In a world where non-hotel accommodation is booming,
TripAdvisor is working hard to keep up. People are booking apartments, rooms, vacation rentals, and dorm beds as alternatives to hotels, and TripAdvisor has been making a half-hearted attempt to show all those options on their site, giving the same price comparison experience as they do with hotels. Unfortunately, it's just not working, especially for hostels. When people look to stay at a hostel, they primarily seek to stay in a dorm bed first. Sure, some splurge on private rooms, but that's not everyone, and we here at HostelTrends just don't understand why. Hostel inventory data structures are just as mature as those of hotels; otherwise, the bundles of technology available for hostels wouldn’t be accessible, and the aspiring hostel metasearch sites like Hostelz and Hostelzoo would basically be impossible to function.
What we don't get is that if other sites can pull it off, why won't TripAdvisor? Surely they have the tech and capital to make it happen. The thing is, by not showing dorm beds, they are missing out. Hostelworld has a monopoly, but Booking.com and now even Expedia are in the space, and the competition is on the rise. Somehow Hostelworld can pull in approximately 500M Euro a year, and with price comparisons on the rise, that's a huge chunk of change TripAdvisor is skipping.
TripAdvisor has the users, paid and organic traffic, and advertising budget to compete with its own customers. Hostelz.com and Hostelzoo.com struggle to acquire enough traffic the old-fashioned search engine marketing way that Booking.com and even Hostelworld do, but TripAdvisor does, and has been effective for hotels. Hostel beds might have a lower ABR to hotel ADR, but based on a cost per click action, hostel booking sites and even hostels themselves would be willing to pay more if the conversion speaks for itself. Currently, conversion is down because expectations are not being met. When people look at a hostel on TripAdvisor, they just read the reviews because they show the price for two guests or a private room instead of one dorm bed.
Why won't they change this? We're sure Hostelworld raised the flag, maybe Booking.com too, but TripAdvisor really needs to hear it from you, the user. So give them a call and share your disappointment at 781-800-5000. Cheers.