Businesses urged to contact BHA over TripAdvisor ‘blackmail' threats
Hospitality business owners who have been "blackmailed" with the threat of a bad review on TripAdvisor should get in touch with the British Hospitality Association (BHA).
That was the message from the organisation last week, as its deputy chief executive Martin Couchman continues talks with the online reviews site over hotel and restaurant concerns
Couchman said that the problem of people threatening restaurants and hotels to extort freebies appeared to be growing, and that the BHA wanted to hear about examples.
"While it's very difficult to put an exact figure on how widespread the problem is, it is clear that there is a small minority of online reviewers who are either directly or indirectly blackmailing hotels and restaurants for their own gain. Even just one or two bad reviews can have huge consequences for a business's reputation," he said.