Tripadvisor’s 5 actions to help during the lockdown

Georges-Alexandre Hanin
07/05/2020

Reading time : 4 minute

Since the beginning of the lockdown, Tripadvisor has been side by side with restaurants providing advice on how to manage the crisis. Offering resources, best practices, and tips for getting the most out of Tripadvisor.

In this article, we will review 5 actions Tripadvisor has taken to help restaurants:

1. Mark the property as temporarily closed

You can add a notification banner that indicates your location is “Temporarily closed”. It will appear at the top of your listing, like this :

To activate, you need to go to “manage your listing” and switch on the related toggle. In order to activate it, you need to indicate the beginning and expected end date. You can modify this at any time. The banner will automatically appear 24 hours later.

For more information about how to set this up please go to this Tripadvisor post.

2. Notify your customers that you are only open for takeaway and/or delivery

During the Covid-19 crisis restaurants can not have customers dining in. However, if you are still open for takeout and/or deliveries you should update your listing.

This is easily set-up by going to the “hours” section of your listing and activating the toggle “My restaurant is only available for takeout or delivery”. You need to indicate the beginning and end date. When the end date is reached, your hour’s settings will automatically go back to the pre-COVID-19 ones.

The extra touch: Tripadvisor is offering free templates to print out to indicate that you offer takeout and/or deliveries.

Please see the following links for more information about how to set up takeaway and delivery options and free templates.

3. Free Tripadvisor Ads

Tripadvisor has platform based Ads to promote your establishment on the website and the app. The great news? It is free for the duration of the lockdown!

You should activate Ads because they are only shown to a targeted audience. The audience is based on your proximity, home page, and category among other criteria.

This is how the sponsored content appears to prospective diners.

For more information on how to set up Ads please check out this in depth article.

4. Free Tripadvisor Premium

Same as the ads, the Premium version of Tripadvisor is free for the duration of the lockdown!

Tripadvisor Premium for restaurants allows you to better showcase your establishment in 4 ways: Storyboard, Custom Picture Selection, Top 3 Reasons to Eat Here and Favourite Review.

The Storyboard

is a dynamic slideshow of 10 frames replacing your cover photo. It appears at the top of your listing. The slideshow is a unique way to introduce your business to customers with pictures, reviews and tags. More information can be found here.
The custom picture selection

allows you to select your 10 favourite pictures. As a business owner, you know best how to showcase your restaurant.
These pictures also appear when customers look for restaurants similar to yours. More information can be found here.
Top 3 Reasons to Eat Here

is a way to highlight your best qualities. You can choose them based on reviews and indicate to customers why they should choose your establishment. How to pick your Top 3 Reasons to Eat Here.
Favourite Review

allows you to pin the review to best relay the experience you provide in your restaurant. It is a way to promote yourself based on public reviews and is placed in the #2 review space on your page. The review is also available in different languages. How to choose your Favourite Review.

5.Gift cards

Tripadvisor has set up gift cards specific to the current situation. They allow customers to support the restaurants while they are closed. The gift card can be used when the restaurant is allowed to reopen.

The option is highlighted on your listing like this :

To implement this you need to set-up a page on your website where customers can order the gift cards, and link it on your Tripadvisor listing.