Bed and breakfast owners urged to help fight malicious and fake reviews
B&B owners are being urged to share their experiences of negative and fake reviews as part of a major Government probe.
The Competition and Markets Authority has launched an investigation into online review sites to check the information posted is ‘genuine, relevant and trustworthy’.
It has invited the travel industry to submit its experiences – good or bad – by March 25.
In a specific appeal this week, the B&B Association called on B&B operators to submit their experiences by the deadline, especially if they’ve had trouble dealing with reviews which are malicious or fake.
"We often have members who have had negative reviews that are clearly unearned and false, having a detrimental effect on their much-loved businesses," said David Weston, chief executive of the B&B Association, which represents the 25,000 B&Bs and guest houses in the UK.
"At present there is no way for our members to remove reviews or challenge the individuals behind them, if the websites themselves (as they often do) refuse to remove a false review.
"We’d like to see a situation where small businesses are given the chance to protect their valuable reputations that have often been established through hard work before sites like TripAdvisor even entered the public psyche."
To make a submission, see the CMA website.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
Phocuswright reveals the world's largest travel markets in volume in 2025
Higher departure tax and visa cost, e-arrival card: Japan unleashes the fiscal weapon against tourists
Cyclone in Sri Lanka had limited effect on tourism in contrary to media reports
Singapore to forbid entry to undesirable travelers with new no-boarding directive
Euromonitor International unveils world’s top 100 city destinations for 2025