted. This also includes the collection of reviews in the form of paper questionnaires and onward communication of those reviews by third parties.
5. Pressuring and influencing the guest during the review process
Actions that put guests under pressure to write a review or that influence them during the review submission process are not permitted (e.g. persistent requests for or intensive observation during the review submission process, commenting on or directly questioning the guest review, repeated and explicit solicitation of ratings with top marks as well as photographing the guest's rating).
6. Pressuring or urging people to amend or delete a review that has already been submitted.
It is not permitted to contact guests after they have submitted a review (e.g. via social media channels, e-mail, telephone or the guest's myHolidayCheck profile) nor to persuade them to amend or delete their reviews by threatening or by offering financial inducements.
7. Reviews from people who are in a personal or business relationship with the hotel owners, operators or their salaried employees
(e.g. spouses, life partners, relatives, friends, salaried staff, business partners). This also applies even if they have availed themselves of the services of the hotel.
8. Review by people who have not made use of any services in the hotel
PLEASE NOTE:
Incentives for employees
We urgently advise against incentivising employees to collect in reviews, (e.g. by providing a bonus for getting mentioned in a review or for gathering in the highest number of reviews within a certain period of time) because experience has shown that this can rapidly lead to violations against our Code of Conduct.
In the event of violations of the Code of Conduct, you should anticipate immediate consequences that can extend from warning notifications on the hotel profile to legal action and even to exclusion from the issuing of the HolidayCheck Award and “Recommended on HolidayCheck” as well as the revocation of existing awards.
If you are uncertain about whether your procedure is compliant with the rules, please contact us at:
Updated and valid as of 25th of July 2023
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