Technology is seen as a game-changer for the hotel sector with the use of apps and commentary websites skyrocketing as consumers turn to them to plan and book their holidays.
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Even more than the retail sector, hoteliers use the data when looking for a new destination development, or to find whether a brand needs a revamp.
TripAdvisor is one of the most prominent sites that consumers use to get an insight into a hotel. The reviews are warts and all and can make or break a business.
Ovolo Woolloomooloo's general manager, Adam Taloni, said the use of technology gives customers and the business a "sense of confidence" that all aspects are working as they should. The Ovolo Woolloomooloo was formerly the W Hotel.
"The reviews on the websites are just one part of the process. We use the data to refine the offerings and when they are bad ones we look into the problem. These sites such as TripAdvisor work in tandem with the hotel industry," Mr Taloni said.
He added that the Ovolo brand is expanding across the country to offer an alternative to the chains that are the same in any market.
"It's about managing expectations as well as offering something different with our Ovolo brand," Mr Taloni said.
TripAdvisor senior director Asia Pacific Grant Colquhoun said a new study by Oxford Economics has quantified TripAdvisor's contribution, showing just how significant the impact has been.
Travellers rely on the millions of reviews and opinions on TripAdvisor to help them feel confident in their decisions when planning and booking travel. According to Oxford Economics, TripAdvisor content influenced 13 per cent of international trips and almost 8 per cent of all domestic travel worldwide in 2014. This translates to over 350 million trips and 1.8 billion tourism nights in 2014 alone.
Mr Colquhoun said the "eyeballs" on the TripAdvisor sites were not just for hotels, but for restaurants, theatre shows and football games in each city. The group is also expanding to direct hotel bookings.
"It's a virtual circle of engagement, as the more eyeballs we get the more business is generated," he said.
According to the findings, in 2014 there were 22 million extra trips and 352 million additional tourism nights directly generated by TripAdvisor. Oxford Economics has determined that this additional travel would not have occurred were it not for the content, features and tools available through TripAdvisor.
Mr Colquhoun said the Oxford Economics research found that content on TripAdvisor sites directly influenced $478 billion of global travel spend in 2014. This includes $64 billion of additional travel spend which was directly generated by the site's content and functionality and wouldn't have occurred without it.
Margy Osmond, the chief executive of the Tourism & Transport Forum Australia (TTF), said that in the case of Australia's largest source market, China, research by Tourism Australia shows that 25 per cent of consumers use online travellers' opinions and reviews to assist with their early planning and inspiration.
"With 200 million Chinese travellers to Australia expected by 2020 this is a technological revolution in the way that people plan their travel that is only beginning to take off," she said.
